Wednesday 16 April 2014

Memories ~ Warm recollections !


Memories are a way of holding onto
 the things you love,
 the things you are,
 the things you never want to lose ~
( from the television series - The Wonder Years )





I always feel you cannot have a present unless you have a past. Our life is a series or a collection of memories that stick with us till eternity because the precious ones never fade even with the passage of time. Memories can be good and bad both and while the good memories are meant to be cherished, it is always better to let the bad ones slip through the fingers and be forgotten like a bad dream . Today, we are only talking about the good memories, the ones that bring a smile to our face every time we think about something.....it can be a memory pertaining to your childhood, a holiday, your siblings, your first home, your first job, a relationship, your parents or anything else..... the list can go on and on. The happy experiences in life can be preserved and kept fresh only if you keep sprinkling the water of memories over them time and again :)
Memories have a habit of stumbling out from the most unexpected quarters when we are least expecting them. I always find some pressed flowers and leafs fly out as I flip through some old books . A flower here , a leaf there contains many secrets, many stories of events, occasions and people with whom it was associated and surely makes you go back to the day when it originally crossed paths with you. It makes me  smile and remember the day with fondness.Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it :)






 



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Handwritten letters, postcards and greeting cards have an uncanny knack of becoming the most affectionate  memories even years after they were written or posted. Every time you come across them, the memories and emotions surge over you like an unsurmountable wave that always leaves behind a lump in the throat . I still have the first letter my mother wrote to me after I got married . It did not contain any sermons and do's or don'ts (thankfully) but just a simple letter written by a mother to a daughter who had just stepped into a new world . It is something that can make me smile even on a grey day :) Yes, ma , I still have that with me ( in case you are reading this ).




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Photographs - Can there ever be an alternate way of creating or capturing memories ? Never ! I'm sure we all have several pictures of our loved ones, clicked in different locations, different moods, different times, different appearances, at different ages/stages....things/times may change but the only thing that remains constant is the love that emanates and plunges forward from each one of them. We have a wall of memories at home that is dedicated to photographs of family members . Of course, I'm working on a theme and a 'look' for it and hopefully I'll come up with something that enhances the memories attached with each one of them.

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Memories can also be induced by certain smells . Even the faintest waft is enough to transport you back through time and space to a long forgotten moment. The sense of smell can be highly evocative. I still remember the smell of my newborn babies. Coupled with the feeling of being a mother ( a new one at that) the sweet smelling fragrance of little wrinkled hands and feet was truly intoxicating and something I can still re-live every time I close my eyes and take a deep breath :)
Talking of smells, I have a funny story to share here. Whenever I see and smell Rajnigandha flowers ( tube roses) I am reminded of the Cricket World Cup finals ( 1996). That was the day when Sri Lanka snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and went on to win the world cup. I am a great cricket enthusiast and as the whole family got together that day to watch the match in our TV room ( Of course , I was'nt married then and this was my parents home I'm talking about ) we were so engrossed in the game that we never even gave more than a glance to the bunch of Rajnigandha flowers picked and placed in a vase by my mother, right next to the sofa. As we spent the entire day soaking up the match starting from the first ball to the end of the innings till the time the world cup trophy was lifted by the Sri Lankan team ( not to mention the post match excitement) inadvertently, we soaked up the fragrance of the flowers too. I don't know about the rest of the family but the entire episode of Cricket world cup finals that year created a deep rooted association with the smell of the flowers. Even today, when I breathe in the fragrance of those flowers even at a florist, what flashes before my eyes is the image of Arvinda D'silva and Arjuna Ranatunga huffing and puffing as they ran for every single run ( since they were not known to be the fittest  players in their team ) just to bring their team closer to the winning total .Now, if you are'nt a cricket fan, you might think I have lost my mind and what's even worse, even if you are one, you still might draw the same conclusion about me ( !) .Okay, enough of my bizarre memories but really, nothing is more memorable than a smell that can help you to conjure a childhood summer, a moonlit beach, a family dinner or .......even flashes of Sri Lankan players running for dear life  ;)

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There are times when even the smallest and the most unassuming objects become instrumental in containing in themselves strong memories of a red letter day in your life.....for example, these pebbles that came along a whole truck full of sand during the construction of our house . My kids used to spend hours picking pebbles of all shapes and sizes while playing with sand . I picked up the most cutest, smoothest and the roundest ones I could find in the heap and have preserved it as a reminder of the good old days of house building. They also contain the headaches and heartaches that came along with the construction  work and saw us through the finishing stages  of our home. They have been through this journey with me and I have a special corner in my heart for them. I gave them a facelift when our home completed two years by painting them and they serve as paper weights mainly and also at times adorn my coffee table :)







I also want to salute the people who are living by on memories of the days gone by or of people who are no longer with them. I know how hard that can be . In that case memories serve as lifelines and I know many people who cling on to them, refusing to let go.  Hats off to them. That needs a lot of courage !

