Tag: TBTMemory

My snacking habits- Past and present

This week out Throwback Thursday prompt is from Maggie- Snacking habits

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We used to eat substantial lunch and dinner when we were growing up. Snacking wasn’t a habit that was encouraged when we were young as it would spoil the appetite for the next meal. And store bought stuff was very rare unless it was a special occasion.

Now the special occasion could be rainfall in summer. In the monsoon season, getting samosas from the market or making pakoras was almost natural. As the only girl in my family, it often was my duty to make pakoras when the rest of the family waited impatiently.

Another snack I was good at making was peanut brittle, made with brown sugar, or “Shakar” as we call the raw sugar. It was ready in minutes and lasted that long too.

Home made French fries were another snack that we made but it was my younger brother who made them. He is very good at it and still makes them for his family.

When I learned to bake, chocolate cake, marble cake and brownies were added to the things we could have as snacks. I had my mom’s cook books and I tried to make as many recipes for which I could find the ingredients!

So I have written about so many goodies we used to have as kids, but these were rare occasions and not everyday occurrences. My grandma was always asking us not to snack in-between meals as it would spoil our appetite. And, ironically, I say the same to my grandson!

Nowadays, I use my snacking habit to replace my lunch. Because with age the digestive system has slowed down and one can either snack or have a meal.

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Thanks Maggie for reminding me of days long ago and the snacks we ate!

#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

TV Memories

This week for Thursday throwback, Lauren asks us about our TV memories

The first time I watched a TV was when my grandparents got one. My mom had recently passed away and my father had gone to America for a Masters’s degree in public administration. He reluctantly left us with our grandparents, his parents, because this was a US government sponsored scholarship and he had to go.

My grandparents thought that we needed to be amused and entertained so they got a black and white TV. We were quite young at the time. Ages 9-5 years. So we didn’t know much English. My grandfather would sit with us and translate the English dialogue into Urdu for us and my grandmother who didn’t know English either. Thinking back, I feel it was very kind of them.

There were Urdu tv programs in those days but not many. Television industry was just starting in Pakistan. Most of the programs we watched were English, mostly American.

I remember;

The fugitive

Man from U.N.C.L.E

Bewitched

Avengers

Perhaps there were more but it was a long time ago. There was one cartoon program of five minutes duration which we waited for every day. I think the cartoons were loony tunes or some earlier version of them.

As we grew up, so did the television in our country. Now we have exclusively Urdu programs. I still think fondly of the time we were first introduced to tv.

#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

Remembering my pastimes and toys I played with

Each week Maggie and Lauren ask us to think back to our childhood. This week they are asking what toys we played with and what were our hobbies/ pastimes!

Like girls my age, I loved playing with dolls. I had one which I kept for the longest time. My father brought it for me when he came back from America. It could blink and had long golden hair. I used to stitch clothes for it, made sweaters, caps and booties and even shoes for it. I think I outgrew it when I was about 13-14.

Other then playing with this doll, my favorite pastime was reading. I would read anything that I could. Another thing that I liked to do was making things with beads. I would make little pieces of jewelry or hair clips with beads and sell them to my class mates. As I grew older I convinced my father to let me buy a knitting machine. I made sweaters, scarves and caps for everyone. Making scarves with two front pockets was my specialty. I earned money by making them for my friends. But this was when I was around 18.

We were four siblings and most of our afternoons were spent playing outside. Hockey, cricket, football and cycling. We were allowed to play outside our homes too as there weren’t and security risks in those times.

Thursday throwback prompt this week is: Toys and Pastimes. Hosted by Maggie and Lauren

#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

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

#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

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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#Keepitalive

#TBTMemory

Throwback Thursday # 6 – Gifts

Lauren and Maggie are hosting this challenge.

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Throwback Thursday Memory BlogHop where we take on a nostalgic object, event, or memory and blog about it. It’s the last Thursday of September. Hopefully we will be having cooler days, which in my book means more inside time and more time to blog. Maggie, From Cave Walls, and I alternate posting a blog with the title Throwback Thursday – subject of the week.

This week my subject is memories of gift giving or receiving.

You can share a story or poem about yourself, your family, or your friends. Feel free to use the photo above in your post and tag it with #TBTMemory or #IRememberWhento make it easier for others to find.  After you’ve written your reply post, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here.  You can also add your thoughts to the comments below if that works best to you.

When Maggie and I were talking about my topic this week, we both realized there were a multitude of ways to go with the prompt. Personally, I have been given some silly gifts, some inappropriate gifts, some wonderful gifts, and of course sentimental gifts. If I add in all the presents I have given, the list of options to write about gets even longer.

What about you? What memories do you hold in relation to gifts? Was there some gift so wonderful that you will never forget it? Do you still remember a gift from a beau? Do you put such great thought into the gifts you give, that you hold those memories close to your heart? What about silly gifts you’ve been given or gifted?

Today I ask you to reach back into your memory bank and tell us about a gift you received or gave.

