Ishika’s success becomes medicine for her ailing mother

THRISSUR: While Ishika danced on the stage at the state school arts festival, her mother Sandhya was not in the audience. She was standing behind the stage, watching with tearful eyes. Sandhya is battling cancer, but she wanted her daughter to win a prize at the festival- a wish Ishika fulfilled with an A grade performance.

As Ishika finished her performance and came off the stage, her mother ran to her. Before she could say anything, both of them broke down in tears. Nearby, her father Ratheesh struggled to hold back his tears. "We must not cry now...we have to smile...live with a smile," Ishika told her mother to console her. When her younger sister Aashika joined them, smiles returned.

Doctors had advised Sandhya to stay positive and not let the disease take over her spirit. Sandhya says the tears she shed were tears of happiness. Ishika Ratheesh is a Plus Two student at Chinnamma Memorial Higher Secondary School, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram.

Everything for mother Sandhya's dream was to see her daughter participate in the state school arts festival. Last year, when the path opened for it, Sandhya was diagnosed with liver cancer. She is trying to overcome the disease through the happiness of her children. Ishika has been learning dance for 14 years. Her guru is Peyad Ajayakumar. This is the first time a prize from the arts festival has reached Sandhya Bhavan, KV Nagar, Peyad. Ishika’s father Ratheesh works in the Amrita Create division at Amrita University.