Stardom drove me insane-Anu Aggarwal

She splashed on the showbiz shoreline Aphrodite like triggering a testosterone tsunami. Mahesh Bhatt's Aashiqui made Anu Aggarwal 1990's hottest dream - tall, dark, bohemian. For Anu too, it was an overnight induction into a fantastical reality. But before the stardust could settle and before the caviar could intoxicate... she fled the revelry to lose herself in the anonymity of an ashram along the tranquil Ganga. It was 1997. There she was given a new name - Anandpriya. Under the starlit skies she exorcised her stardom. In the expanse she experienced the power of yoga.

And explored tantric sex to reach new dimensions... till the female inmates, covetous of her sway, bundled her on a truck and slammed the gates forever. 1999. One treacherous night, her hi-end vehicle turned turtle and plunged Anu into a 29-day long coma. Battered bones, a palsy-ridden face and an erased memory... Anu was stripped of every resemblance of the diva she once was. Three years of excruciating rehabilitation, botched up surgeries and near-death experiences later... Anu understood the fragility between life and death, the chasm between the real and the surreal. She absolved herself of her possessions - her luscious locks, her indulgent apartment and other tangibles. She went beyond herself - to serve and teach slum kids AnuFun Yoga, a healing module she developed. And then she wrote the book Anusual: Memoir Of A Girl Who Came Back From The Dead to share her story of destruction and resurrection. In losing it all - her ego, her facade, her fame... Anu Aggarwal discovered the spunk of her soul. Read on...