ISRO scientist's journey to Chandrayaan-3 after defeating breast cancer: Rinku Agarwal says he was shocked when he was diagnosed with cancer but decided that he wanted to live for his children.

February 4 is World Cancer Day. Today is the story of a cancer warrior woman who is living a normal life by defeating breast cancer. Rinku Agarwal, who works as a scientist in ISRO, is working on projects including ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission after defeating cancer. Rinku Aggarwal had a conversation with Bhaskar about how he beat cancer. Became a source of inspiration for thousands of women suffering from cancer Rinku Agarwal, a scientist at ISRO, who kept her dreams alive even after battling a serious illness like breast cancer and working on India's pride space mission Chandrayaan-3, has become an inspiration for thousands of women today. Rinku Agarwal, a 50-year-old senior scientist/engineer and head of department at the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad, is a breast cancer survivor. When the cancer battle began, we didn't even know what chemotherapy was, we knew that people lost hair because of chemotherapy. He said that when he took the first dose of chemo, his whole body was broken, he felt like he couldn't bear it anymore. Seven of the 21 days were not an emergency, but in the remaining 14 days, the effect of chemo was slightly reduced, so he could go to the office and take care of the children. I made up my mind that I want to live for my children: Rinku Aggarwal Throughout the journey, he faced many physical and mental challenges. I was afraid of what would happen next with the pain in my body. But the doctors supported him a lot and assured him that after the treatment, he would be able to live his life as before. Rinku Aggarwal shared her story during an event on early detection at the hospital and said that when she was diagnosed with cancer, the first question she asked the ISRO doctor was, "Do I have to take chemotherapy?" Because they knew it would cause hair. Hair was a matter of great emotion to him, so he did not even look in the mirror. He had made up his mind that he would defeat cancer. 'The twins were diagnosed with cancer when they were 6 years old' Talking about her diagnosis, she took hormone therapy for three years and gave birth to twins in 2007. In June 2013, when her children were just six years old, the two children were sleeping on her arms. But when the problem worsened, he consulted a doctor. The in-house doctors of ISRO advised mammography and sonography, after which it was diagnosed with breast cancer during examination at a hospital in Ahmedabad. The news came as a shock to him, but he was determined that he wanted to live and heal for his children. After defeating cancer, Rinku Aggarwal is once again fully engaged in his work. He worked on the hardware section of very important missions like Earth Observation Satellite and NISAR, apart from the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Today, she is not only a scientist, but also a TEDx speaker and an active advocate for breast cancer awareness. People should be careful and get regular check-ups: Doctor Dr. Rinku Agarwal of Apollo Hospitals, who treated him. Anagha Jope, Lead Consultant, Breast and Oncoplastic Surgeon also said that around 2,43,905 new cases of cancer were reported in the country in the year 2024. Of these, about 1,02,377 people died. (The figures for 2025 are yet to come.) "Breast cancer is the most common cancer, so the highest incidence of cancer is seen in women. No one goes to get it checked because breast cancer does not cause pain. And when he goes, it becomes difficult because his stage has increased. Even after being treated for every cancer, there is a high chance of recurrence, so people must be careful and get regular check-ups.