This past fall I had the opportunity to meet and film with filmmaker Chealynn Feaster, a fellow ostomate and Crohn’s Disease warrior. Together we pieced together a short documentary called What Will People Think? (Hindi/Urdu: Log Kya Kahenge?) which shines light on my advocacy work and the inspirations behind it from my father and aunt’s illnesses and subsequent deaths to my own constant battle with Crohn’s Disease and multiple colorectal surgeries.
One of the aspects of living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that I advocate for most is the nuances that racial and ethnic minorities face. Having a bowel disease and living with an ostomy, no matter how life-saving, often means we face significant discrimination from the society around us. This form of ableism is often compounded by the fact that many cultures around the world, mine included, don’t consider it appropriate to talk about having a bowel disease, so a whole aspect of our beings is slipped under the rug and forgotten. My aim is to change that because no matter what people think (“log kya kahenge”), we all deserve love and compassion and we all deserve to be happy in spite of our illnesses and disabilities.
So, own your Crohn’s, own your ostomy, and help me this holiday season and new year to put Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis on the map for us all to live in less shame and in less suffering! God bless you all!
~~A special thank you to filmmaker Chealynn Feaster and the Manhattan Neighborhood Network for making my dream a reality~~
