Canstop's Annual Event - Anita Ratnam's 'MA3KA'

Hello Everyone, Canstop's 12th birthday is around the corner, and what better way to celebrate it than one of Anita Ratnam's own productions - her latest offering - 'MA3KA'. As Ms.Ratnam commented at the press meet, one of Canstop's first fundraisers was conducted by her, and now after 12 years she returns for MA3KA.

MA3KA is a tribute to all the women around us, grandmothers, mothers and daughters – and is a testament to the qualities and values that they bring to us in those capacities in every facet of our lives.It promises to be a refreshingly original production of a one of a kind nature.

From The Hindu:



Art buffs in the city will soon have a chance to witness ‘Ma3ka', a production featuring dancer Anita Ratnam that promises to be an off-beat and rather interesting tribute to women.

The programme, to be held on March 24, at the Chinmaya Heritage Centre, Chetpet, at 7 p.m., will mark the 12th anniversary of Can-Stop, a charitable organisation working in the area of cancer care for the underprivileged.

Addressing a press conference in this connection here on Tuesday, Ms. Ratnam said collaborating with an organisation working for such a cause meant a lot to her, for she herself had lost very close and dear relatives to cancer.

Though the artist has worked on the production keeping in mind three special women in her life — her grandmother, mother and daughter — it would be something every individual can relate to, she said.

“All of us are surrounded by women with names of goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Devi, and so on, but we somehow never seem to stop and think how different women enrich our lives,” she said.

Noting that the production would be very urban, contemporary, glamorous, and fun, she said television personality Revathy Sankaran would be the story-teller.

“She lends a very everyday, folksy colour to the narrative that will instantly make the audience feel at ease,” Ms. Ratnam said.

Anil Srinivasan and Vedanth Bharadwaj have scored the music for the production. Ms. Ratnam said the visual aesthetics would be a real departure from the conventional designs.
Children camp

Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan, founder, Can-Stop, outlined the various activities of the organisation, including home visits, referrals and nutritional supplement schemes.

“We also organised a camp for children, called ‘He…Ho…Ha…' where ‘he' stands for health, ‘ho', for hope and ‘ha', for happiness,” she said.

‘Ma3Ka' was an event that would bring together everyone committed to the cause of cancer care and awareness, she added.

Nalini Radhakrishnan, CEO, Media Mix, said she was happy to be associated with organising the event. For details on passes, call: 26284256, 26144560 or 99410 07688, or write to canstop@smfhospital.org.

For more information on MA3KA please visit - http://www.ma3ka.com/

Funds raised from this event will go towards Canstop's Drug Bank which provides for the treatment and medical costs of needy cancer patients.

Please do spread the word ! Hope to see you all on the 24th :)

One Walk One Hope is Today!

Today is the Day!

One Walk One Hope - Hope everyone makes it down to the Marina Beach. 4 PM at the Labour Statue.

See you all there!


Todays article in the Times of India.

Also, if you haven't already, do check out our new WAP site. There is a downloadable 'Early Detection Guide' that is linked to the site.

One Walk One Hope - Poster

Please feel free to download, print, distribute and hand out this poster!

One Walk One Hope - SMS US!

You can now reach CANSTOP by SMS. To come and participate in One Walk One HOpe, we invite you to SMS CANSTOP to 54999. By doing so you can win a chance to walk with members of the Chennai Super Kings and with former India Captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth!

Remember One Walk One Hope is on October 4th and starts at 4pm from the Triumph of Labour Statue on Marina Beach.
SMS CANSTOP to 54999 and recieve One Walk One Hope Updates.

Check out our cool new mobile Website as well!

All thanks to our friends at Tunespray.

T-shirt Design For One Walk One Hope by Thota Tharini

Dear One and all,

We now have a design for our T-shirt which was done for us by eminent artist Mr.Thota Tharini. For those of you who took the trouble to send in your entries for the t-shirt design contest our sincere thanks. You will be recieving complimentary t-shirts and participation gifts shortly!