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I would write about the many amazing gifts that I received

But alas my memory refuses to recall any of them clearly

Though I know that there have been many that gladdened my heart

And made me proud to be that person who inspired that loyalty

As for the gifts that I thought up and presented to my loved ones

Those have been so many and so varied

From a simple bouquet and a homemade card

They include expensive gadgets and
pieces of jewelry for my daughters

It matters not the value of the gift you give or receive

What matters is the love that accompanied that gift

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#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

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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#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

Throwback Thursday – Pets in my life

Lauren and Maggie are the hosts of this prompt

Welcome back to Throwback Thursday Bloghop, where Maggie and I alternate offering a blog topic about a nostalgic object, event, or memory. After you’ve written your reply post, please link it here to this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here. You can also add your thoughts to the comments below if that works best to you. –Feel free to use the photo above in your post and tag it with #TBTMemory or #IRememberWhento make it easier for others to find.

Today’s subject: The Pets in My life

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Since this prompt is all about nostalgic memories, I was reluctant to join in at first as we never had a pet growing up. Our family were only interested in raising chickens for eggs or giving the occasional stray kitten/cat a saucer of milk.

But there is a pet in my life now so I am writing about Dinky, our Tom cat. My grandson wanted to adopt a cat and a friend of my daughter had rescued this little guy.

He is such a mischievous kitty. With my 2 1/2 old granddaughter, he is patient and gentle but with my grandson, he is deliberately provoking. He sees his shorts clad legs and aims for a bite in the calf region. There are shouts and tears and then there is a truce between the two.

And then he comes to my grandson for a cuddle and snuggles next to him and goes to sleep. In the three months he has been with us, he has grown up a lot.

Now we have shifted to another city and Dinky is missing his little owner. The plan is to go back, after we have settled and transport him to our new home.

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#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

Throwback Thursday- Games

Maggie is co-hosting this challenge with Lauren

Welcome back to Throwback Thursday Memory BlogHop where we take on a nostalgic object, event, or memory and blog about it. Lauren was steering the ship last week and I get to take a shot at the helm again today. This week I chose The Games People Play

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When I was a child, we preferred to play outside. Sun or rain, hot or cold, we would be outside, playing hockey, cricket, football ( European variety) or cycling. In those days people didn’t need to worry about kids playing outside because there weren’t any threats to our safety. Besides we were three siblings so there was safety in numbers.

When my grandparents used to visit us we would flock around my grandfather who loved to interact with us. He taught us to play card games like dummy, bridge, and patience. He also taught us to play chess and was willing to play with us though we were so inexpert at it. Only my younger brother would give him a reasonable game.

After marriage, I discovered that I loved playing scrabble with my husband. The one who won the game would treat the other to a meal. When we had kids and they grew up to be able to participate in the game, they would team up with either parent and help them. It was so much fun.

And then kids discovered video games and computer games and they also grew up. I used to play card games on my Pc when I got a chance but I found that I have a tendency to get addicted to games so I gradually weaned myself off them.

When I got my first smartphone, I started playing different games on it. I still play card games and sudoku on my phone but for a limited time.

My new addiction is blogging.

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#Keepitalive

#TBTMEMORY

Throw back Thursday # 2 – Sentimental pictures

Lauren and Maggie are our hosts for this prompt.

Welcome to the second edition of the Throwback Thursday Memory BlogHop where we take on a nostalgic object, event, or memory and blog about it. It’s Thursday, and I shall be providing the topic. I will alternate hosting with Maggie from From Cave Walls We will post a blog with the title Throwback Thursday – subject of the week. You can use the photo above in your post and tag it with #TBTMemory or #IRememberWhen to make it easier for others to find.

Today’s subject: Sentimental Pictures What pictures were you gifted? Did you ask for them or was the gift a surprise? What did you decide to do with the pictures? Did you give them to other family members? If you were not gifted pictures, were you given other sentimental items? Do you have any items you want passed down to family or friends? Have you already let them know what you will be giving them?

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As I have mentioned in my blog previously, my mother passed away when I was almost 6. I never knew what sort of person she was. My father remarried when I was 9, and due to the presence of my stepmother in our family, we never discussed my real mother at all.

So it was a lovely surprise when a few years ago my maternal uncle, my mom’s younger brother passed on to me, a few photographs of my mom as a child and a letter she wrote to my grandmother, a few months before she died. I have very few memories of her and remember nothing of significance about her. These photos are of great sentimental value to me.

I cannot share the photos here but they show her as a child of perhaps 10 or 12, riding a bike with her younger brother sitting behind her. Then there is one which is a formal photo, and all the siblings are dressed very properly, sitting down for their photo to be taken.

The letter she wrote to her mom was about an upcoming wedding in the family and the clothes she wanted made for herself and me. That wedding happened two years after her death and I vaguely remember it.

This prompt brought back happy memories of my mother. Thanks Lauren and Maggie for giving me the opportunity to visit the past.

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#Keepitalive

#TBTMemory