And because I don't want to leave you on a low note, I must ask you to share here with me, some memories YOU hold dear. It can be anything you find worth mentioning . I'll be happy to hear it from you :)
And aah,.........wait a minute! Before I leave, I have some very exciting news for you. This post is a 'to be continued' post and part 2 will not be about me at all ( are'nt you glad !!! ). I have some lovely people sharing some beautiful memories here with me. I'll be back next week so do watch this space and keep dreaming. That's how memories are made :)



16 comments:

  1. Beautiful post, written from the heart and one that tugs strings in mine too. So true, fragrances specially form such a strong association !! They really take you back to that very moment and recreate it ! On a lighter note, some perfumes thus, are best avoided :P

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    1. Thank you :) And yes, of course , there are some happy memories that you and I both share together :) Haha, yes I agree about avoiding some perfumes :P

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  2. why cant i see my comment? guess i've posted two now.

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    1. ?? No clue ! All the comments have been published . Maybe you can try again and do leave a name :) Thank you !

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  3. Beautiful post! What I love is hearing my grown up children recounting their earlier memories, many of which I have completely forgotten!

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    1. Dipali, thank you so much for dropping a line here :) Well, I'm not too surprised to hear that. My mom after reading this, called me up to tell me it was a sweet post and then she asks, which letter did I write to you ( since I mentioned one here in the post ) ;) So much for that ...haha !!

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  4. It took me some time to read this up:-) but finally I did!and I'm glad I did it as it's such a lovely topic....so close to my heart....I have so many memories, both pleasant and unpleasant.The pleasant ones bring a smile each time they come by...the unpleasant ones I'd say are eye openers and have been teaching me a few things...As I write this I remember my college days,my hostel room and the letters I'd receive from home and from someone very close to me ( happens to be my husband now:-))...It was such a wonderful feeling...and I still treasure each one of them....read them up whenever I find some time....those were such wonderful days!

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    1. Vandana, thank you . I'm glad you liked it. Good and bad memories are both a part of life. I agree some are eye openers but as long as there are good memories too, one does'nt mind . I can imagine how precious those letters must be :)

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  5. "Yaadein yaad aateen hain ".........Such a sweet write up. I am sure every one can relate to these sentiments.
    I can add to this the role songs & music play in bringing back sweet memories. So many people ...so many nostalgic moments are associated with certain songs & you re-live those every time you hear them or even think/hum them.
    My mother was very fond of old hindi songs from movies. At night, when we used to retire ,(summers specially, when we used to sleep in our long verandah in Benaras ,mosquito nets over us & a table fan humming noisily at the bed-head ),she used to ask me to sing some of her favorite numbers.....before deep slumber took over .One that was most close to her heart was 'Tukde hain mere dil ke , ai yaar tere aansoo,dekhe nahin jaate hain dildaar tere aansoo '.
    Yes , memories serve as life-lines.....keeping one's dear ones around even when they are long gone.......Helen.(Ma).

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    1. Thanks amma for sharing memories of nani here. I never saw her but have heard about her from you and I do remember you singing that song so many times to us too :) Lots of love !

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  6. Thank god I have a handwritten letter by my favorite teacher.Well nothing makes me happier than sending and receiving letters.The fact that the person took out time from their valuable schedule makes you feel so important.So cool pictures.Cant wait for the second part.

    PS: I love the mojris! :)

    Yours faithfully
    Bhagyashree Banerjee ;)

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  7. Thank you so much Bhagyashree. So sweet of you to say that and yes, I'm looking forward to the second part too. Thanks for dropping a line here :)

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  8. Beautiful Post Reshma..
    The fondest & most craved for memories for me are of childhood, father,home where I grew up. The cool gleaming red-oxide floor, the old grand pa clock, the gully games during electricity cut times, the huge banyan tree next door, the gorgeous sunsets on the terrace, beautiful moonlight evenings spent in mother's lap chatting & staring at the sky, growing strawberries to sweet limes to roses to tomatoes to corn to passion fruit to every thing else that grows with roots on terrace garden in huge tanks, which my father got it done only to teach us about the plants, he telling beautiful stories in half sleep (self authored on the fly :)) during his siesta times, pestering him to give mental math sums the moment he steps into the home, attending all those cultural festivals with him bunking the schools:) feasting on mangos bought in hundreds, water melons during summer vacation.
    It felt good commenting on this post as all those memories flooded back & made me smile, Thanks:)

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    1. Thank you Padmamanasa for this lovely contribution here. You know, you had me smiling throughout as I was reading your comment because my early memories are very much the same. We also have red oxide floors at my parents home. Whenever I see them anywhere ( though now it's very rare to see them anywhere) I am always reminded of home :) Memories are what make us the people we are today, so happy to share this with you all :) Thanks once again !

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  9. Enjoyed going down the memory lane with your post Reshma. It's so true about reminiscing..it's all about the senses.

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    1. Thank you Arti, for stopping by, liking the post and leaving a feedback. I look forward to hearing from you :)

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It's always good to get a feedback :)