I am pleased to report that preparations for CACI's "One Walk One Hope" are going full steam ahead. Canstop is the organising NGO and is thus responsible for co-ordinating the event and we look forward to everyone's support and participation.

We are looking to involve as many groups as possible.We would love for you to come and join in and even have your own banners with your organisation/company/school/college's name in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.


We also have our poster done, so pleas feel free to download, print and circulate it! More updates to follow :)

Stree Spandan Roundup

Hello everyone..so here's a small round up of the post event coverage that we recieved after our 10th anniversary fundraiser - 'Stree Spandan'.

Excerpt from article that appeared in The New Indian Express -

The three dancers will perfectly blend the three classical styles of dance, giving a performance that will linger in minds.
“This is the first time I am performing with other dance exponents,” says Gopika Varma, a master in Mohiniyattam and Abhinaya.
....Can-Stop is an outreach programme of Sundaram Medical Foundation, a voluntary organisation working for Cancer awareness. The proceeds of the event will go to the ‘Drug Bank’ to purchase and distribute free medicines to children on a daily basis. Can-Stop has completed 10 years of service to patients of lower socio-economic background. It organises free screening camps for the lower strata of society on a regular basis, since they are on a mission to detect cancer early, which is then curable in most cases.

Full text here.

Excerpts from the Dance Review that appeared in The Hindu's Friday Review

Can-Stop, an outreach programme of the Sundaram Medical Foundation-Dr.Rangarajan Memorial Hospital, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with ‘Stree Spandan,’ a fund raising programme by well-known dancers Shovana Narayan, Gopika Varm a and Sharon Lowen.

Stree Spandan’ was a tale of three strong women from the Mahabharata — Kunti, Draupadi and Gandhari — whose compelling stories never fail to provide a dramatic high on stage. The dancers representing the classical styles of Kathak, Mohiniattom and Odissi, knew this well. Their solos were based on contemporary texts that threw new light on the characters and their emotional upheavals. S. Janaki’s spirited oratory complimented the dance in this regard.

Full text here.


and in other news : Our partnership with Zara's (The Tapas Bar) to help make the use of the smoking lounge at their premises a more informative sojourn :)

In the smoking lounge, visitors get to look at photos shot by Sharad Haksar and Sunder. Can-Stop, which has completed 10 years of service, is instrumental in getting these photos, which carry anti-smoking messages.

Photos by Sunder show an athletic middle-aged dancer springing above tobacco fumes. A picture of health and happiness, this dancer symbolises the benefits of quitting tobacco.

With cigarette butts, Sharad Haskar shows statistics that prove how much more deadly smoking is than other unnatural causes of death.

While unveiling the ‘photo campaign’, former cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth admitted that he is a smoker. So, he was the right person to talk about its evils.

“It is difficult to get rid of smoking. It started as fun in college, but stayed. I was off tobacco for seven years but relapsed. I badly want to quit smoking.”

Full text.

Stree Spandan in the news

From the pages of The Hindu's Metro Plus :

Dance for a cause

Can-Stop’s fund-raiser, “Stree Spandan”, features well-known classical dancers

Can-Stop presents a classical dance recital titled “Stree Spandan” by well-known artists Gopika Varma, Sharon Lowen and Shovana Narayan at Narada Gana Sabha on March 28, 6 p.m.

The performance will be a blend of classical styles — Mohiniyattam, Odissi and Kathak The proceeds will go towards Can-Stop’s ‘Drug Bank’ for the purchase of medicines for the on-going treatment of children.

Can-Stop is currently into its 10th year of service to patients from the lower socio-economic strata and endeavours to continue to provide improved services to the public as well as cancer patients and their families.

Donor passes, priced at Rs.1,000, Rs. 700, Rs. 500, Rs.300 and Rs. 100 for balcony seating, are available. Contact Can-Stop for donor passes and further information at 26284256.

