'Body Betrayed Soul' -- trove of life lessons by a mother for her daughter

When 33-year-old Neha Ganju Tanna, a new mother, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer in 2015, one of her first realisations was that she will not be there to hold her daughter's hand through the challenges that life may throw at her. Not deterred by the thought, she decided to spend her last days penning notes for her daughter, who was born in 2014, sharing lessons from her life.

Two days before Neha died on October 23, 2016, her family stumbled upon the notes she had written over the last 15 months of her life and decided to publish them as a book. A compilation of these messages from a mother to her daughter -- "Body Betrayed Soul - A Young Mother's Journey with Cancer" -- was released at the India International Centre here on Tuesday.

"Neha refused to let her diagnosis define her. The book, 'Body Betrayed Soul', is a compilation of her writings near the end of her life," said Deepak Ganju, Neha's father, at the launch. In the book, Neha, who was an engineer by profession, shares how she was able to enjoy life despite knowing that her end was near and recounts the moments she cherished with her baby daughter.

She tells her daughter how to deal with challenges that she may be faced with while growing up and delves into her idea of nature of God, family and identity. The book also offers a first-hand account of Neha's everyday struggle with cancer. In her messages, she has also stressed on the need to raise awareness about the deadly disease.

Neha was born in India but migrated to the US with her family when she was 11 years old. She returned to India in 2014 for work. However, she headed back to the US after her cancer diagnosis. Neha is survived by her husband and daughter, who is five years old now.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)