Bengaluru, 06 February 2025: With one woman diagnosed with breast cancer every four minutes in India, overcoming barriers to cancer care is vital as most cases can be treated effectively if detected early. 75% of Indian women avoid or neglect screenings, and 60% feel uncomfortable discussing breast cancer with friends and family, according to a survey . Through the ‘Gaanth Pe Dhyan’ (‘Focus on the Lump’) campaign, Tata Trusts encouraged women to do just that – extend the same attention to checking their breasts for lumps as they do to preventing lumps in their food – transforming a simple kitchen task into an act of introspection and empowerment.
The large-scale campaign recently culminated in the ‘Gaanth Pe Dhyan’ cookbook, a first-of-its-kind endeavour featuring a collection of recipes, with the unique purpose of ‘stirring up change, one recipe at a time.’ Available online and free to download, the cookbook has been mindfully crafted with recipes that naturally lend themselves to lumps. The recipes have been sourced from expert Indian chefs-turned-campaign-ambassadors, including MasterChefs Shipra Khanna and Santa Sarmah, as well as Chefs Ananya Banerjee, Sailaja Aechuri, Priya Gupta, Varaprasad Karthyaeni, and Laeba Ashraf.
The cookbook was reviewed by renowned nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar and eminent breast cancer oncologist, Dr. Rajendra Badwe, in a podcast hosted by Shilpi Ghosh from Tata Trusts that explored the intersection of breast cancer, women’s well-being & nutrition. The cookbook is an extension of the ‘social experiment’ film ‘Gaanth Pe Dhyan’, featuring Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, launched by the Trusts last year which evoked significant interest among youth and working professionals across the country.
It was complemented by another awareness film, involving women street-food vendors in Mumbai, to drive home the need for early detection and regular breast self-examination. This approach also revealed that while avoiding lumps in food was essential for their livelihood, there was limited awareness that lumps in the breasts could be indicative of cancer. Taking the campaign on-ground, with the support of doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai and other reputed regional medical institutions, the Trusts also raised breast cancer awareness across several corporates, holding screening camps that led to further investigation for cases that may have otherwise gone undetected.
Gaanth Pe Dhyan has secured multiple accolades in India and internationally, including being ranked second in PRovoke’s Global Creative Index 2024.