How Nayla Jaffri confronted death with a twinkle in her eyes

Actor-director Angeline Malik took to Facebook on Sunday to pen a heartfelt note for late actor Nayla Jaffri, who passed away after a prolonged battle with ovarian cancer in July. Malik, who worked with Jaffri on several occasions, started off her note by addressing Jaffri as a “warrior”. The actor went on to write, “End 2019, when visiting from Hunza we met up and I convinced her to get a routine checkup. We went to one of the best oncologists at Ziauddin. That was when she found out her cancer had reoccured.”

She detailed how the diagnosis affected her, and the options Jaffri was given by the doctors. “I looked away since I didn’t have the strength or the control to stop my tears as he told her she had a year or maybe two to live unless she agrees to undergo a surgery which might have some life-altering consequences.” Revealing Jaffri’s resilience in the face of the news, Malik shared, “I turned around fearing the worst but only to see her soft smile with a twinkle in her eyes of amusement as if ‘I know and I have been hearing that for a long time.’ I had never imagined anyone could confront death the way she did.” 

The actor explained how Jaffri did not let the diagnosis get in the way of her enjoying life. She wrote, “Sitting in the cafeteria while ordering spicy food which she was not supposed to have, ‘Why not?’ She said death is going to come for her sooner than later so ‘why not enjoy all that I love but never allow myself to? It has been following me around long enough hence the fear of death looming around has only made me love myself and everything around me more. It has made every moment I love unforgettable.’”

Malik shared that Jaffri had been prepping for the proposed surgery, but decided to opt-out of it last minute. Writing the veteran actor’s wish to live her life to the fullest in whatever little time she had left, Malik revealed, “One fine morning she called me. ‘I am at the airport going back to Hunza,’ she said. ‘Just this once, I have to live these moments I might never live again and they mean much more to me than the extra years I could live.’”

The Kitni Girhain Baqi Hain actor wrote about how Jaffri was at her happiest during her days surrounded by mountains. “She had heard of death long enough and waited long enough. She taught me to be happy and to wake up to a new day since every night she went to sleep with the fear of death and woke up with a love for life,” shared Malik. “I am sure when she finally went, she must have embraced death with the same soft smile and that twinkle in her eyes,” she wrote. 

Elaborating on her reasoning behind sharing this, Malik said, “So you could see someone who has been told they have little time to live but is living and cherishing whatever little time they had to live.” Adding further, “She lived a lifetime in those moments that people aren’t capable of living in a whole lifetime. With all her smiles, while hiding her pain. All she wanted to say was to start living and loving all that you have.” 

Malik also took the opportunity to clarify that Jaffri was not in need of any financial assistance since the actor was well taken care of. She explained that the appeal made by Jaffri on the topic of funds had more to do with the fact that there was no support system in place for artists in times of crisis. “She was a very proud woman. She did not want any kind of financial help. She had her family who stood by her and her friends. She only raised the issue since she realised there was no support system in place for artists in her situation who might not have the means she did but have every right to financial support from the establishment.”

She continued, “Many of our artists/musicians who have given their lives to entertain us and built up these industries have been forgotten and left to perish in unimaginable conditions. All she wanted was for them to get their rights and the respect they deserve. RIP my friend.”Concluding her note, Malik wrote, “You will never be forgotten and we will make sure you will never be.”

Before being diagnosed with the illness in 2016, Jaffri was a regular face on television, known for her stellar performances in drama serials like Aa Mujh ko Satana, Desi Girls and Thodi Si Khushiyan. She was a mother figure on and off-air, with her grace and strength making her popular among veterans and youngsters of the entertainment industry.