There was very little conversation in the car on the drive back from the hospital. I was helplessly lost for words. “It’s alright. I don’t regret my decision,” Anjum said calmly. With her unfaltering gaze she asked, “Do you remember when I called you after the surgery and told you I had decided against all toxic follow up treatment?” I remembered that telephone conversation very well. I even remembered where I was standing in the veranda of our mountain lodge on that sunny March morning and the trees I was looking out on, while I had wished Anjum a happy birthday and she mentioned that the surgery had been successful. The lump had been minuscule and removed entirely. She had decided against following up with the hormone therapy usually prescribed for this early stage of breast cancer. Instead she was going to follow the Ayurveda route, of non-toxic…