Vanessa Carvalho

This exercise gave me the chance to actually analyze, and think of things that actually matter to me or I remember. 

 This picture take to my roots in my native place, where I used to run behind the goats at my grandfathers farm and even hide between the goats while playing with my cousins.

 This picture takes me to my roots in school, this is my first standard classroom, I used to sit right opposite the class teacher since I was a talkative child, innumerable memories are attached to this class.

 This  staircase belongs to the building where I was born, as a child I used to sit on the stairs and watch the light patterns and wonder as to what lies beyond the window as I was too small to reach the window and look outside.

 This Picture is of the Catechism class of my church, where children are taught their prayers and educated about Christianity, I have passed all my classes and tests and miss attending them, it takes me back to all the roots of my faith in god.

This is the pin wheel vendor, I was very fascinated with the mechanism of the pinwheel and used to ask my parents to buy one every time in the hope that I would figure out its movement pattern. It takes me back to my childhood.

Vanessa Carvalho, Mardani

The story is a crime thriller about a fearless female cop and a heartless villain, PradeepSarkar’s “woman-oriented” movie follows the exploits and bravery of Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji), a Mumbai crime branch senior inspector who springs into action when a girl child she knows, goes missing. She tracks down the villains in Delhi and of course ends them brutally showing of her macho side.The movies sexist title informs us in advance about the cops bravery, honesty and dedication.The film gets

over-the-top towards the finale with Rani showing of her fighting skills rather than simply using the gun and getting over with it, the ending is sort of stereotypical and over-dramatic with a message and some facts about the child trafficking trade thrown on screen. India is the ‘hub’ of this trade and throughout the film Delhi is shown the hub of child trafficking, something I disagreed with and equally disliked.
Rani carries the film on her shoulder single handedly, and her work in the action and acting department is good enough but the simple fact that she can do everything on her own is not convincing. Her dialogue delivery and Marathi slang is funny. The film manages to stick to its topic and not over sensationalise the issue it portrays like the other cop – villain films.The film is raw and gritty minus the song and dance, the background score is serious and tense which complements the story. The beginning of the movie is silent without any backgrounds score just the conversation of two cops on their talkie which builds the mood for the film. The introductory scene of the lead is very original and normal; the cop is shown in her true form not with flying cars and 1000 dancers. Mardaani has a dark opening where there is an undercover operation spearheaded by Rani shown which helps the movie start on a good note but as it progresses the movie gets confused between procedural and procedure, no explanations are given for Rani’s actions and of course the villain has to lose his intelligence towards the end so that he could be caught, not enough building of character or mood.The movie no doubt is a good attempt but it certainly does not match the hype and buzz it created before its release. 

Srishti Singh

The other day I had gone to Gokuldham the place where I still feel I belong and I went to the temple over there after almost seven years. I didn’t wanted to take pictures of it from inside because I had actually forgotten about clicking pictures. The very temple I had spent most of my Sundays running around and looking in marvel at people chanting, playing hide and seek with my cousins and getting tired and falling off to sleep on the marbel floors. It was funny when I realized now I reach the height to ring the bell of the temple on my own. Everything felt just the same. In this picture sadly so many tall buildings have come up, there is so much of traffic and the once upon a time quite neighborhood had lost its charm. The building far off between the two towers used to be the tallest in Mumbai and now it’s hidden. Stories of it being haunted were all that I heard and believed when I was a kid. Funny as it may be my first boyfriend used to live in the same building I was super scared of. Its always lovely to just sit on this terrace of my friend's building and spend most of the time just talking singing and remembering our school days

In my first house I used to chip of paint and draw in the little boxes with frame of the colorful wall, the most favorite of my creation was that on the mumma and baby earthworm. I still remember my mom used to always look at my drawings with or without me knowing. When she saw the drawing of the earthworms she laughed,she hugged and kissed me and said such nice imagination you have. My mom and I every afternoon during our nap time used to try to find patterns in the chipped of paint and I used to fall asleep dreaming about the patterns. When we left that house I asked my mom can I take the earthworms with me? for few hours I sat and tried to carve it out but I couldn’t manage to get it out. In every house since the time I have moved out of the old place I make sure I draw it again on the first chipped wall I find. This one is drawn in the present house.

