Category: memories

Independence- When did I became independent!

This is a golden opportunity for me to highlight the difference between eastern culture and western culture.

In my culture, children are dependent upon their parents till the time they finish their education and get a job. For girls, even if they have a job, they will stay in their parents’ homes till they get married.

I was 23 when I got married. And even then I was dependent upon my husband because I didn’t have a job. In fact, he has been supporting me all through our marriage. So I’m not financially independent even now. I have some money that I inherited from my father but it’s not enough to sustain my needs for long.

Other than financial independence, I have been independent since I became an adult. The fact that I lost my mom at a very early age made me grow up faster than most kids my age. I used to look after my siblings and we supported each other when we were undergoing stress. Hardships hastened my growing up and I became independent mentally quite early on.

As far as thinking goes, I always was an independent thinker. I was allowed to make my own decisions about studies, choice of career ( which never happened), and marriage. My father supported my decisions every time.

Thanks to Maggie and Lauren for hosting this prompt. I enjoy the journey to my yesteryears.

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Maggie and Lauren are the hosts of Throwback Thursday

This week’s prompt is: Independence

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A precious gift

It was in the spring of 2010 when I first realized that what it would feel like to be a grandmother for the very first time.

Being a grandparent is way different from being a parent. When my grandson was born in the spring of 2010, my status changed and so did my position in the family hierarchy.

Now I was a grandma, which was lovingly called a “nano” in our household. Though it would be many months later that my grandson would learn and use this word but I was being referred to as “Nano” by my family since his birth.

Holding a child of your child in your arms is such a precious feeling. You feel twice the love you felt for your own kids and much more protective towards your grandkids. While you can easily discipline your own kids, disciplining your grandchildren is more difficult. And grandparents are often accused of spoiling the grandkids.

Now I am grandma to three grandkids and I enjoy them very much. But the first one will always be special.

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Fandango is the host of Fandango Story Starter

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Collections that I collected!

Lauren and Maggie are the hosts of Throwback Thursday

This week’s prompt is: Collections – Take this prompt wherever it leads you.

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I remember collecting many things as a child but the nature of collection changed very often. Some days it was beads that I collected so that I could make small pieces of jewelry from them, and then I would switch over to paper dolls and their dresses. But the only permanent collection was of books.

I started with Enid Blyton and at one time I had all of her books available in the stores. It included old books shops, in fact these shops were the major source of my books.

As I grew, the titles of the books that I collected changed too. I fell in love with historical romances writing very cleverly by British author, Georgette Heyer. Then there was Barbra Cartland, Conan Doyal, Victor Canning, Alister MacLean, and many more. I could afford to buy their books second hand and had quite a big collection.

Over the years I added to this library and when my kids grew up, they added their own favorites. Until a few years ago, we had many bookcases filled with our beloved books. But when we moved 4- 5 years back to our latest homes, we decided to down-scale our library. Now we have two smallish book shelves and have given away many books.

The scarcity of space is one factor. Another is the ease of carrying and reading ebooks. Perhaps it’s the need of time to downsize personal possessions.

I can say that I’ve enjoyed my book collection for many years and I hope those books are still giving joy to someone out there.

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Throwback Thursday- Music memories

Maggie and Lauren are hosting this prompt


Welcome back to Throwback Thursday Memory Blog Hop. Lauren and I rotate publishing this challenge every Thursday.

You can use the photo above in your post and tag it with #TBTMemory or #IRememberWhen to make it easier for others to find.

Music Memories

Maybe it’s a song that brings back good memories. Maybe it was your first radio or record player – or iPod depending on your age. Maybe it is the song that always moves you to tears. What song was played at your wedding? Did you have band posters hanging on your bedroom walls? What are your music-connected memories?

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As you said, music plays a great role in our lives. We start by listening to what our parents listen to, and then gradually we develop our own taste. And for me the next step was adopting the music my children were listening to as my own.

Growing up, I have memories of the tape recorder playing Beatles songs as my father loved English songs. At the same time, he would listen to oldies like Saigol, Lata, Mukash, and Rafi, great Indian singers. His generation grew up in India before Pakistan came into existence. He went for his master’s degree in public administration to Harvard, Boston in 1969. On his return, he brought back a record player and many LPs. “The Graduate” was his favorite, and to this day I love those songs.

During the time I was growing up, we listened to Indian songs a lot. They were what our generation was listening to in those days. My older brother was into Boney-M, Bee Gees, Abba, etc and I also started listening to them.

Whenever I hear any of these songs playing, I’m taken back to those teenage years.

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#TBTMEMORY