Can-Stop is a voluntary organisation involved with promoting cancer awareness, early detection through screening camps and counselling for patients and families. It is an outreach programme of Sundaram Medical Foundation.

Article from Alpha Times

The listing from Explocity.com

T-minus just a couple of hours :)

Canstop Presents - "Stree Spandan" March 28th @ 6pm Narada Gana Sabha

Greetings All :)

On the occasion of our 10th anniversary year, Can-Stop presents “Stree Spandan” a classical dance performance featuring renowned artists Smt.Shovana Narayan, Smt.Sharon Lowen and Smt. Gopika Varma.
On stage together for the first time in Chennai, the performance will be a graceful synthesis of Mohiniattam, Kathak and Odissi.


The proceeds of the show will go into the Corpus Fund for our “Drug Bank” – meant for the purchase of the drugs which for the continued treatment of children afflicted with cancer.

Date: 28th March
Time: 6 pm onwards
Venue: Narada Gana Sabha

Donor Passes are available at Rs.1000, 700,500,300 and Rs.100 for the balcony. Please contact us at 2628-4256 for donor passes or more information.

Working together for a common cause CAN make a difference. We hope you can make it for the performance and help support the Drug Bank and the kids who rely on it.

Smoke Signals - Ergo

The evening of May 30 was truly an inspirational one for smokers and non-smokers alike. CanStop organised a play reading, ‘Smoke Signals’ by Madras Players and a photo exhibition headed by Sharad Haksar to commemorate World No-Tobacco Day (May 31).

“There are 184 million tobacco consumers in India,” said Vijaya Bharati, Chairperson of CanStop. “And tobacco kills 50 per cent of its users.” “It is shocking to see children as young as 10 and 12 smoking up to 20 cigarettes a day,” Hemalini Mehta, a volunteer for CanStop, said.

“Nicotine is the most addictive substance,” Mithran Devanesan, an ex-smoker himself, explained. “There are different patterns of smoking that need to be identified and monitored. Support groups are essential if you want to quit.”

As a matter of fact, the Quitters Club does just that. Working along the same lines as the Alcoholics Anonymous Groups, the Club gets together once or twice a week to counsel and help its members.

According to Hemalini Mehta, if a person wants to quit and wants the help of a counsellor to do so, all they had to do was to fill in the Quit Line Entry Form distributed to the audience at the Heritage Centre. “We will contact that person and help them out.”

Directed by Mithran Devanesan, ‘Smoke Signals’ consisted of a series of rib-tickling quotes, songs, and extracts from novels read by P.C. Ramaswamy, Vishalam Ekambaram, Freddy Koikaran, Mithran Devanesan and Sharanya Nair.

Among the most memorable were the Caterpillar and the hookah scene in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Gum,” a short story about a piece of bubblegum that began chewing its chewer.

Though the pieces were light, the gravity of the underlining message was pretty clear by the end of the evening. After all, as Hemmingway once said, “Cigarette smell is awful if you have a nose that can truly smell.”

Stay Away From a KIller - The Hindu NXG

It’s not stylish, it’s not cool: that’s the message as this year’s World No Tobacco Day on on May 31 works for a Tobacco Free Youth . R. KRITHIKA

It’s a familiar enough sight: “C’mon, I dare you! Take a puff. Don’t be a sissy; it’s not going to hurt…” And nine out of 10 youngsters fall a prey to their friend’s machinations. But you know it’s that Lone Ranger, the one that didn’t pick up the killer stick, who deserves the rounds of applause. ‘Cos it takes guts to stand up to your peers and say, “No, I won’t.”

Everyone’s read reams about killer tobacco and its effects on the human system but it doesn’t seem to have any impact. “That’s because of the ads,” says Dr. Vijaya Bharati Rangarajan of the NGO Can-Stop, a cancer support group that also works to spread the word about the ill-effects of tobacco. “Just look at those obviously fit and healthy people taking a puff. The message — the wrong one — is that smoking doesn’t affect you.” And then goes on to ask rhetorically, “Do you think anyone would pick up a cigarette if they saw these wasted and diseased bodies smoking?”

