Where are those wonder years?

4:32 PM Priyanka 12 Comments



Now I don't know how many of you remember the 80s American comedy-drama called The Wonder Years, but it sure was a major part of my childhood when they re-aired it in the 90s. A few weeks back however, I stumbled upon something that reminded me of a scene from the popular show and a few clicks later I found myself going down the memory lane with Kevin, Paul and Winnie. Few series have been able to capture the pain and triumph of the adolescence as The Wonder Years, and fewer still, have been able to touch the audience at those sensitive spots in their hearts. 


Watching the show again made me feel like I was missing out on so much. I mean seriously, where's the life? We've all turned into this crazy technology driven race with close to no touch with what matters. We've accepted the virtual as the truth. I've been in Singapore for over 2 years now and I can honestly say that if this race were devoid of all the miracles of modern day science, they'd literally just be clueless on how to get on with life. For instance, I travel on the subway quite frequently and all I see are these zombies trudging to work. There is absolutely no sense of community, everyone is drowning into their own gadgets without giving so much as a passing glance to their fellow commuters.


Where're those close circle of friends, the actual conversations, the running in the streets, the waiting for a  post-card from a long distance friend, the genuine happiness on reconnecting with a loved one, the picnics, the innocence of discovering life at its own pace..


I'd personally be lost without my PC (I'd also be out of work), but that's not even the sad bit. I've witnessed parents exposing their infants to apps on their iphones and ipads, i mean  seriously! What about the good old fashioned legos and train sets? 
I wish life were simpler again..




All right maybe the song was a tad bit too depressing but hello! it's been raining 9 hours straight now and rain makes me gloomy and cranky :\ 

12 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Wordless Wednesday: Winters in my hometown, Kashmir

4:26 PM Priyanka 25 Comments





A kanger, kangri, or kangar, a pot filled with hot embers used by Kashmiris beneath their traditional clothing to keep the chill at bay

The pinkish colored salted tea called "noon chai" or "sheer chai"
 The traditional kashmiri green tea made with saffron, spices, and almonds or walnuts, here served with one of many forms of mouth savoring Kashmiri breads.

The traditional winter wear: Pheren


 The famous Persian poet, Firdaus had said of Kashmir, 
Agar Firdaus bar ru-e-zamin ast, Hami ast o- hami ast o- hami ast.
meaning, 
If there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here..

25 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Lovely, Still

6:25 PM Priyanka 13 Comments


 Lonely in life and love, Robert Malone (Martin Landau) braves precarious wintry snow on the walk from his job at the grocery store to his home only to discover a stranger (Ellen Burstyn) in his house. What begins as an awkward encounter quickly blossoms into what appears to be a new chance for romance and the elderly couples love affair takes us on a heartfelt and wonderful journey that reveals an unexpected twist.


For some reason, stories revolving around old age always manage to move me to tears. Not that it's something sad, but the idea of being old, a point from which you can look back at your entire life, all the things you lost, things that made you happy, every single person who touched your heart, is too overwhelming for me. Specially when it comes to an old couple playing the lead in a love story, almost makes you wonder, if you'll ever manage to find someone who'd wanna make it that far with you.

Ah well, that's just me, somewhere in the middle of a 3-day long (unplanned) weekend, and with hours at hand, I choose to watch the 2008 hit and cry along with Ellen Burstyn every time Martin Landau forgets something (yes its a spoiler) and wonder how life would seem like being at that landmark. I'm only 20 but when I look at my life, there's already this long list of regrets, special moments and days that I'd never forget, so how would it be when I'm 80! Maybe losing half of my memory by then would help keep the nerves calm.

And I know I know, we should always live in the present, but movies like these really shake your inner conscious and force you to think about life in the broader sense, above the trifles of everyday living, even for a day. I'm pretty sure I would've long forgotten about these emotions, the movie, the story, and everything else by the time I'm back at work on Tuesday, and who knows? maybe I'll read this post again and laugh at myself for being such an emo! But then again, nothing is permanent :)

Hope everyone's having a much cooler weekend!


