Tag Archives: Siblings

Day 243

If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy. – Author Unknown

It’s 8: 56 PM on day 243 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to go open a bank account – my father was in such a rush that I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth but when we got to FNB the staff were so pleasant that it almost made the stress of getting there worth it the woman who helped us didn’t even mind that my signature was far from perfect so to the staff at FNB in Vincent Park, East London I say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE EXEMPLARY SERVICE… YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME 🙂 – make sandwiches for the people in our housekeeper’s neighbourhood (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) – after weeks of not making sandwiches due to the fact that our housekeeper’s son had died we were back making sandwiches once again although I didn’t do much of anything except take slices of bread out of the packet and hand it to her – she was running late and both of us decided that it would be quicker if she made the sandwiches but I didn’t mind because I was doing something 🙂 – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and Kadala Curry – made of brown chickpeas – for lunch, start to prepare my Kid of the Week feature for tomorrow, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and Kadala Curry – made of brown chickpeas – for dinner, brush my teeth, watch TV and continue to prepare my Kid of the Week feature for tomorrow.

This morning I woke up thirty minutes before my brother and just watched him sleep for the longest while thinking about the fact that Lauren – Brennan’s sister – would never again get to watch her brother sleep and feeling grateful that my brother was healthy and alive because although I often feel like killing my brother I live with the knowledge that I would kill for him in the blink of an eye. Are you the richest poor person around or the poorest rich person around?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://www.twitter.com/nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 235

Your talent allows you to show yourself as you truly are – that’s what I learned today.

It’s 8: 25 PM on day 235 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – no luck – attempt peeling an orange – I only succeeded in stabbing all the juice out of it (Note to self: Must practice cutting and peeling an orange) – feed myself an orange for dinner, play wrestling with my brother – Brennan’s death has taught me that life is too short not to get down on my brother’s level and play with him 🙂 – continue to tweet about my campaign – still no luck – and brush my teeth once more.

Today I was chatting with my friend via Facebook and she said having read this blog yesterday wow, you inspire me and in that moment I realized that the reason I loved writing so much was because people saw my soul rather than my body when they read what I wrote. When you do whatever it is you do are you able to show yourself as you truly are?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://www.twitter.com/nisha360

if you’ve given to my cause or you can’t give now, please help me by sharing my cause with others. You can tweet about it like my friend Stan Faryna. This is the tweet he uses: @Nisha360 is a brave, smart young woman trying to make a better world for us all. Please help her do an amazing thing. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/nisha-varghese/nishavarghese

Stan’s very sweet for saying so, but feel free to write what reflects you best.

Thanks to all my friends out there who are helping me make my dream come true: to make a better world for all of us!

Day 226

Whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious people might be informed thereof. – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek

It’s 7: 50 PM on day 226 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a sweet potato and chutney for breakfast, listen to music, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – start reading A Purloined Life – the first of two books in Stella Cameron’s Charmed – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV, feed myself rice and curry for dinner and tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck 🙁

My brother once told me that sharing was caring and since I care so much for all of you I would like to share with you my latest obsession, Jake Coco – a twenty-six-year-old who reflects God every time he opens his mouth to sing. Take a look:

Day 207

A child can ask questions that a wise man cannot answer. – Author Unknown

It’s 10: 01 PM on day 207 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, watch TV, listen to music, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – Georgina (@edumazing) made a donation – thanks again Georgina 🙂 – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, go watch the movie No Strings Attached starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman at the Hemingways Mall – the movie was really funny but it has to be said the sex scenes were a bit too frequent for my liking maybe it’s because I’m Indian and believe that sex is an expression of love that should be kept private – go visit my cousin, feed myself strawberry yoghurt and tweet about my campaign – no further luck.

After the movies my brother, his best friend and I opted to stay in the car while my parents went to do some grocery shopping and out of the blue my brother’s best friend asked him why do you laugh so much and he replied rather matter-of-factly because I can and in that moment I remember feeling so mesmerised and deciding to follow in my brother’s footsteps by doing things just because I can unless there’s a reason I shouldn’t. Have the words of a child changed your outlook on life?

Day 204

Words are like bullets: when well aimed, they have a pretty hard effect. – Unknown

It’s 4: 25 PM on day 204 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to survive a five hour road trip back to East London – the place I call home.

Yesterday our hometown of Lusikisiki was plunged into darkness so we started talking and Kevin – my ten-year-old brother – said with tears in his eyes you’re the reason I’m fat every time I eat something I wonder what you’re going to say and because of that I don’t even want to eat anymore and in that moment I saw life thought his eyes and couldn’t hold back the tears I just kept saying I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Are you shooting somebody in the heart every time you open your mouth?

Day 193

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)

Day 185

Life is bigger than the microcosm we choose to live in. We are all connected. Choose empathy over apathy. Choose substance over surface.  – @TheStyleGent

It’s 10: 35  PM on day 185 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Spring rolls 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 –    two donations were made: the first one was a $1 donation from someone who preferred to remain anonymous and the second one was a $53.85 donation from @Faryna (Stan) –thanks guys your support means a LOT to me 🙂 – and watch TV.

As you may know by now I step back and look at things before I react and today as I watched my sister screaming at my parents over the fact that they left the car door open long enough for someone to steal her cellphone I tried to get her to do the same by saying it’s just a cellphone we’ll buy you a new one there are children dying and she spat with more venom than I thought she was capable of I don’t care after which she threw a pillow at me LOL 🙂 Are you apathetic to the problems of the world because you live in a microcosm?