From Roses to Ashes: A True Story About Joy, Tragedy, Inspiration and the Choices We Make . . .

By Anna Shaw

A True Story About Joy, Tragedy, Inspiration and the Choices We Make . . .


At every stage of your life, crucial decisions need to be made. We all seek balance and yearn for a life that will guide us in the right direction. But some of us may have taken the wrong path and paid a severe price. I am one of them. Many have seen my life as a sequence of tragedies and bad luck. I am someone who has drifted from one mistake to another, which has led to a domino effect, and what makes the whole situation even more dramatic is that I was born into a life of wealth and comfort.

The purpose of this book is to prevent you from falling into an endless abyss of despair with no vision of a future. If you heed my words, I promise that you can apply them from the moment you finish the book. You may not see it today or tomorrow or ever if you are truly lucky, but most of you will reach a point in your life where you have to make a critical choice, and my goal is to prevent you from making the one that you might regret for the rest of your life.

The Author

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Jul 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482884029

Anna Shaw

This book documents the author’s life from days of wonder to a life that collapsed in every manner possible. Every disastrous choice has a life lesson associated with it. The author’s goal is to guide the reader on the right path—one that would lead to a life worth living.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Anna Shaw.

ISBN:      Hardcover         978-1-4828-8404-3

                Softcover           978-1-4828-8403-6

                eBook                978-1-4828-8402-9

COVER DESIGN AND BORDERS – Nirupama Francis

Silhouettes – Pramila Sekar

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Foreword

1.   The Lonely Railway Station

2.   The Good Times

3.   More Good Times

4.   School and College

5.   Dignity of Labour

6.   The Proposal

7.   The Meeting

8.   The Ramifications of Caste

9.   The Eternal Need for Validation

10.   Of Fathers and Daughters

11.   Don’t Push the Panic Button

12.   An Unforgivable Act of Violence

13.   The Chocolate Sundae

14.   The Torture of Grades

15.   Financial Disasters

16.   Believe It or Not

17.   The Calm Before the Storm

18.   When Love is not Enough

Epilogue

Dedication

To my amazing children

Foreword

L ife is a mystery. It cannot be summed up in one sentence and anyone who is searching for the meaning of life will never find anything close to a satisfactory answer in their lifetime. The purpose of our existence is often tested by this entity called life. Sometimes it can be rewarding. At other times it can be unforgiving. It can take us to new heights of happiness or bring us to the depths of depression. It’s behaviour is that of an emotional rollercoaster. How often have we come across the terms ‘Life’s good’ or ‘Life isn’t fair’? Life plays the twin roles of a guardian and executioner. In the end, when we are in the position of taking our last breath, we reflect on the life we’ve lived and before we leave this world, we either are filled with satisfaction or contempt. But, I know for a fact that life is just a tool. It does not control us. It tries to. It gives us the impression that it is the puppet master and we have no free will. Nothing can be further from the truth.

I have seen the life of someone very close to me. You may have heard of her. She is the author of this book. I volunteered to write this foreword because I want to thank this person for showing me how to control life. She was able to do this with one very simple trick - living. I’ve seen her life. Her entire existence has all the components of a personal drama - family, wealth, intimacy, tragedy, failure, depression, elation, suicidal tendencies, hope, faith, religion, atheism and love. Watching her live her life has made me reflect on the choices I have to make for my future or more specifically, what not to do in life because the title of this book has a deep meaning. It is a metaphor for one person’s descent from wealth and comfort to a life of insecurity and self-loathing and there is no one to blame, but the person who chose to make those choices. The lesson here is that even if you feel that life wronged you in multiple ways and played the odds against you, you can always fight back as long as you are alive or you can choose to succumb to the torture and live the rest of your days in contempt.

If you are someone who has lost hope, this book will put that back in you by showing you one regretful decision after another made by one person, so you realise that hope is that stubborn thing that will never die. If you are someone looking for direction,