When Arjun Sen got to know about his cancer diagnosis, it felt like a full stop. Not a comma, not a pause, just an end. He came back home, shut the world out and let the darkness swallow him. But then, a tiny knock on the door changed everything.

His three-year-old daughter walked in and in her innocent curiosity, asked three questions that changed his life:

In that moment, Arjun wasn’t just answering her. He was making a vow to himself. “I told her I wasn’t dying. And as I heard those words, I realised I was making a promise. I would live. I had to dance at her wedding. I found my reason to live.”

But surviving isn’t a straight road. Arjun calls it his Unquit journey, one that had pain, uncertainty and the temptation to give up. “I am human. Each time there was bad news or my healing took a hit, the thought of giving up returned. But then, I would think of my daughter. I would think of our cute moments and fast forward my mind to the next time we will be together. That cute future reality was way more desirable to me than the present. A little escape from the present always helped.”

There was a day, though, when everything fell apart. His health, his personal life, his work - every aspect of his world collapsed. “It was the storm of storms. There seemed to be no path forward. That’s when my nurse said something simple but powerful - "If the headwind is too strong to move forward, take a U-turn. That same wind will now push you." And that became his mantra. "My Unquit.”

To Arjun, Unquit is not just a word, it’s a process. It's accepting you are human, acknowledging you are scared and then choosing to take one more step anyway. “I told myself, I may give up on the next step, but not this one. Just one more. Always one more.” It’s how he completed a marathon, 65,500 steps over 6 hours and 21 minutes and how he’s lived more than 10,000 days after being told he had less than 100.

Through it all, he learned to live in the now. “The present moment is all we truly have,” he says. “There are no guarantees. So why not celebrate now? Answer that call from a loved one. Laugh a little louder. Prioritise what matters. I live like that today.”

And he never walked alone. From random strangers who showed up like "life sherpas" to the unwavering presence of caregivers, Arjun knows that healing is never a solo journey. “There was a black cop during my marathon. At mile 18.2, she said the race was over. But then she changed her mind and drove behind me as I ran. I felt like a celebrity with a police escort. It reminded me that people show up when we least expect them to. We just have to keep showing up too.”

As for unsolicited advice? He smiles and says, “People mean well. But their love often comes as sympathy and that drowns me. So I kept my journey private. I talk about my health only once a month with family. I don’t want cancer to define my life. I want joy to.”

Today, Arjun continues to live with passion and purpose. He learns new dance moves with one clear vision: the day he will dance at his daughter’s wedding. “That thought still fuels me. That hug, that spin, that joy, it’s what pulls me forward when things get hard.”

“First, know you are not alone. Second, yes, cancer has happened but it’s in the past now. The real question is how will you live? And third, just take one step forward. That’s all. Then the next. That’s how you begin. That’s how you Unquit.”

In a world that often glorifies strength, Arjun reminds us that real courage is in staying, in hoping, in dancing, even when life doesn’t play your song.

He’s more than a cancer survivor. He’s a father, a dancer and most of all, an Unquitter.