Remember Jane Goody?
Till some months back the image her name brought to my mind was that of the woman on Big Brother; the image the TV channels kept playing over and over again. Face distorted with dislike, gesturing angrily at the angelic-looking Shilpa Shetty, who stood there shedding gentle tears. I didn't like this Jane Goody. I was vicariously pleased when she lost some lucrative (advertising?) contract. Serve her right, I thought.
She was served more than that. Misfortune crowded upon misfortune. But, as so often happens in the blessed among us, adversity revealed her better face.
A few days back there was this picture of hers in the papers. She was leaving her home for the hospital, probably aware that it was for the last time. Seated in a wheelchair, bald from the chemotherapy, she was waving toward the camera, smiling radiantly. What courage. What grace in the face of disaster!
What a lady!
