It’s 9: 26 PM on day 201 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watched TV while feeding myself bread and baked beans for dinner and tweet about campaign some more –still no luck.
Today as I watched the Cricket World Cup final India vs. Sri Lanka and heard my parents joyous screams when the match resulted in a victory for India I realized that the reason people were so passionate about sports was because they felt connected to something greater than themselves if only for a few hours. Do you support a specific team to feel a oneness with others?
If I have seen further it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants. – Sir. Isaac Newton
It’s 11: 35 PM on day 193 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, cut my birthday cake (see pictures below) and feed it to myself while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. New Zealand–we lost and are out of the world cup and of course it stings a little but in the bigger scheme of things it’s just a game … people are dying in Japan – and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – someone who prefers to remain anonymous donated $54.92 – both you and I know who you are thank you for your donation 🙂
Today being my birthday and all I would like to dedicate this post to:
My mother who does things for me that nobody else would do
My father who has taught me everything I need to know about myself to survive in this world
My siblings who never complain even when my parents give me more attention just because I am on a wheelchair
My extended family who show me every day that I am not in this alone
Virginia – our late housekeeper – who has taught me how to love unconditionally
Gerda – my physiotherapist – who expects me to go out and do great things in spite of my disability
Nelson Mandela who has taught me courage of conviction
Oprah who has taught me that you receive more when you give
The cake
The cake out of the box
Me cutting the cake (my eyes appear closed because I am looking down at the cake)
It’s always good to remember where you come from and celebrate it. To remember where you come from is part of where you’re going. – Anthony Burgess
It’s 8: 12 PM on day 186 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself French fries for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, exercise for 5 minutes, tweet about my campaign some more – @whoamitome (Juliana) who by the way has donated once before made another donation of $20 – thanks Juliana 🙂 – and feed myself butternut for dinner
A couple of days ago I was watching a Cricket World Cup match held in India on TV and I suddenly felt a twinge of guilt because I saw how proud the people of India were of being Indian while I was not and to make up for that I would like to take this opportunity to bring you the best of India – from architecture to food, music, movies and celebrities – enjoy 🙂
Welcome to my motherland
Taj Mahal – Wonder of the World
Taj Mahal, a mausoleum that was built on the southern bank of the Yamuna (Jumna) River, outside Agra in India, by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Arjumand Banu Begam (also called Mumtaz Mahal, of which the name Taj Mahal is a corruption). She died in childbirth in the town of Burhanpur in 1631, after having been the emperor’s inseparable companion since their marriage in 1612. The building was commenced around 1632 by plans prepared by a council of architects from India, Persia, Central Asia, and beyond. More than 20,000 workmen were employed daily to complete the mausoleum itself by about 1643 and the immediate adjuncts (mosques, wall and gateway) by about 1649. The entire Taj complex took 22 years to complete, at a cost of 40,000,000 rupees.
The Golden Temple, Amritsar
The Golden Temple was first built by the fifth guru, Guru Arjun Singhji, to house the Granth Sahib – the holy book of the Sikhs. It was rebuilt in 1803 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The temple is also known as Darbar Sahib or Hari Mandir Sahib. The temple is located in Amritsar and is the holiest place of the Sikh faith. It is built in the middle of a holy pool. The dome of the temple is covered by a gold leaf. The interior decoration consists of inlay work done with semi-precious stones in a delicate floral design.
The Akal Takht (or the immortal throne) was established near the temple by the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind Singhji. It is the seat of the supreme head of the Sikh religious authority.
India Gate
This 42-meter high structure is located on the other end of Rajpath from the Rashtrapati. Also designed by Lutyens as a war memorial, it has the names of Indian soldiers who died in World War I inscribed on it. An eternal flame, a tribute to the Unknown Soldier, was placed under the arch in 1971.
Chapati/Roti
Thin bread cooked on the griddle.
Biryani
A fancy rice casserole, often containing meat, poultry, seafood or
vegetables
Dosa
Crispy, crepe-like southern Indian specialty filled with potatoes or vegetables
If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we’re apart.. I’ll always be with you. – Winnie the Pooh
It’s 9: 04 PM on day 183 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. Ireland – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who are officially in the quarterfinals after their victory over Ireland – bring the cup back for Mr. Mandela boys I am sure he’s rooting for you 🙂 – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – no luck – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and vegetable curry for dinner and continue to tweet about my campaign – still no luck – I’m disappointed but it’s okay I’ll keep trying 🙂
Today I was feeling all kinds of awful my body was sore, my muscles were aching and all I wanted to do was sleep but then I remembered what Will Smith said on Oprah great people do what they do hurt and suddenly I didn’t feel so tired anymore because I could see in my mind’s eye images of children dying of cholera. On a bad day do you give up on yourself or look to harness your inner strength?
