Marathi actor Medha Manjrekar, wife of filmmaker-actor Mahesh Manjrekar, took to her Instagram account to reveal that she has been diagnosed with cancer. She shared several pictured which implied that she has been undergoing treatment for quite some time now. In an emotional post, she chose to highlight the people who have stood by her through this period and held her hand through the journey.
What Medha revealed about her journey
Medha shared pictures of her shaved head, smiling bravely on the hospital bed, and more pictures of herself. In the caption, she began, “There are journeys in life that change you forever. This has been one of them. As one phase of my treatment comes to an end and my birthday approaches, I find myself looking back. Not at the diagnosis. Not at the surgery. Not at the chemotherapy. Not at the radiation.”
She added, “I remember grace. I remember the invisible hands that carried me every single day. People often ask me, ‘How did you get through it?’ The answer is simple. I never walked through it alone. Every time I felt I couldn’t take another step, someone appeared to walk beside me. Looking back, I know those weren’t coincidences. That was God’s way of holding my hand.”
‘God doesn’t always appear before us in a divine form’
She wrote about learning to surrender to the process instead of repeatedly asking why it had happened to her. “During this journey, I realised that God doesn’t always appear before us in a divine form. He came into my life as my Gurus, my doctors, my nurses, my family, my friends, and even as someone who was once a stranger but became a blessing.
My Gurus taught me that surrender is not defeat—it is the highest form of faith. Once I surrendered, I stopped asking, “Why me?” and simply trusted that every challenge carried a deeper purpose. To my daughters… A mother spends her life believing she will always be the one holding her children’s hands. This journey reminded me that one day, without even realising it, the children begin holding their mother’s hand. Thank you for holding mine.”
She went on thank Mahesh and said, “To Mahesh…Thank you for simply being there. Some journeys are never meant to be walked alone… And then there was my tribe… My sister, My co-sister. My incredible friends. You rewrote the meaning of love … You didn’t just stand by me. You showed up. You came home. You took turns being with me. You made me laugh. You prayed with me. You distracted me. You made sure I never had to face my hardest days alone. Some of you even travelled across continents just to spend time with me.”
Speaking about her appetite, she concluded, “When treatment took away my appetite, someone always knew what I could eat. A box of dhoklas. Soft idlis. gulpapdi , Pani puri on the day I suddenly craved it. Simple food… Wrapped in extraordinary love. One friend suggested I drink my cranberry juice from a champagne glass. A tiny change in presentation… A big change in perspective.”
Several well wishers and actors commented on the post and wished her a speedy recovery. Medha is known for her impactful performances in several Marathi films. Some of them include Kaksparsh (2012), De Dhakka (2008), and Bandh Nylon Che (2016).
