Old Commercials

There is a certain unexplainable joy in viewing the videos of old commercials that you grew up watching on television.

The popular ones that were telecast for months and sometimes years that you still remember every line of it. The catchy ones, whose jingles would stop you just when you were heading to the bathroom, because you did not want to miss it however badly you needed to go.

The ones you could relate to the most and spent your day imagining your in it and perfecting the lines. The ones which had actors you had crushes on. The ones which would irritate you so much that you would walk away or switch channels.

The ones that were your groups' favorite and how you would all giggle and comment on it together. The ones where your parents would turn off the TV, and after a few years you had those Aha moments when you realized what was going on! The ones that brought smiles as it happened to you, the emotional tear jerkers even in the few minutes they would run, the hilarious ones, the silliest ones, the ones that your whole family joked about together. The list is endless.

How we would watch them not knowing that with them we were making memories for so many years to come!

Small Joys

I have always wondered if most people's fondest memories are from their childhood or when their kids were small. There is always a preciousness that comes with that innocence and with which even the smallest of things become fondest memories.

Once someone told me to make sure we make many opportunities to allow our children to make happy memories of their childhood. I was deeply inspired by this and told them about the trip we were planning to Disney World that year. I will never forget the reply to this; kids don't need only big expensive trips to make memories, even small fun outings with the family can remain etched forever.

This is so true, a simple thought but overlooked so easily. If you have any doubts, peek into your mind's memory box like I did, it will be filled with many of those small joys and memories.

The sky's the limit

Does the way the sky looks bring back an old memory to you? It definitely does for me! The feeling is lovely, as though the sky just put up a picture for me from my past.

Like a cloudy sky just before it rains reminds me of my hometown Bangalore. It brings back memories of school days, jumping in puddles, watching it pouring outside with a book in my hand, dancing in the balcony or the terrace, my mom making something yummy to eat perfect for the weather and so many more memories. It is like rain and Bangalore go hand in hand.

A gray sky with the clouds spread across the sky like a blanket reminds me of my graduate school days in Utah. It reminds me of a taxi ride we took when the sky looked like that and the driver explained how that means that it is soon going to snow. Reminds me of the mountains in the city of Logan in Utah and the crazy graduate school days.

A clear blue sky reminds me of our first drive from an airport in Baltimore, when we first moved from Utah to Virginia. It reminds me of how green Virginia looked in that summer month.

The night sky has so many associations too. I was amazed for the longest time how the moon looked different in the USA from how it looked in India. So many memories from dinners on the terrace with my family during summer vacations to walking back home from school around 2 AM, to camping trips gazing at starlit skies. 

There is scope for so many memories to get associated after all the sky's the limit!

Grip of the Gadgets

I like technology and am amazed by how new inventions drastically improve our style of living. But I can't help but miss the small joys that came when we were not in the grips of these gadgets.

I can stay without my loved ones for a bit, if they are busy with business trips, sleep overs etc. But staying without my smartphone is unimaginable. I had recently left my phone overnight at a friend's place and thought I will loose my mind for those few hours. Shocked me to find my addiction had reached this level!

And then there were the days before the cellular phones. It is amazing how we managed to live without being able to track down people to the second. People actually got their space then I guess. There were no frequent calls from anxious parents, nagging spouses, jealous girlfriends. There were no apps updating your location on social networking sites. You did not search constantly for things on the internet. You lived life like an adventure, there was so much unknown and unexplored. There was an element of surprise constantly.

There is no doubt that these gadgets have helped us during numerous occasions and there is no denying the benefits of this technology. But I am so glad I am from the generation that experienced life before cellular phones also. I saw my parents' face when I told them about my success, I saw the look on a friend's face when I played a joke, I was with my love when he first said he loved me. I am so glad I shared these moments with loved ones and not with a gadget.

Associations

It's an eerie experience when my mind makes strange associations between an instance today with an event/experience in the past. Most of the time it happens all of a sudden and so unexpectedly that I am so taken back to even analyze.

It is not Deja vu that I am talking about, it is not the feeling of an event having taken place before. But an association of some event in the past totally unrelated to what is happening today. And the past event just comes as a projected image from nowhere in my brain. And then I am back to usual business. :)

Like the other day I am waiting at the doctor's office I get this image of me waiting for the school van with a particular friend whom I haven't been touch with at all. When I am driving one day I suddenly get an image of when I would go home in a bus and this particular bus stop where a lot of people would get down and I would find an empty seat to sit.

Most of these associations are totally unrelated and not so important events from the past. It will be small events some street I walked in, the way I laughed, a phone call, a reaction. 

I am amazed that I have these visuals stored inside and curious how I make these associations. Does this happen to any of you?