Even as the incidence of smoking falls in the developed countries, it’s on the rise in developing countries like India. Obviously the tobacco lobby doesn’t give up easy. There are laws against sale of tobacco products to minors, against smoking in public places … but who’s enforcing these. Kids are picking up the habit at a younger age today; as low as six or seven.

And there’s now way you can walk away and say, “it’s not my problem”. If you’re around a smoker, it is your problem. The smoke you inhale will cause as much damage to you as it does to smoker. The World Health Organisation estimates that at least 700 million people will die of second-hand smoke, most of them being children. If that’s the amount of damage second-hand smoke, think of the figures for smokers!

Taxes and bans may help deal with this but there’s something you can do as well: Quit or help others to quit. We know that smoking is contagious, but guess what quitting is contagious too. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says that those who’re promising never to pick up another one influence friends, co-workers and relations. This study followed 12,000 people over three decades from 1971 to 2003 — many friends, relatives and colleagues of those studied also joined making the final tally 53,228 relationships — and found that people tend to quit in clusters.



Now, I don’t know if this info influenced Can-Stop but they’re beginning a Quitter’s Club on the lines of Smokers Anonymous. This self-help group with a difference is meant to motivate those treading that slippery path to Quitdom. Those who’ve kicked the habit can give pep talks and encourage their less-fortunate friends. Others will pitch in medical advice, strategies and whatever else the quitters need to stay away from the butt.

And, of course, there’s a lot for the youth. The rock show last Saturday should have sent home the “say no to cigarettes” message quite effectively. There’s more this week: a photo exhibition, which sees Chennai’s well known photographer Sharad Haksar exhibiting his take on the issue. Then the Madras Players, Chennai’s and India’s oldest English theatre group, will use drama to tell you all about tobacco (they’ve gone all the way back to King James I of England to get their matter). Look out for the sticker campaign from May 31, screening and counselling sessions, talks and much more.

If you want to get personally involved, then join Youth Can, the youth wing of Can-Stop. There’re no age limits or criterion. You get to help organise Can-Stop’s events, spread awareness in schools and colleges, talk to your peers and parents aboput the perils of smoking. So what’re you waiting for?

Want to join Can-Stop’s Quitters Club or Youth Can? Call their helpline 26284256 between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. or e-mail canstop@smfhospital.org Can-Stop functions from Dr. Rangarajan Memorial Hospital, Shanti Colony, 4th Avenue, Anna Nagar West, Chennai 40. Website: www.canstop.org The Quitters Club will function at from their Resource Centre at 20A, D’Silva Road, Mylapore, Chennai 04. Ph: 24993515




About Can-Stop

* Can-Stop (Cancer Support Therapy to Overcome Pain) is a community-based, voluntary oragnisation dedeciated to helping cancer-affected people by offering counselling, information, advice, consolation and listening to not just the patients but also their families and friends.
* Can-Stop works with patients at the Institute of Child Health and Children’s Hospital, Egmore; Government Hospital for Women and Children; and the Government General Hospital.
* The projects include educational therapy for children, occupational therapy for the mothers and women, counselling and awareness and screening camps; nutrition projects, blood bank and drug bank.
* Can-Wish tries to fulfil the wishes of critically-ill children up to six years.
* Sponsor A Child helps children with a good prognosis by supplying them essential drugs for one year through individual sponsors.

Why you should say no

* No form of tobacco is safe: not cigarettes, cigars, gutka or pipes.
* Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world. It kills up to 50 per cent of its regular users.
* India has 184 million consumers with 55,000 children falling prey to it every year. Each year, 8,00,000 people in India die due to tobacco-related diseases.
* Smoking harms not only the smoker but also those around him/her who breathe the cigarette smoke.Second-hand smoke causes as many as 3,00,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia among infants each year.
* Second-hand smoke increases a child’s chances of middle ear problem, causes wheezing and coughing and worsens asthma conditions.
* Second-hand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory problems among other non-smokers.

