Tired of battling melancholy and regret and wanting to find a purpose in her directionless life, the author decides to go away to a Vipassana ashram to explore the depths of her mind and come away free of the emotional baggage that she knows is impeding her life. Aware of the rigours of this form of meditation, she is nevertheless unprepared for the frightening loneliness and solitude of the ashram, where one is required to meditate for ten and a half hours every day for ten days in complete silence. Battling the demons from her past and trying valiantly to achieve the miracles she is hoping for including writing her very first book based on her experiences in the ashram she unfortunately encounters defeat and severe disillusionment. It is only when she surrenders to the knowledge that everything is impermanent in life, that the true miracle of life is revealed to her. Vipassana: The Journey of a Thousand Steps is a beautiful, moving soliloquy of suffering, hardship, sorrow and surrender, set in the cradle of the mystical Aravali hills near Delhi and shows the beauty and poignancy of pain and the futility of struggle. It is a story that all readers can identify with as a microcosm of their own lives of defeat and triumph, trials and tribulations. It is a story of strength and courage and hope and ends with the author emerging from the ashes of her dreams like the proverbial phoenix.
