‘Better to die’: Zerodha boss Nithin Kamath’s wife on her chemo, cancer battle

Seema Patil, wife of Nithin Kamath, received a breast cancer diagnosis in 2021. Following a rigorous 10-month treatment regimen, she was declared cancer-free. Recently, she shared her experience of getting diagnosed with cancer and how she and her family coped with the health crisis. Patil spoke about it on Dilip Kumar’s podcast- The Other Side.
Patil shared that her cancer blog post was actually written by her husband, Nithin Kamath. She said in the podcast that she is a private person. However, she was inspired after having conversations about insurance, how much the treatment costs, and how much normal people can afford it. She also shared how she went to a small clinic and realised that the cost of PET scans were too high for many people to afford. Later, both Patil and Kamath decided to share the costs with others and help people. (Also Read: Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath details why WFH did not work for some employees. See post)
As Patil went through several treatments and surgeries, she also pointed out how the experience changed her as a person. She said in the podcast, “I have been part of Zerodha for a long time, but then, I was kind of floating around, and this made me realise that life is so short. I have to do something I am passionate about. I have to find something that I really love, like really feel the passion for it.”
She shared that her first reaction was to hide the cancer diagnosis from her son, Kiaan. But she later realised that her son was “comfortable” and “happy” when she explained the situation to him. Patil also shared that Kiaan would get unhappy if she hid her feelings from him.
“Chemotherapies are really bad. The first time I got the chemotherapy done, it hit me, and I did not know what was happening, better to die than go through this. But the second time around, I decided that instead of just lying on the sofa, let me walk a little; that might change something- and it did. The second chemotherapy, when things started to go south, I went for a walk, and I recovered faster,” said Patil in the podcast. (Also Read: Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath reveals he suffered a mild stroke six weeks back)
Patil shared that she was amazing through her journey. She also talked about how Nithin Kamath would make her laugh and how the two helped each other. “Work for him (Nithin Kamath) is a good distraction. He was always there, but I don’t think he was stressed out. He never thought in a negative way.”