Guys are overrated – that’s what I learned today 🙂
It’s 11: 11 PM on day 180 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – vegetable curry for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – @Pitbull1970 (Al) made a $6 – thanks Al 🙂 – start reading book Sea of Miracles by Amy Oscar (@AmyOscar on Twitter) – I haven’t read much of it but I could really relate to the parts I did read 🙂 – watch the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. India – it was a close match but congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who beat India in India – it was the funniest thing my mother, my father and my brother were supporting India while I was supporting South Africa LOL 🙂 – feed myself Batura – deep fried bread – for dinner and watch Aquamarine – a coming-of-age movie about a mermaid – I had watched it about a hundred times before but my sister insisted that we watch it again and I didn’t have the heart to say no – I’m a total pushover when it comes to family 🙂
As you may or may not know I do not date because in my culture dating is prohibited until such a time that you are ready to settle down and have a family and although it used to bother me when I was younger looking back on it now I realize that not being able to date has forced me to love myself from the inside out so I guess that’s one thing my parents did right – thanks mom and dad. Do you seek love from the opposite sex because you don’t love yourself?
Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul. – Unknown
It’s 9: 15 PM on day 171 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a chicken hotdog and banana for brunch while watching the Cricket World Cup: South Africa vs. Netherlands – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who beat the Dutch quite comfortably in the end 🙂 –tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck but on the bright side I got my sister’s friend, Jessica to agree to give up her junk food for a week and donate the money – I love getting the youth involved in giving it makes me feel oh so good inside 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, exercise for 5 minutes, tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck – feed myself bread, grilled and salad for dinner and watch The Oprah Winfrey Show.
A lot of people have complimented me on how articulate I am about my feelings but today as I heard Wake Up Everybody by John Legend & The Roots I realized that I was probably the least articulate person in the entire world because that song did in 4: 09 what I’ve been trying to do for the past 4 years – shake the world out of denial – take a look:
All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers … Each one owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he was born. – Franois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon
It’s 9: 15 PM on day 170 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a banana for breakfast, watch TV while feeding myself a chicken polony sandwich for a snack, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck – send the priest who I mentioned yesterday another link to my campaign – he lost the one I sent him before – a few hours later he replied back saying Hey this is wonderful what you are trying to do. If you don’t mind, can I share this with others? Let’s see how many respond. All my support and wishes for your good campaign. Best…. I am not sure how much it will help but he’s trying and in my book that counts for a LOT 🙂 – feed myself butternut and grilled chicken for dinner, watch the Cricket World Cup match: England vs. Ireland – it was positively brilliant everybody had counted Ireland out before the second innings even started only they didn’t count on Kevin O’ Brian scoring a 100 of 50 balls which gave Ireland a 3 wicket victory over England with 5 balls to spare – well done to the Irish they played superbly just goes to show anything is possible if you believe 🙂 – and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Yesterday I was watching the news and heard Noureddine Mezni – the spokesperson of the AU – say it is an African problem and we have to seek African solution. This is also an internal issue. Libyan people themselves are against external interventions. We are supporting them and strongly condemn the use of force against peaceful protestors and I thought to myself you’ve got to be kidding me ‘it is an African problem and we have to seek African solution’ crude oil prices are raising… everything that happen anywhere affects everybody else that’s when it occurred to me that the problem with the world today is that people are so busy trying to protect their territory that they can’t see that there is truly only one territory – Earth. Do you recuse yourself from certain situation and conversations because you feel it doesn’t affect you or ‘your people’?
To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them. – Charles de Montesquieu
It’s 11: 01 PM on day 164 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck today – feed myself a chicken polony sandwich for brunch, exercise for 5 minutes while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. West Indies – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – you guys did AWESOME South Africa loves you – special mentions must go to AB de Villiers and debutant Imran Tahir both of whom played EXCEPTIONALLY well – keep it up guys 🙂 – and feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and chicken curry for dinner.
Today I asked my friend @pamslove (Pam) if she could help me raise the remaining $3691.31 that I still need to build a well in Africa or India and she told me she would happy to retweet my blog posts and that’s when I came up with the three way in which YOU could help too you could: log on to http://www.firstgiving.com/nishavarghese and make a donation, organize a fundraiser at your workplace/church/school (Note: if you do organize a fundraiser make sure you check the website on the day of the fundraiser because the ‘Total raised so far’ changes almost every day) or help spread the word by sharing this post with everyone you know via social networking sites and email. Will you stand in front of me, behind me or beside me? 🙂
You should never be ashamed of any aspect of your life – that’s what I learned today.
It’s 10: 43 PM on day 162 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck today – feed myself bread and jam for brunch, listen to music, feed myself rice and curry for dinner, watch the Cricket World Cup match: England vs. Netherland – I couldn’t believe that the Dutch had done so well they lost but still they fought till the very end 🙂 – start reading Holly by Jude Deveraux – for the THIRD time LOL – I am NOT obsessed I am just a sucker for romance 🙂 – and exercise for 5 minutes.
Today at about 3:30 PM I heard the roar of an engine and when I looked out through the dining room window I saw that my parents had come home from work and my first instinct was to close the website I was on because I knew that if my father saw me reading Romans 12: 9-21 I would be in for a world of ridicule but then I realized that in doing that I would be denying my faith so I just kept doing what I was doing before my father had arrived and true to form he came in, saw what I was reading and said with a tone of mockery in his voice so you’re reading the Bible… have you also been saved – referring to my uncles who had recently converted to Evangelism – and I replied with a strength I didn’t know I had saying I will not apologize for reading the Bible just because you don’t. Would you forsake everything that you held near and dear just to be accepted? 🙂