Lines from the past

As I was sorting out old books in my study, I found a sheet of paper with 8 lines of verse. It was not any work of art, or my deepest feelings or any lost treasure. But with it came back memories of my life as a graduate student. It is some silly lines written during a 7:30 am class on a cold winter day when I had dragged myself out of bed to class. I remember the scene and how distracted I was and how hard it was to even sit there that morning leave alone concentrate. I read the lines, laughed at it and put it in the recycle pile. Then I found it again fallen out of the bin and I read and laughed again. Then I put it with the shredder pile and again found it fallen down after 2 days. When I read it again I found all the memories come back again. So I decided I will post it here for myself to take me back to those days every time I read it.

I try not to think of You,
I make my eyes look at the other hues.

I strain to hear sounds other than yours,
I try not to feel the waves inside me roar.

I try my best but away from you I cannot go,
My eyes are blinded and thoughts refuse to flow.

I am obsessed by you, and feel like a looser,
I am lost in your control, dreaded hunger.

Thoughts of Home

Thoughts of home have been haunting me for a few days now. When I say thoughts of home…it is not so much family and friends, it is the thoughts of Bangalore.

The memories of places that I used to frequent, the streets, the people, the markets, the language, the monsoon rains, the restaurants, the food…I can go on and on.

I am visiting Bangalore after 3 years in April and though I am really excited about the visit I am more nervous. I don’t want to witness what I have heard; I don’t want to experience what the others did. I have foolish false hopes of going back to the place and see it like the way I left it. Okay a little change is alright, the changes are okay in the hotspots of the city. But the residential areas still have the town feel right? Oh I so hope it does! I have spoken to A so much about the way things were when we grew up, I have described every single thing in so much detail that with me the poor kid is also going to be in for a shock!

Like for example one of our favorite games that we play is “Tarkari maro aata” (Vegetable selling game). She comes around with a basket of plastic fruits and vegetables and pretends to be a street seller. These guys still come on the roads right?? One of my favorite ones would go screaming “Kotambri, Puddina Karben soppu” with a style that nobody can match! And what about “Kaali bottle shisha paepaaaaar” ?

The other game we play with her is auto game. We take turns pretending to be the auto driver and the other says something like “Barthira Jayanagara”! She is so excited about autos now and is waiting to ride in one.

We have given her descriptions of all our favorite eating joints. And all the heart wishes for is not any of those fancy restaurants that existed then or any of the many new ones that have cropped up now. Okay I am curious to go to those too but not until I go to all the old timer places first and eat the authentic stuff. Maybe I will do a post someday with my list of must eat places when I go to Bangalore.

I last visited Bangalore in March 2007, but with a 3 month old baby, I could not do much. I flew out without stepping on MG Road, it was so bad!!! When I hear about the changes that have happened to that street I so regret not having gone there last time.

So with all these thoughts in my head for the past few days, I have been trying to feel at home by making Canteen style Yellow Pulav, Set dose with Sagu. It is not the same, especially because you don’t get it by just saying the name. Well I should not be complaining so much when there are restaurants here that make “Do-sas”.

Before and After - a Baby

Before: When we went to restaurants and the food arrived, we would relish it and eat it slowly in between a long conversation.
After: When we go to restaurants and the food arrives, we first keep aside a portion that is tried and tested to be less spicy for her, gobble the food up real fast and beam over her in between.

Before: When we got back home from work, it was lazy evenings in front of the TV, cooking together recipes from a cookbook or Chinese take-outs.
After: When we get back from work, it is energy filled running around controlling the mischief like switching on and off the TV continuously, quick meals with less spice keeping her in mind.

Before: On weekends bright sunlight awakened us sometime mid morning.
After: On weekends bright eyes and a smile lit face awakens us early morning.

Before: Most outings were impromptu; we decided now and were out of the door in 30 minutes.
After: We plan outings in advance; when we are adventurous we decide now and the plan is out of the door in 30 minutes.

Before: We grumbled about going to birthday parties and when we did go to a few we would be the first ones to eat and leave.
After: We get excited to see birthday invites; plan her dress in advance and are the last ones to leave as she is having so much fun.

Before: Friday nights were dinner at a restaurant and a movie at the cinema.
After: Friday nights are dinner at home and a movie on our laptop in our room to aid us to sleep in the middle of it.

Before: Conversations over the phone with family was about us, our progress at work, fun things we did on the weekend.
After: Conversations over the phone with family is about her, her progress, the fun with her, and all this only when we get a chance to speak over the phone after her.

Before: Days could be categorized as happy days, sad days, boring days, eventful days and so on.
After: Days can only be categorized as Fun days.