Aarti Pathak Interview
Q. For readers discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce Aarti Pathak beyond the label of 'author' or 'survivor'?
I am someone who is in love with life.
Beyond labels, I see myself simply as a human being trying to live attentively. Someone who believes in kindness, inner honesty, and staying present life as life unfolds. The journey was hard, and is far from over. But in the moment I aspire to live fully, fearlessly and wholesomely.
Q. Triple Negative deals with an intensely personal medical journey. At what point did you realise that your story needed to move from lived experience to the written word?
I felt I wasn’t capable of holding together the sudden loss of my mother and my own breast cancer diagnosis. It was overwhelming. The emotional weight was simply too much. So I surrendered—spiritually, to the Divine Mother, and practically, through journaling.
Writing became a way to make sense of life as it was unfolding. Seeing how I was navigating that trying time, my friends encouraged me to write a book and share what they felt was an inspiring way of looking at life with others. What began as private journal entries eventually evolved into my memoir, Triple Negative: A Tale of Love, Faith, and Surrender, allowing the story to be told in real time, from within the experience rather than in hindsight.
Q. The title "Triple Negative" is medically stark. Why did you choose not to soften it, and what did reclaiming that term mean to you emotionally?
The journey itself was medically stark. The title, however, was chosen because it was intriguing and invites people to ask what it means.
Of course once readers engage with the book, they understand the horrible weight the term carries. As my treatment progressed, both the words “triple” and “negative” became triggers for me, so in an unintended way, choosing the title also allowed me to reclaim them.
Q. Your book speaks a lot about faith and surrender, not just treatment. In moments of extreme uncertainty, how did your understanding of faith evolve?
Seeing death so upclose, took me closer to living a life of faith.
Like I said earlier, the emotional weight of losing Mumma had left me broken. I was too numb to even think of the cancer diagnosis that followed. Out of absolute incompetence at handling my angst, I offered it all to Ma Durga, it was nothing for her.
Also, I felt Ma appeared to me, and that assured me. I thought then, ‘Regardless of what happened to me, I knew Ma was blessing me, as she had watched over me for so many lifetimes before, she would watch over me in lifetimes to come.’
Q. Many illness narratives unintentionally centre suffering. You, however, foreground love and agency. Was this a conscious narrative choice?
More than conscious, it was a natural choice as I had to be true to my story. So while there was suffering beyond words, there also was divine, magical, almost fairytale-like love that surrounded me. My journey was self-aware and probably defined far more by the healing than the suffering.
Q. Writing while healing physically and emotionally is demanding. What did the act of writing give you that medicine alone could not?
I have been a writer for almost twenty years. I realised early on how cathartic writing is, the clarity that an observer's lens brings, and the internal decluttering it brings me. Unlike other treatments, cancer treatments do not bring respite from suffering. They can be life-saving but bring amplified pain and debilitation.
The healing comes from many other places. For me, it was pranayama, Om jaap, faith in Devi Ma, singing or listening to the Hanuman Chalisa, lessons from the Ramayana, the magical love from family and friends, and journaling.
Q. You often engage with readers who are patients, caregivers, or survivors. What is the one misconception about serious illness you wish society would unlearn?
The worst one is that many people think cancer is a sure-shot death sentence. It doesn't have to be. Many cancers are treatable now.
Q. As a poet and author, how did poetry influence the prose of Triple Negative, especially in moments that were hard to articulate?
That time of my life was one when I had surprisingly clear vision. There were no questions. No grumbling. Only complete acceptance. It is almost poetic that I came to understand the beauty of this gift called life during this most painful phase.
(Incidentally, I started posting my poems on instagram after my treatment ended as the experience had left me fearless and indifferent to public judgement.)
Q. Social media today is crowded with 'inspirational' stories. How do you ensure authenticity without turning trauma into motivational content?
Since I have been on the other side, I know how annoying empty motivational words can sound. I couldn't stand phrases like 'be positive' and 'be strong' myself! When I wrote the book, I wrote with complete honesty, sharing every tear, every dark thought, and every failure. I don’t intend to present myself as an inspirational person. Being real is my thing, and that makes it effortless for me to be authentic.
Q. Your work subtly challenges the idea of productivity during illness. What does “strength” really look like on days when survival is the only goal?
For me, strength is in not snapping at your family, loved ones or your domestic staff when you're burning with physical pain week after week. Taking one’s own grief on others is not a strength. Strength is being able to say to your loved one, ‘Yes, I am feeling defeated today.’ There is no glory in bravado.
Every battle doesn't need warriors. Some need a meditative form. I feel those who can hold on to hope even in the worst of days are phenomenally strong. We must never take away hope from anyone. Sometimes, it is all they have.
Q. If a young woman facing a medical diagnosis reads your book, what inner shift do you hope it triggers first hope, courage, or self-trust?
My hope is that she sees the strength in vulnerability. And as she reads through my pain, tears, joys, and thoughts, I hope it draws her closer to herself. Understanding self is most important to understanding life.
Q. Has writing this book changed the way you now look at fear, both physical fear and existential fear?
No, the opposite actually. Because I look at life, death, suffering, and pain differently, I wrote the book. Pain in life is a given. Suffering through it, is optional.
Q. You’ve spoken at literary and wellness platforms alike. Do you see storytelling as a form of advocacy?
Absolutely!
Q. Looking back, is there something you wish Aarti, the woman before the diagnosis, had known?
I was blessed. Everything one should know and understand when faced with a crisis like this, I had learned. I knew I must continue to show kindness to all my caregivers. I understood that this body is merely an outfit for the atma, which is the main character of the story.
I knew Devi Ma was watching over me. I found surrender, too. I would do everything it takes to regain my life: medical treatment, yoga, pranayama, ayurvedic support, prayer, journaling and so on. But after that, I would surrender the fruits of it to Devi Ma. She would decide what to do with me. Letting go of the responsibility of the result was liberating.I felt huge weights lift.
Q. If your life right now had a subtitle (like your book), what would it be and why?
'A life of love joy and surrender'
Bio:
Aarti Pathak is an author and poet, best known for her book Triple Negative: A Tale of Love, Faith and Surrender. Through her writing, she weaves personal experiences with themes of resilience, hope, and emotional strength. Her work reflects a deep belief in creativity as a form of intelligence and healing, resonating with readers through honesty, sensitivity, and quiet courage.
Interviewed by: Nidhi
){kind=link}
0 Comments