Day 340

I can’t say whether this is better or not. But it’s down to belief– just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t t there. – Horton in Horton Hears A Who

It’s 8: 03 PM on day 340 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself avocado sandwich for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign  while listening to Jason Derulo‘s music– somebody told me off because I put her on the spot and asked for a donation but it’s okay I can take the heat :) – read On Being Alone With My Child on Love That Max  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, continue reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, watch TV, feed myself steamed vegetables and chicken for dinner and brush my teeth once more.

Last Night I was watching John Edward Spirit of South Africa – a show about John Edward – world-renowned psychic medium and the readings he did on his recent visit to this beautiful country – and I couldn’t help thinking I wonder what it would be like to be visited by someone who has crossed-over a few minutes later I remembered all those times I felt Virginia’s – if you have no idea who I’m talking about visit Virginia: An Angel in Heaven – energy around me I guess what I’m trying to say is keep an open mind and know that when your loved ones come to you, you won’t hear them or see them you will only feel them. Can you feel the energies of your dearly-departed loved ones?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 335

It’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to. – Dr Toni Luck

It’s 6: 59 PM on day 335 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,  feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, help my brother study for his English test, publish my Kid of the Week feature,  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, chat to some family members  on Skype,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck –   feed myself an avocado for dinner, tweet about my campaign some more – special thanks to Anna – a kind stranger who made a donation just when I was losing all hope –and brush my teeth once more.

Yesterday I was watching Bicentennial Man – a movie – starring Robin Williams – about a robot who desperately wanted to become human – and what I learned from that was that if you know who you are you don’t need acknowledgement from anybody else which confirmed for me that saying to my mother earlier in the day I try every day to help others and if that makes me a failure then I’m happy to be one when she said I hope at least two of my children succeed in life was the right thing to do. Do you answer to labels that are not your own?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 304

Famous has become a synonym for hero – that’s what I learned today

It’s 9: 05 PM on day 304 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, watch TV, feed myself Batura and potato curry for breakfast, listen to music feed myself tapioca dipped in chutney for lunch, watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 at the Hemingways Mall – it was truly the end of an era when the credits rolled and faded to black it occurred to me that there would never be another Harry Potter movie ever again – go visit my cousin, brush my teeth once more, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – and watch The Oprah Winfrey Show Finale in primetime – good bye Oprah thank you SO much for all you’ve taught me from my daily routine of keeping a gratitude journal to my love of service you’ve molded me into the woman I always knew I was meant to be and for that I will be eternally grateful

Yesterday I logged onto MSN with the intention of checking my mail when an article entitled Emma’s Fashion Magic – detailing the history of Emma Watson’s fashion choices – caught my eye and as I was reading it I realized that the media took ordinary people and portrayed them as heroes thus confusing the world’s population as to what a hero really is with that said I would like to tell you what I believe makes someone a hero you are a hero if you walk the elderly across the street, you are hero if you feed the homeless in your community, you are a hero if you take in a stray dog that has nowhere else to go, you are hero if you offer to babysit for free for a single mom who is overworked and underappreciated in short you are a hero if you extended yourself in service of the world. If you had to choose between fame and heroism would your choice be easy?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 289

You can’t give your power away – that’s what I learned today

It’s 9: 00 PM on day 289 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth,feed myself an egg sandwich for breakfast, go watch Transformers 3: Dark of the moon  – I give it a 10/10 it has a bit of everything I highly reccommend it  – watch TV, answer Jenise‘s (@JeniseFryatt) interview questions  – we met on Twitter, I told her my story and she asked to interview me –  brush my teeth once more and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck.

Today as my mother was getting me ready to go to the movies I really did not want to go partly because I did not want to create more work for my mother and partly because I wasn’t strong enough to tell myself that people were just curious when I caught them staring at me but then I realized that if I didn’t go I would be letting all the ignorant people of the world win so I yucked it up and stepped out into the real world. Are you miserable because the world controls your every move?

