How This Book Began

How This Book Began

People often ask me why I decided to write The Peace She Promised.

The truth is, the book wasn’t born from a single moment. It grew from years of conversations.

I’ve always been open about my experiences. Over the years, I’ve shared parts of my journey with friends, colleagues and even people I met by chance—hoping that if my story could help even one person, it was worth telling.

Many of them would say, “You should write a book.”

I always smiled and moved on. There was one reason I hesitated.

The experiences of intimate partner violence I had lived through were deeply personal. I wasn’t sure I wanted those chapters of my life to become public.

Then, in early 2025, a conversation changed everything.

One of my closest friends, Maitreye, said something very simple: “You have so many stories to tell. Why don’t you write them?”

At that point in my life, both Veena and Lana had moved abroad and were building lives of their own. For the first time in many years, I found myself asking a different question: What is the purpose of this next chapter of my life?

I wanted to do something meaningful—not just for myself, but something that might help others.

That conversation stayed with me.

I went home.

Opened my laptop.

And started writing.

Within two weeks, I had the complete structure of the book—the acts, the chapters and the journey I wanted to tell.

I called Veena and Lana on a video call and shared the outline.

They listened quietly.

Then smiled and said: “Okay… let’s see what you’ve got.”

A few weeks later, I sent them the first draft of Act One.

Soon after, I received voice notes.

They were crying.

For the first time, they were learning things I had never spoken about while they were growing up.

The weight of those memories stayed with them for days.

When we finally spoke again over a video call, we cried together.

And then I reminded them of something I had spent years believing myself: “We’re okay now. We crossed that bridge.”

Not long afterwards, I shared the manuscript with my dear friend and editor, Tina.

I asked her: “Do you really think I can write this?”

Her answer was immediate: “It’s raw. It’s honest. It’s straight from your heart. Keep writing.”

So I did.

Every chapter I wrote went first to Veena and Lana. They shared their own memories, reminded me of moments I had forgotten, and gently filled in pieces of our family’s story. My mother, too, shared her memories and helped me see parts of the journey through her eyes.

This book may carry my name on its cover.

But it was shaped by the love, courage, memories and unwavering belief of the people who walked this journey with me.

Looking back now, I realise I didn’t write this book because I had all the answers.

I wrote it because I hoped that somewhere, someone reading it would discover that healing is possible.

And perhaps that’s why this story was waiting to be written all along.