' A Rocking Message' - The HIndu NXG

The World No Tobacco Day Rock Show was great as far as music went. But did the audience go home with the right message? HUDSTIN FERNANDEZ

The younger generation are the ones more into smoking today, says Arjun Rangarajan, one of the organisers of the rock show from Can-Stop”. The only way to get them to quit is through music. A similar event last year saw a fairly good response and so this year’s show was even bigger.

Can Stop’s holding a series of events to commemorate World No Tobacco Day on May 31 and the event that kicked off the series was “The World No Tobacco Day Rock Show”. May 24 saw three bands take the stage: Grey Shack, Panatella and Junkyard Groove.Grey Shack opened their show with their “Plastic Skin”. A few more originals later they launched into the Beatles’ cover “Day Tripper.

Up next was Panatella who proved themselves energetic although they were without their keyboardist. They brought energy into the crowd with their originals “Bend Over” and “205”. They also went on to play covers by the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.

The last band that evening was Junkyard Groove, who got the crowd on their feet with their favourite originals like “It’s Ok, Folk”, “You and Rock and Roll”. When they finished the crowd was singing one of their originals “Say Goodbye”, (hopefully to smoking as well)

Sunder, the bass guitarist of Panatella, felt that while the idea behind the show was good it is for the audience to pick the right message. Most of them were there to watch their favourite bands play, if they really got the message, then the event would be more successful, he said.

About 70 per cent of the crowd were youngsters from schools and colleges. A few even resolved to quit smoking by signing on the board placed at the entrance. A few said that at least a handful would go back with a resolution to stop smoking

Smoke Signals - Play Reading & Photo Exhibition

Hey everyone, here's inviting you to Phase 2 of World No Tobacco Day!

Canstop in association with Madras Players Present 'Smoke Signals' . A humorous take on the smoking debate featuring quotes and extracts from Lewis Carrol, Joyce, Longfellow and Oscar Wilde.

No lectures or sermons,just humour alone :) Written and directed by Mithran Devanesen and featuring P.C.Ramakrishna,Freddy Koikaran,Vishalam Ekambaram amongst others.

Also be witness to a selection of Canstop's first photo exhibition, featuring the works of premier photgraphers Sharad Haksar, Satyajit Dhananjayan and Sunder.

Time: 7 pm on May 30th (fri) @ Chinmaya Heritage Centre , Harrington Road.

Donor Passes : Rs.100 (available at Landmark and Casa Picola)

Enquiries : 98410-61578

We Don't Want No Cigarettes - Ergo

We don’t want no cigarettes

May 25, 2008

In a lead up to World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) which falls on May 31, CanStop organised a rock show at the YMCA grounds on Saturday to campaign cancer care, and to get to the bottom of it all, spread the word about smoking and its ill effects.

This year, particularly because the 2008 theme for WNTD is Tobacco-free Youth, CanStop is interested in targeting ‘the same crowd that would turn up for a rock show’, therefore the 16-30 age group. Dr. Arjun Rangarajan, coordinator for tobacco control, CanStop says “Individuals in this age group are constantly on the move, and it is easy to develop a habit at a juncture in their career or relationships.

This leads to peer pressure, which shows in smoke breaks at work or commencing smoking after a relationship break-up.”

Which is why, Dr. Arjun explains, that a band like Junkyard Groove (JYG) was called to spread the word on smoking and its dangers. “We all know that the band smokes openly at other venues, but they’re an icon in the city, and they’ll draw in the target crowd.”

In fact, there was a pledge board just outside the venue, where concert-goers were asked to sign to show support. Siddharth Srinivasan, lead guitarist for JYG also signed the pledge, not confirming if he would give up smoking, but is ‘trying’.

The two other bands who played funk rock bands Panatella and Gray Shack, who drew in their fan base, and surprisingly although JYG is the bigger band of the three, in terms of gigs and visibility, there weren’t many who remained for the latter’s performance. The moshpit had all but 25 fans, which brings us to the question – was the campaign a success?