13 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Liebster Blog Award

9:07 AM Priyanka 14 Comments


I sure am on a roll this month! A big shout out to Echo @ Life after kids, thank you soo much for the love!! :)



Getting to the rules:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers

Here are my picks:




Congratulations y'all..!! :)

Spread the word! Spread the love!

n Have a great weekend!!

14 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

So...what do you wanna be when you grow up?

6:13 PM Priyanka 20 Comments

Haven't we all faced this question like a gazzilion times when we were young? Often drove me crazy cuz I never really knew what to answer. I wanted to be so many different things at once. Here's a list of my standard replies over the years:


1. Pilot - I loved the uniform. But dropped the idea eventually when I realized that pilots are actually supposed to fly, at a great height above the ground, which even my 6-year old brain could associate with an enormous risk of falling down.




2. Neurologist - Quite a leap I must say. I got this fun-science book on the human body for Christmas (among other cool things okay? I wasn't a nerd) when I was 10 I think, and in that book, I read this term and many fascinating things about this term that went straight over my head but it all sounded so impressive that I just had to pose it as my most probable career option.




3. Pediatrician - By now, I knew what a neurologist actually did and how complex a human brain actually was, and not to forget, I'd gauged exactly how lazy I'd become, so my work had to be a little more fun than that, and kids are fun! As long as I still got to be a smart-ass doctor, who cared?



4. Private Detective - This was the phase where I was on an over-dose of those Enid Blyton books (Famous Five, Secret Seven, The Mystery Series n all), not to forget, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. All in all, I was quite ready to start my own Private Eye Co. I only needed an office, a desk, a magnifying glass and an overcoat. But I never got any of those, so my dream remained a dream *touche*


5. Veterinarian-  I'm mad about animals, love every one of them!! Even the pigs! With their stubby lil noses and cute lil feet which makes it look like they're walking on high heels (anyone ever notice this?) We didn't have a pet when I was really young so I made friends with a few street dogs, they used to follow me back home and I used to feed them. I even had a name for all of them. We moved to a new location eventually though, but on the plus side, I got to have my very own german shepherd! :)

6. Wildlife Conservationist - To be quite honest, this dream still remains. I'm sure all of us have been hooked to one of those discovery channel or national geographic channel shows where those awesome people get down into the woods, saving animals, protecting the forests, with all their cool gadgets and amazing skills and non-exhaustive knowledge about every leaf in vicinity. Ah, that would be such a life.




7. Computer Engineer-  Reality Check! Med School was way too long for my liking and everything else too vague. Although this was never my reply to the above question at any point of time, but this is exactly what I'll end up being when I graduate college next year. Oh well.






8. Restaurant Chain Owner-  but guess what, I'm still dreaming!! :D so considering how interested I am in my own field, I'm probably gonna stick around for just as long as I earn myself enough independence and security, and then I'll spend all my time and effort on my ultimate love - FOOD!! given of course that I don't change my mind by then, which is a hard thing for me to guarantee.
So tell me...what are all the wildest/weirdest/variant career prospects that you've considered in your life, or are you the with a one-track mind who always knew what you wanted? :)

20 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Pass My Sweatpants (It's PMS time)

9:01 PM Priyanka 21 Comments




Never before have I experienced such a horrible PMS in my life! In fact, I'm furiously torturing my keyboard in the aftermath of the same right now! So, where do I begin? One moment life is beautiful, the sky is blue, the birds are singing, the sun is smiling down at us earthly beings and promising a day full of nice delights! But one nasty turn of the calender and the moon strangles the sun, the birds all die, the sky turns murky and life becomes a living hell!


As most of y'all know I live in a single room at my university's hostel, which is a great thing considering, well, just read this. So earlier this week I lost my door card (or key) while I was at a breakfast with friends.  Now given that a card replacement costs 50 freaking bucks, I did a good job at remaining calm (I usually do, I'm a pathetically calm person in the midst of a crisis and very forgiving too, specially when it comes to forgiving myself) and well, I decided to wait for a day before ordering a replacement. Next day at work (I'm interning), everything was great, I finished my assignment early that morning, so by the time it struck noon, I had pretty much nothing to do. That is when it hit me. HARD.






