Preface

In 2013, while I was battling cancer in New York, I met a Rinpoche who had travelled to the US from Nepal. In Tibetan, Rinpoche means the ‘precious one’. It is an honorific title used in Tibetan Buddhism for a teacher of the dharma.

He advised me to treat every feeling I was going through as a ‘precious jewel’ and pen all of them down while I was experiencing them. He further told me that the mind was conditioned to forget and if I did not commit these feelings and thoughts to paper, I would lose the valuable lessons of my chemotherapy days in the mundaneness of everyday life.

So while going through that phase of my life I kept fragmented notes in my diary, hoping to spin them into a book later. Truth be told, bits of this book were written in my head during my chemo days. But I found it hard to sit down with my painful memories and document them in a book.

Now I have finally got around to writing one. My book is a result of intense soul-searching. I have plunged deep into the dark, bottomless pit of painful memories and woven a story out of them. It has taken a lot of courage to confront and relive my experiences. But I needed to do so in order to become a true storyteller for the readers’ sake as well as my own.

Manisha means Saraswati. This book is an attempt to look for the Saraswati in Manisha.

Writing it has been a soulful experience for me. And I hope it will make an enjoyable read for you.

I offer my book to you with a lot of love.