‘Girls can do anything’, or so goes the saying, and to prove this right, a girl in the town has done an admirable work and managed to find a place in people’s hearts. Thiya Bhawal, a Radio Jockey (RJ) by profession, has tonsured her head to donate her locks of hair to cancer patients.

As she kept her long lock of hair for an organisation that makes wigs for cancer patients, Miss Bhawal said: “I just wanted to pass on the rainbow to someone who needs it more.”

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“We cannot see many body parts that we donate after our deaths, but donating something that makes someone else happy and to see that happiness in them during our lifetime is priceless,” she said, and added that this should be done more often by everyone.

Miss Bhawal’s gesture followed a move by seven-yearold girl, Titir Chakraborty, from Raiganj who donated her hair to cancer patients.

“That gesture shook me from inside. I saw the video of this little wonder child and that very moment, I decided to do the same. If a little child can, then why not me? The next day, I went to the salon, but two salons refused to shave my hair as I had them long. I lied to the third one and they finally shaved it,” Miss Bhawal said.

“I feel what Thiya did was the most courageous and amazing thing, and it has made me swell with pride,” said Thiya’s father, Swapan Bhawal. “I don’t care how she is looking without her beautiful hair; it is her heart which shows the actual beauty she has within,” he added.

Dolna Goswami Bhawal, Thiya’s mother, said they were not informed of her step. “I was in Kolkata and had just returned to Siliguri that day. I was waiting for my girl to come home from office, and the moment she entered home, I was speechless, but when she told me the noble cause, I felt very proud of my daughter,” she said.

“I can now empathise with those who lose their hair because of the chemotherapy treatment that cancer patients undergo. As much as I feel liberated after shedding the hair, I pray for those battling cancer to have one less worry: the fear of being judged on their appearance,” Miss Bhawal said.

Kaustav Ghosh, the station head of Red FM in Siliguri, where Ms Bhawal works, said it was something unique for him. “I feel so proud to have a colleague like RJ Thiya,” he said.

The Radio Jockey Praveen, another popular RJ in Kolkata, who first came up with a ‘Facebook Live’ with Titir Chakraborty, said: “I never imagined that Thiya would do this kind of a thing. She is a living inspiration for many of us.”