A feeling of worthlessness started creeping in, joined by a deep rooted hatred for all things cluttered. The next thing I know I'm clearing my desk like a maniac, shoving everything into the drawers and then organizing the drawers as well. As the day rolled by, I felt more and more useless, and even the teeny little things started annoying the hell outta me, like when one of my neighboring colleagues started drinking water straight from a bottle making that glup-glup-glup noise, I had to use all my strength to hold myself back from punching the bottle into his face! I tried to reason out things and calm down but the more I thought the more I wanted to stop thinking!


After what seemed like a lifetime, it struck 6 and I left office, hoping the long journey back to my college would bring some relief to my nerves. However, my i-pod decided to shuffle along with the calender and I spent the next one-and-a-half hours listening to the most depressing songs that I have. I started picturing myself in a movie, having got my heart broken by the non-existent man of my dreams and the sad songs playing in the background, I must've been quite a sight to the fellow commuters. It was in the same trance that I got into an elevator and only when it became too stuffy to breathe did I remember to press the floor number.


That night I realized what a disaster my financial planning had been this month! I hadn't saved much and with the room card lost, I had more to pay up! That did it, I was mad, very very mad. I started screaming at no one in particular, and if it were not for a friend who called me right at that moment to discuss a matter completely out-of-context, I would've probably scared poor Ray (my pet hamster) to death.


Now I'm probably dragging this long, but PMS does happen to last for a week, though in my case it was only 2 days, the second being a sort of roller coaster ride. It started quite well with me getting an email from the hostel accommodation office saying that a certain someone (God bless his soul) had found my card and returned it, so now I could collect it from the office the next day, but once I got back from work (remember I had to collect the card the NEXT day so I still didn't have any card with me) turns out that there had been an inspection of all the rooms and mine was unlocked so the kind and cautious souls that the authorities always are, they'd locked it before leaving. So at precisely 8 pm on a Wednesday evening, I was standing outside my room, looking for something I could bang my head against.


After a few minutes and whole lotta cussing, I decided to stay over at a friend's room (2 floors below), and with that I concluded that the world was never getting any better. It was all to go downhill henceforth. But my friend who was in a more stable state of mind had the sense to find the block officer's contact from the university's online directory and suggest that I should call him, which I did and moments later I was climbing up to my room with him and the master key in his pocket. I felt hopeful, almost certainly silly for being so negative, until the point where he, exhausted from all the climbing (my room's on the 5th floor, no elevator) turned to me and said, "It's a miracle that you do this everyday and still you're not slim!"


If only it were legal to kill..!

21 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

And the award goes to...

10:16 AM Priyanka 12 Comments

ME! ME! ME! :D
So it happened to be just another lousy morning at work, but a little gesture from the amazing Mikki at Mom's Best Nest totally brightened up the day for me!
Turns out I've been awarded..


..award.
I'd like to seize this opportunity to thank my...versatility!
And now it's time to make someone else's day (the best part), so let's get to the rules of this award:

1. Thank and Link back to the person that gave it to you!
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Send the Versatile Blogger Award on to 15 other bloggers and let them know you have awarded them!


Here are 7 things about myself,

1. I love to day dream, often indulging in elaborate discussions/arguments with the people I'm dreaming about.
2. Nothing gives me more pleasure than being close to nature.
3. I have the attentions span of a goldfish.
4. Je t'aime food. Like for all eternity.
5. Sometimes I wish I were a country girl like Heidi (the swiss fictional character by Spyri)
6. My dream holiday destination for now (refer to point 3) would be Italy.
7. I am highly indecisive (took me an hour to come up with these 7 points)


THE 15 AWESOME BLOGS I CHOOSE:



Congratulations to all of you! Have a rocking week ahead! :)


12 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Are you sleeping? Yes I am.

