Former banking analyst Emma Slade tells reporter Brad Harper about the traumatic moment which sparked her transformation into Buddhist nun Ani Pema Deki...

When a man pushed a gun into Emma Slade's chest and rammed her down onto the carpet, she thought she was going to die.

It was September 1997 when a stranger knocked on her hotel room door in Jakarta, Indonesia, and held her hostage while she was on a business trip.

Emma was a "high-flying" analyst for HSBC - dressed in Versace suits and heels - who managed accounts worth more than $1 billion and worked in New York, London, and Hong Kong.

The Asian Financial Crisis hit on July 2 of the same year and there were fears of a global economic meltdown.

"I didn't know what his intentions were,” she said.

“I didn't know if he was going to kill me or was sent on contract to kill me because of the financial situation.

"He didn't rob me and go - he robbed me and stayed in the room with me which was incredibly unnerving.”

But after escaping, she embarked on a remarkable journey to discover a more "meaningful" life.

I am sat with Emma, now back living in Whitstable and known as Ani Pema Deki, who arrived in a car with a nodding Buddha on the dashboard.

The 53-year-old is sipping on a decaf cappuccino as she describes her path to becoming a Buddhist nun.

Her dress is simple. Maroon robes, sandals, a beaded bracelet and a shaved head.

She says after the “nervous” gunman pushed her to the floor, she got on her knees and begged for her life.

The telephone rang - taking the pair by surprise - and she looked at the hostage-taker for instructions.

He signalled with his gun to pick it up. “Hello,” she said shakily.

The man on the line had heard screaming and asked her if she needed help. “Yes,” she replied.

After agonising minutes passed by, they both heard sounds outside and the gunman instructed her to open the door - which she did.

She ran down the corridor when she saw armed police and the army outside - waiting for the gunman to shoot her in the back.

This was a traumatic moment for Emma and it took months for her to recover.

But she soon realised her view on life had changed.

"I didn't know if he was going to kill me or was sent on contract to kill me because of the financial situation..." - Ani Pema Deki

“Up until that point, I had been very focused on career success, having nice suits, having quite a comfortable life and establishing myself in the world,” she said

“I felt this incredible good fortune to still be alive.

"I was much more interested in helping others. I was much more aware of the fragility of people.

“It turned out [the gunman] had been a gambler.

"He probably went to an Indonesian prison which is not somewhere you want to go.

“Ultimately he ended up the more vulnerable one, so I feel sorry for the whole situation.

"You always wonder what did happen to him - did he survive?

"I don’t know if he had any children or family.”

After being held hostage and battling post-traumatic stress disorder, Emma became a yoga instructor and set up a teaching practice in Whitstable.

She was drawn to Buddhist teachings and converted to Buddhism in 2003.

After a brief relationship, Emma gave birth to her son Oscar in 2006 and she remains friends with the father.

She visited Bhutan in 2011 and became the first and only Western woman to be ordained as a Buddhist nun.

Her autobiography Set Free: A Life-Changing Journey From Banking to Buddhism in Bhutan was released and she set up the charity Opening Your Heart to Bhutan to help children both with and without special needs.

Emma was born in Whitstable on July 16, 1966.

She attended Joy Lane Primary School and Barton Court Grammar School in Canterbury before going to the University of Cambridge to study English and History.

In a change of direction, Emma decided to study Fine Art at Goldsmiths. “That was better for me,” she said.

“It gave me the change to express myself.”

But following the death of her father in 1993, she “didn’t really want to make any art”.

She had an interview with HSBC for a global graduate programme and to her own surprise, she got the job.

“I didn’t have an economics degree. Sometimes if you have nothing to lose you can be the person who says the smartest thing.”

Little did she know how taking that job would transform her life forever.

• Ani Pema Deki in conversation with Rev Simon Tillotson will be held at St Peter's Church, Whitstable, on Friday, October 4, between 7.30pm and 9pm.

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