“I wish I had known that strength does not come from winning. It is a fallacy that only the strong win. Strength come from merely going into battle and living to tell the tale.
But tell the tale you must”
Footprints on the Moon, Chapter 81
About
Nirvashnee Naidu was born in Shallcross, South Africa, and currently lives in Shaka’s Rock on the KZN North Coast. She has 2 children and is a BCom Hons graduate from the University of Natal.
Nirvashnee is an entrepreneur. She owns and runs a fashion business that supplies apparel and accessories to retail chain stores in South Africa.
She started writing as a hobby, and as a way of healing.
Her first book, Footprints on the Moon was published in 2015, her second book, Where the Lotus Flower Blooms was published in 2023.
Books
Where the Lotus Flower Blooms
From the author……
WTLFB is a labour of love and pain. It is a collection of 80 poems that were written over the last 3 decades. It is not chronological, but it does tell a story. I have written hundreds of poems, and I had to eventually narrow it down, as I put together this collection. I have divided the book into separate chapters (themes)… most of them predictable… because my story is not unique. I have not rewritten history. My story, unfortunately, is a story often lived, but not often told. I have decided to tell.
I have divided WTLFB into 8 chapters. I will attempt to explain them briefly
1. REFLECTIONS
A scientist will say that reflection is “the bouncing back of light into itself after striking a surface.” A poet will say, reflection is, “I finally see the light.” Reflections is a chapter where I look back critically at the picture hoping that the path behind me, helps me to better navigate the path in front of me.
2. LETTERS TO MY YOUNGER SELF
In one succinct line, this chapter is what I wish I could have told me. This chapter is a sequel to Reflections. It is Reflections, Season 2. It is a seasoned, scarred, weathered woman looking back at her 21 year old self, hoping that she had kept her safe. In an age without the kind of role models or life literature we have today, armed with very little knowledge, and even less worldliness, these are love letters to my younger self. It is a confessional, and an even bigger apology, because no one owes me a bigger apology, than me.
3. HOLE IN THE GROUND
These are my very first writings. It is the blood and soul of a 21 year old girl. The most common question that I have received so far, is to explain this title “hole in the ground” I was 21 years old when I was diagnosed and hospitalized for depression and anxiety the first time.
This was the year 1991, when I found myself battling depression and abuse….sometimes one, sometimes the other, but mostly both. I had never heard the word depression before, so I decided to look it up in my Dad’s ancient dictionary. There was no medical definition of depression. It described depression simply as ‘a pit, a cavity’ and likened it to a ‘hole in the ground’
In the last 3 decades I have become a connoisseur of words, and I have yet to find a more fitting description for how I felt during that period of my life than “hole in the ground”………………..
Dark, alone, suffocating, numb, dirty, cold, buried…….dead. I subsequently wrote 27 poems entitled “hole in the ground” I have included a few in this collection.
4. BROKEN
If you have ever been abused in any shape or form, then you will feel this chapter. The Oxford dictionary describes Broken as ‘damaged or injured, no longer whole or working correctly.’ This was rock bottom.
5. LOST
This was now beyond broken.
This was beyond rock bottom
This was bottomless…….
6. LOVE AND OTHER PAIN
Very simply, sometimes we choose unwisely….and when we do, beauty becomes ugly, hope become hopeless and love becomes pain.
7. TOXIC
Because sometimes we choose a narcissist…or 2.
Haha….cos we didn’t learn the lesson the first time.
8. HEALING
Healing is painful, but oh so beautiful. Healing is a journey, but healing is also a destination. It is knowing that you have arrived, even though you still have so much further to go.
I can’t seem to find a better way to sum up WTLFB so I’ve decided to steal my words from FOTM.
“Never be ashamed of who you were and what you were when your wits and your reason temporarily abandoned you. I have told my tale, and I have told it unapologetically. I am no longer ashamed of what I was or what I am. I have often been depressed, morose and misanthropic, but what counts here and now is not the departure, but the arrival.”
Footprints on the Moon
Currently available only on Amazon
This is a gripping emotionally charged journey of an indomitable character who must first lose everything in order to find herself again. Emotionally battered she breaks and finds herself battling depression and the conflicting emotions that she still feels for the man that broke her. We meet her devoted friends and family who must helplessly witness the mutilation of a once strong, dynamic young woman at the hands of a sociopath. How far will they go to protect her? Years later, the web of intrigue unfolds as one dirty secret after another is revealed. How many will survive the scandals, and how many will not? “Footprints on the Moon” shines bright with the love and generosity of the human spirit while it still burns deep with anger and regret. It will keep you reeling with conflicting emotions. You will love the characters, and despise them. You will feel their pain, and taste their passion. You will bleed for them and break for them, and just when you think all is lost, this novel will gather you in its warm embrace, pull you close, and make you whole again.
Reviews
Kavitha Nerputh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2015
Amazing read…. Captivating from start to finish. Well written …. Entertaining and informative. Made me shed few tears …. Already missing V
Shaun Govender
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2015
A captivating read. A story that will consume your mind.
Press Releases
Novel by UKZN Alumnus Delves into Social Ills
When she suffered from crippling depression during the third year of her BCom degree 25 years ago, local author and UKZN alumnus, Ms Nirvashnee Naidu, had no idea that overcoming the challenge would be the inspiration for her first novel, Footprints on the Moon.
The inspirational and motivational book addresses themes of domestic violence, depression and abuse which are dominant in the South African society but, most of all, the novel tells a story of a resilient and courageous woman whose strength and human spirit refused to buckle.
Gripping novel sheds light on abuse and depression
La Lucia resident, Nirvashnee Naidu, hopes her novel will inspire and help women who are battling through an abusive relationship and depression.
WITH the country celebrating Women’s Month, La Lucia resident, Nirvashnee Naidu, has published her emotionally gripping novel which follows the trials and tribulations of a young woman embroiled in an abusive and dysfunctional relationship.
While ‘Footprints on the Moon’ focuses on the protagonist’s battle with conflicting emotions and depression, it also explores the lives of her emotionally abusive partner (what led to his behaviour) and those of her family and friends, who play witness to the destructive relationship.
Nirvashnee Naidu’s “Footprints on the Moon” book
Domestic violence and the fight against depression are all very real issues in South Africa. Although a fictional novel, local author Nirvashnee Naidu’s, Footprints on the Moon manages to bring to light these problems. She joins us in studio this morning to discuss her debut novel, her inspiration and the challenge of the dreaded writer’s block!
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