3:25 AM Priyanka 12 Comments

I am a very sensitive sleeper. It's like the moment I lie down and shut my eyes, all my senses become 100x more powerful. I'll be all nice and clean and sleepy and dreamy when going to bed,

but the moment I hit the shack, it's like I'm transformed into an alien creature with extra set of senses,


so that the minutest sounds like somebody tiptoeing, or whispering, or typing lightly with one's fingertips (read: activities that my ex-roommate was restricted to if she had to stay up past my bed-time), and the tiniest light sources in the room, even if it's the light from the outside corridor sneaking in from under the door, become multifold and are repeatedly sent to my half-asleep mind for processing, so although i'm physically sleeping (read: pretending to sleep) what's actually going on is something like this:




Yes, I can tell all of that with my eyes closed (weirdos of the world unite!) I was really lucky to have an understanding room-mate though, she could totally tell when I was pretending to sleep and when I was well and truely out. She tried to make sure she slept at the same time as me, but there were times when that arragement didn't work out and I had to stay-up in my head until she slept, and I didn't have anyone else but my own senses to blame. This year I have a single room and the only person who has to make sure he plays dead while I'm asleep is my pet-hamster (we work out the differences later).

Last night a friend of mine requested to use my room for a group project work overnight, while I was to sleep in her twin-sharing room. I had had a long day at work, so I thought I'll simply crash at her place earlier and fall asleep before her room-mate comes in and initiates the chain of profound thoughts in my head. But alas! I went to bed at around 10 pm and her roommate come back around 2 am, and as expected, my movement-detection-antennas self-activated and I woke up (only mentally though, please note that I'm a very polite person) and you can probably figure out the rest of the story..

I'm worried now.
I'm not going to get pitch-black darkness and pin-drop silence EVERY time I go to bed, its time I trained myself in resistence.
On second thoughts, maybe the government can use my super-sensory powers!



Who am I kidding! I will never give up my precious sleep to save the world!
It's not that I haven't tried sleeping amidst a bit of commotion before, but I've always failed miserably..do you guys have any suggestion?
I can think of only one possible solution for now,



12 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Weekend Planning Blog Hop

11:13 AM Priyanka 15 Comments

Play Along!

Friday:

  • Not really a weekend for me
  • Work from 9 to 6
  • Catch up with some friends at a buffet dinner (tummy grumble)
Saturday
  • Clean up around the dorm room
  • Catch up with this week's episodes of How I met your mother and Castle
  • Attend a Gujrati folk dance event in the evening (take forever to deck-up for that)
Sunday
  • Not wake up to an alarm
  • Laundry-day
  • Possibly help out at the SPCA shelter


*Have a great weekend everyone!*



15 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Blog Hop Thursday!

9:14 AM Priyanka 1 Comments

Bassgiraffe's Thoughts Thursday Blog Hop
Click on the image and hop along! :)

1 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

HOOOO AM I?

3:33 PM Priyanka 9 Comments



This'll be my first ever HOO ARE YOU response-post answering this week's questions:


NightOwlCrafting

1. Do you sleep with the tv or music on?

Not really. I prefer pin-drop silence when I'm sleeping. Music for some reason induces so many thought processes in my head that I can no longer focus on sleeping.

2. What is your favorite technology device that you own?

None. I'm not a technology-driven person. This coming from a Computer Science undergraduate should be a topic of concern (dammit), but I really just use technology to meet my daily requirements, and our attachment ends there.

3. Do you shop the ads for groceries?

Hahah no, I don't do groceries, just as yet.

4. What are you favorite pair of shoes?

Oh I have these pair of black court shoes which I absolutely adore! They're decent, neat and a perfect fit for almost any occasion! 

5. Have you done any fun fall activities yet?

Nothing fall-specific yet, although I am looking forward to Halloween, my friends and I have a couple of fun activities (read: epic all-night clubbing) planned around that time.  




Do visit the link above and leave a link to your post answering these questions, so we're all a little less of strangers! :)


*Have a fabulous week ahead*

9 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

My version of a perfect life

11:59 AM Priyanka 7 Comments


Miles and miles of fresh green grass..




















A beautiful sun to greet each morning..




















A warm countryside neighborhood..


















A pretty little home..



















A wonderful business..



















A few bad-ass companions..




















A big happy family *chuckles*


















Warm evenings by the fireside..




Lots of Baking..





















Someone to grow old and insane with..




















7 precious thoughts..:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)