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 276

Blessed is he who lives in the present but never forgets the past – that’s what I learned today

It’s 7: 38 PM on day 276 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself brown bread and baked beans for breakfast, hang out with a mutual friend of mine and my sister’s, feed myself barbequed chicken, potato salad and green salad for lunch,  watch the Adjustment Bureau at the  Hemingways Mall – it was a sci -fi-romance about love and fighting for freedom of choice I would give it 5/10 – watch TV,  feed myself barbequed chicken, potato salad and baked beans for dinner, brush my teeth once more and tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – still no luck –

On this day thirty-five years ago a group of South African youths took to the streets in protest of the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools and in honour of that I would like to share with you some footage of that day which is now an annual public holiday that we call Youth Day. Take a look:

Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 250

Love doesn’t hurt. – Oprah Winfrey

It’s 6: 57 PM on day 250 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and chicken curry for breakfast, watch TV – a huge shoutout to Bridgit Mendler & Co of Lemonade Mouth – a movie about owning who you are standing up for what you believe in–you guys did a great job – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign –no luck – feed myself rice and carry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – no luck – feed myself Chapati and chicken curry for dinner and continue to tweet and Facebook about campaign – still no luck

Today my mom and dad were arguing and when he had left she said something along the lines of why does he care so much about other people he’s got a sick child – me – and another one about to go off to university soon and by that time I had already had it up to here with my mom because I realized that no matter what I did with my life I would always be the “sick” child in her eyes and you know what all I have to say to that there’s more to being a mother than taking me to the bathroom and serving me three meals a day sometimes I just need to know that you love me for who I am and not who I could have been. Is your version of love wounding your children?

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://bit.ly/hC7vOu

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 230

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. – Oprah Winfrey

It’s 7: 48 PM on day 230 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself baked beans on toast for breakfast, put the finishing touches on this week’s edition of Kid of the Week and publish it only stopping to feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – no luck – watch the movie It’s Complicated starting Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin – it was about a divorced couple having an extramarital affair after Jack – the ex-husband (played by Alec Baldwin) – gets remarried to a much younger woman – it was refreshing in that the ending was totally unexpected I would recommend it to anyone who likes romantic comedies with a twist –tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck – and feed myself grilled chicken for dinner

Today as my mother washing my bloodied pants she said God will bless you and without hesitation I responded I am already blessed and that’s when I realized that the fact that I could see myself as blessed was a blessing in itself. Do you praise the life you have or long for the life you could have had?
Are we connecting on Twitter? If not, say hi at http://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 215

You cannot be your mother’s confidant – that’s what I learned today

It’s 9: 36 PM on day 215 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a bread and jam sandwich for breakfast, , make sandwiches for the people in our housekeeper’s neighborhood (if you have no idea what I am talking about refer to ‘Day 184’) – it was a nightmare we had to make 6 loafs because 3 wasn’t enough I ended up crying out of frustration which was embarrassing to say the least hopefully it won’t be like this next week:) – tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck today – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, watch TV and watch She’s Out Of My League starring Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller on DVD – it was about learning to believe that you deserve the best in life and although the storyline was really sweet the raunchiness of it all ruined the movie.

Sitting at the dining table making sandwiches my mom looked at me and said your dad left me in the rain and told me to go into the hospital with someone else – they were meant to go visit this kid who had been in a scooter accident together – he looked at me and said who would go anywhere with you my mother continued wiping her tears with the inside of her palm and in that moment I suppressed the urge to wring my father’s neck and attempted to soothe my mother but after an hour of hearing her whine I was reaching the end of my rope and blurted out either get a divorce or shut up not because I liked or even loved my father but because I didn’t have the strength to carry my pain as well as hers. Do you burden your children with your problems?

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 195

Politicians are leaders come election year whereas, leaders are leaders everyday of their lives – that’s what I learned today

It’s 9: 06 PM on day 195 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to watch  Letters to Juliet on DVD while eating pizza and garlic bread – leftovers from last night’s dinner– for breakfast   – it was completely sappy and I knew how it was going to end even before it began but I LOVED it nonetheless the less I would recommend it to all the hopeless romantics out there –  brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign – again I woke up to find that someone had made a donation to my campaign after I’d went to bed last night – thanks Rachel (@theWriteRach) for your contribution it means a LOT to me –feed myself rice and curry for lunch, listen to music for a few hours, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – filled with tomatoes and chilies for dinner and tweet about campaign some more – no new donations were made.    

Today I was watching the news and I heard the leader of South Africa’s official opposition party, Helen Zille say something along the lines of people should vote for the DA – Democratic Alliance – in the upcoming local government elections because it is very hard to make a difference when you’re the opposition party and not the government and in that moment I realized with great sadness that politics had become nothing more than a game because I knew firsthand that you didn’t have to be in the President’s office to make a HUGE difference.  Are your elected representatives politicians or leaders?