As the name suggests, Deepsikha means a flame of light adding meaning and hope to the plight of cancer patients and their families. Started in 2004 in Mumbai, Deepsikha Cancer Care is a non-profit, voluntary organization. It was conceived on the foundation of offering helping hand and support to the cancer patients and their families coming to Mumbai for treatment from far flung places of India. Witnessing the plight of cancer patients seeking treatment in Mumbai made Mr. Devashish Sharma (The founder) along with a small group of friends and colleagues to lend a humble helping hand offer support during those crucial days. His dedicated efforts blossomed into an organization…. Deepsikha, a Trust for Cancer Care.

It was the winter of 2003 when Mr. Sharma received an order from the Government of Assam to proceed to Mumbai as the Deputy Resident Commissioner of the Assam Bhawan and initiate steps to make the Bhawan functional. This was a challenging task but he happily accepted this opportunity of a lifetime and Assam Bhawan Mumbai became a reality on the 1^st of July 2004.

However, with the passage of time Mr. Sharma observed that innumerable cancer patients from Assam come to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, for specialised treatment of cancer. Coming from remote areas, most of these people had to face a lot of hostilities in the city during the course of their treatment with regards to accommodation, food, information etc and there was no support or assistance available for them. Some of them could not even speak in any other languages apart from Assamese. As the realization of helping these patients dawned upon Mr. Sharma, Assam Bhavan Mumbai, slowly became a home for these cancer patients and gradually the efforts began to be concentrated towards looking after these people. Along with his team, he himself would receive these cancer patients at the Railway Station so that he could bring them to the Bhawan, take them to the hospital and try to help them out in all possible ways during their course of cancer treatment in Mumbai.

It was during the visits to the Tata Memorial Hospital with these patients he also understood that many patients only came to see a doctor towards the third or fourth stage of cancer when a considerable amount of damage would be already done. Furthermore, through interactions with the patients, he learnt that many of them would also quit their cancer treatment half way, due to lack of financial support. He came across many people who had sold off their property and everything they had to keep themselves or a loved one alive.

This was when Mr Sharma conceived the idea of forming a Cancer Care Organization so that he could contribute towards making a difference in the lives of these people and thus, Deepsikha was founded in July, 2004.

Spreading awareness about cancer is definitely a primary objective of Deepsikha and since its inception the volunteers of Deepsikha have travelled to the nooks and corners of Assam in order to educate both the rural and urban people about cancer and to help them understand cancer’s intricacies and causes that lead to it. Mr. Sharma found a unique way of reaching out to the masses and this was with a guitar in hand. He would go to the remote areas in Assam to talk about cancer and at the same time, sing songs for the audience so that the message was spread across in an impactful yet entertaining manner.

In 2007, Deepsikha started a Help Desk at B. Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati, Assam to not only provide information about the services of the organization but also to help in providing the right resources and information to a patient so that he/she could get the required help and utilize the facilities. Around the same time, a 30 bedded home for cancer patients got started in Masjid Bandar in Mumbai with the help received from Didwaniya Ratan Lal Charitable Trust. Additionally, Deepsikha’s ambulance and hearse service also started transporting patients to hospitals and back both in Assam as well as in Mumbai.

With time, this organization grew its wings with more like-minded people joining in and making its vision a movement. Today Deepsikha is a booming Cancer care Foundation, having its centres across Mumbai and Assam. With the help of its team, supporters, patrons, advisors and donors, Deepsikha has been able to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people around the nation. The initiatives of this organization have blossomed into giving shape to the first ever hospice for terminally ill cancer patients in North Eastern India along with a home and special school dedicated to children suffering from cancer.

Adhering to commitment towards the cause of cancer, Deepsikha has tried to bring about a change with the limited resources, be it providing financial support to patients below the poverty line or tying up poor patients with various schemes of the government, providing accommodation and transport facilities and the subsidized food to the patients who come to Guwahati and Mumbai for treatment. Deepsikha commits to provide all round non-doctoral back up support to cancer patients and their families during the course of the treatment.

In this journey Deepsikha has had to encounter many unforeseen constraints and shortcomings but with the undeterred determination of the founder and his team, they have been able to move one mile stone after another and at the same time enjoy every moment of the journey.