I have always believed that I am a spiritual being going through a human experience. Therefore, each person who has come into my life has been a lesson, each encounter a blessing.
But since we are all handiworks of those we feel close to and feel appreciative of, I would like to mention a few people who have made my life beautiful. Do forgive me if I have inadvertently left out some names.
Before I thank anyone, I would like to thank my beloved parents who were with me through thick and thin, standing strong, like the Rock of Gibraltar.
Immense gratitude also to my brother, Siddharth (I can never repay Bhai for his love and care in this lifetime), Yulia and my niece, Yamini.
My heartfelt thanks to Dr Dennis Chi, Dr Vicky Makker, Dr Madhu Ghimire, Dr Suresh Advani and Dr Prakash Khoobchandani.
Sri Bhagavan and the Oneness team for sending me healing deeksha and giving me the tools to handle life.
Pilot Baba and all his disciples.
Sahara Shree for his kindness.
Chetna Di and Praveen Da for being my support in a new country.
Dr Meena, Dr Suresh Jhanawar and Sabrina Jhanawar for being supportive in a myriad ways.
Dr Mukul Singh, Dr Dipika Bajaj, Dr Meera Chatterjee and Kumy Khanna Bhasin.
Dr Narayan Naidu will always remain larger than life for me. He spent long hours sitting by my bedside, infusing me with hope, strength and grit, despite his crazy busy schedule. His inspirational words gave me the courage to face my ordeal.
Dr Jagat Narula and Dr Navneet Narula for consistently being my support.
Shiva (for getting me fresh water fish in New York!) and Biru for always being there for me.
Anu, my cousin Mona, Mridula Aunty, Lulu Rana, Adrish Chakravarty, Sudhir Vaishnav, Yasir and Vicky, Supriya, Himanshu–Mandira and their joyous kids.
My late Shail Mama.
Rachna Chhachi and Simi Singh Juneja for helping me write this book in its initial stages. Rachna has her own naturopathy centre and heals her patients with a lot of passion. Simi, blessed with the ability to express well, helped me dig deep into my core and become brave enough to confront some of my memories. She made me feel safe during my darkest phase. Without the help of these two ladies, this book would have been incomplete.
Gratitude to the one who broke my heart but taught me precious life lessons.
Deep appreciation to those friends who were there with me in New York in spirit—Avinash Adik, Amit Ashar, Srinivas Bhanshyam, Gulshan Grover and Shatrughan Sinha-ji.
I want to thank Eric Mistry, my psychotherapist, as well as Santhosh Babu for helping me overcome my fear of public speaking and encouraging me to share my story.
A big thank you to my countless fans and well-wishers. You are, therefore I am.
Thank you to Neelam Kumar for helping me finish this book. Actually, this was her idea. Thank you, Neelam, for putting words to my feelings. This book would not have happened without your brilliance.
How can I not thank Gurveen Chadha of Penguin Random House for showing immense patience through the creation of each draft of my book?
Finally, a big thank you to life itself.
Manisha Koirala
This book has been a work of intense love and deep pain.
Let me explain.
I was handed over a horror script as my life—widowhood at thirty-five, single parenting, limited resources, challenges of daily living and then breast cancer. Not once but twice.
My life has been a struggle to prove my middle-school teacher’s prediction wrong that I would never be able to learn the English language. I went on to write eight successful books.
I met Manisha in 2015. She very generously wrote a foreword to my book on cancer. Back then, we had planned to write her book, but it finally got written in 2018.
During the writing of this book, I realized what a perfectionist Manisha is. She would go through every sentence, every emotion and every phrase and discuss whether it should or should not be in her book.
I waited for her characteristic ‘Babe, thumbs-up’ at the end of each chapter as we read it through. I had earlier been dazzled by her screen presence. But what I saw close-up was even more dazzling. She is brave, vulnerable, honest and very real. These are the qualities that get reflected in this book.
Writing Manisha’s journey, particularly the chemotherapy emotions, compelled me to confront and deal with mine.
Towards the end of writing this book, both of us went for our check-ups and received an ‘asymptomatic’, all-clear report!
That’s how much effort and heart have gone into creating this book. I hope you find it rich in intimacy, imagery, customs, traditions, cancer insights, spirituality and gentle humour.
I strongly feel that our society needs to change the narrative on survivors. There seems to be no space for us. Yet many more of us are now living rich lives—joyously, optimistically and resiliently.
It is my earnest prayer that Manisha’s book becomes an inspiring example of this and leads the way.
Thank you, Manisha and Gurveen Chadha, for giving me this opportunity.
Neelam Kumar