Vani Kaushal asked Mel Cormican:

You talk about a lot of things in your book, 'To St Petersburg with Love': Karma, angels, visitation (Anna's grandma dream) etc. These 'words' are commonly used in Indian households. As a westerner, do you have trouble believing in these concepts? How do you relate to God? Do you think you and Anna were destined to meet each other? Curious! Loved your book by the way. Also, do you believe in Law of Attraction?

Mel Cormican Great question! I hadn't realised I had made reference to religion and there was I thinking I had written a secular book, but my religiosity couldn't help but come to the surface! Regarding Karma, I probably believe in it loosely on the basis of feeling that an underlining justice exists, despite appearances to the contrary, at least that is more palatable to me, but probably not in the full way that Hindus might believe in it, with attendant beliefs and practices. I believe in angels and visitations, and I believe most do, due to personal experience or by proxy. There is a certain rationalism in the West that doesn't accept religious beliefs: I am not hindered by that, I think it is a fad; impermanence is a fad, transcendence is a human necessity. ;) How I relate to God is the subject of my next book "Cycling to Helsinki", as I plan to share my experiences and feelings about God, not easy to put in a line, but it is a frank, if accepting sort of relationship I suppose.

Yes, strange as it may sound, I think it was fate that brought us together. Had we not being doing the trip for charity, I wouldn't have got her invite. If a friend hadn't encouraged me to communicate more with her later, it would not have got any further. And St Petersburg had a very special significance for her, which I didn't know at the time, which again speaks of a certain fate.

I am not sure what exactly law of attraction means. In our case, it was often "opposites attract".

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