Dr. Arjun says “Numbers don’t count. Tobacco cessation programmes abroad are tailored to an individual’s needs, and even if we get 1 person thinking about quitting, we’re happy.” CanStop helpline: 26284256

"No Smoke Without Fire " - Indian Express

No smoke without fire
Saturday May 24 2008 13:16 IST

Saranya Chakrapani

"KIDS as young as three recognise cigarette ads. India and China that are the easiest targets of tobacco companies, owing to the massive chunk of teenage population,” said Dr Vijaya Bharathi Rangarajan, Trustee and Director- Community Services, Sundaram Medical Foundation, Dr Rangarajan Memorial Hospital.

On the eve of `World no-tobacco Day’, Canstop, a registered charitable organisation providing cancer support therapy has lined up a series of events to spread awareness on the hazards of the tobacco epidemic and this year, their main target is the youth.

This is in sync with the World Health Organisation’s theme for the World no-Tobacco Day : `Tobacco Free Youth’.



A press brief to launch the events, held in the city on Thursday, was attended by photographer/cinematographer Sharad Haksar, Mithran Devanesen of MTC Productions and VJ Paloma.

Sharad Haksar, who will be displaying his photographs at the exhibition, revealed that he is working on a series of five images.

“All the photographs have only cigarettes. I’m trying to convey the dangers of smoking through this,” he said.

Mithran Devanesen, who would be directing the play reading said, “Smoking is one of the hardest addictions, I know, because I was a chain smoker myself. Now I’ve quit. The first half of the play would be pro-smoking, and the second half anti-smoking.” VJ Paloma from SS Music said, “Smoking is the biggest waste of time. I’ve done quite a bit of research on it and the statistics are shocking.”

Canstop,which is now completing ten years, organises regular programmes on a daily basis, including counselling for patients and family members, home visits, referrals, nutritional supplement schemes, a Can-wish project (a project in aid of underpriviledged children), Sponsor a Child project, blood bank and Drug bank.

“The main idea behind the project this year is to de-glamourise smoking from the way it is projected as ‘cool’ by the media,” Dr Vijaya added.

" Stub It Out " - The Hindu Metro Plus

It’s World No Tobacco Day on May 31 and Canstop has several events lined-up to create awareness about the hazards of smoking. The first is a Rock Show that will be held on May 24 where Chennai’s foremost international band Junkyard Groove , apart from popular bands such as Panatella and Gray Shack, will perform. Another major event for this year’s WNTD is a Photo Exhibition — something that hasn’t been done in Chennai before, but a great way of drawing attention to an issue that concerns everyone. The exhibition will feature Chennai’s leading photographers, including Sharad Haksar, Satyajit Dhananjayan and Sunder and will run for a week from May 30 to June 6. After this, the idea is to make it a travelling exhibition which will visit corporate venues, schools, colleges and exhibition spaces around the city. The exhibition venue is the Alliance Francaise.

Coinciding with it, Canstop plans to organise a theatre evening, titled ‘Smoke Signals’, featuring a play reading presented by the Madras Players. It will have tobacco awareness and advocacy as its core themes against a humorous background. It will incorporate excerpts from Longfellow, Wilde, Joyce and Lewis Carroll among others and is directed by Mithran Devanesan. Theatre personalities such as Freddie Koikaran and P. C. Ramakrishna will participate in the event which will be held on May 30 at the Chinmaya Heritage Centre auditorium.

Apart from these Canstop’s regular programmes include cancer screening camps, a sticker campaign against smoking which will be launched on May 31, and installing of anti-smoking visuals on buses. Counselling and screening services are also available for employees of various organisations on the need to kick the smoking habit. Those who are interested can also join Canstop’s soon-to-be-launched Quitters Club or youth league, Youth Can.

For more details contact the Canstop Helpline at 26284256 or visist www.canstop.org