This picture taken at a friends house, reminds me of my 2^nd house where my dad had bought this small showcase in which we used to keep everything precious to us mostly it used to be small marble or stone ducks, my dad used to call my mom a duck. And where ever he used to find a duck show piece he used to buy it. Sadly the Showcase broke while shifting, and also few of the ducks.

Farah Thakur

I had gone to Borivali National Park today. This stream at the Kanheri caves reminded me of the river in my village, Rajapur where I spent a lot of time just sitting along the banks of that river. As a child I went there often for my summer vacations. its been very long since I have been on such a vacation. Under the extreme pressure of assignments I really wish I could turn the clock back and be a child again.

This cave reminded me of the tribal's house made of mud and stone that I lived in for a day at Udhwa where I went for my Social Service camp in 10th Std. I ate sugarcane from the fields, carried stacks of hay, and even ate dal and rice at their place. I remember how she served me a big mountain of rice on a plate and I had to literally spend 10 minutes in telling her that we do not eat so much. At first she thought I was shy. Believe me I was not.

Every modak reminds me of Lata aunty's handmade modak. She makes the best modaks. I really miss her and I am really longing to meet her now. Every time she sent us these on Ganpati I would hog away most of them. 

Aparna shukla

Like every other outsider, it was difficult for me to "feel" home or connect to something that reminds me of my roots. Still, I'v tried to capture things that made me remember a few sweet memories.Staying so close to the Daman beach, its impossible to not have a memory on the sand. I dont know how many weekends have I spent at the Daman jetty, just gazing at the sky. This picture is taken near the Manori beach, which had a jetty just like Daman's. It made me blissfully travel back to time. 

The book store holds a very special place in my childhood memories. Every sunday morning, my father used to take me and my sister to get one archie comics ceremoniously. Sheer nostalgia!

This picture reminds me of my dad. Its a Ganpati pooja held at Dikshita's place. The way her dad's instructing everyone, the way he stands, the way the white thread (what we call, janeu in U.P) falls on his belly, the grey hair. Everything reminds me of him and the poojas held at my place.

Its an old fashioned toaster and as my father is a phenomenal cook, this picture reminds me of the time when mom used to fall sick and dad had to prepare our tiffin boxes. Beautiful memories attached to this one.

Anjani Patel- Nostalgic feelings

"Nostalgia" , this word makes me silently rewind all the good times i have had in my life. The best & worst part of being human is that we "Forget". Times goes on & memories fades away but there are few pages in my book of memory which will always remain close to my heart. Moving to Mumbai was a very big change in life for me. There are few instances which made me nostalgic in this city. Today i will be sharing few of them . . .

Ganpati celebration in Mumbai reminded me of the celebration that i had in my home town A'bad when i was a kid. It was a flashback of how i & my younger brother used to forcefully go & attain the aarti because our mom told us to do so. The only excitement that we used to have was to eat the Prasad. I miss those days !

This is the picture of Iscon temple near Marine drive. When i went here in the temple the guys here were singing "hare Ram hare Krishna" & were playing musical instruments. It was such a pleasing experience. For a moment i lost contact with reality & went into my own third world. It reminded of the Iscon temple that i used to visit in my hometown when i was a kid. My grandma used to take me there, I used go walking to the temple with her. I love those moments with my dadi.

This stairs reminds of my college stairs. I had spend lot of time there, bunking lectures & pushing my friend's leg, Bitching about people & what not. The stairs of the college do not resemble like this but whenever i look at this stairs at my Pg i start thinking about my graduation college.

Brenna Ribeiro

I saw this cheerful boy at the bus stop and it brought memories of my childhood.

The boy was swinging as he walked holding his mother's and grandmother's hands. It was like a sign. I was standing just a few minutes away from what use to be "Nanny's house". (Nani Ka Ghar)

I'm not happy with the frame but it was the best I could get without letting them know.

The building and the activity around still appeared to be the same. It was like time had never moved ahead.

As I entered the building, I could see glimpses of history beneath the present. A middle age man who was an employee of the hotel beside sat in this passage cutting onions all day. He would perenially have a bandaged finger and would smile as I passed by him.

I played a lot of these staircases with my brother, cousins and children from the building. I would run up and down the stairs to go to houses of people in the building. I don't remember names but one family had a parrot, another a cat and some had children who became friends.

I got to the place where 'Nanny's house' was. I couldn't recognise it. It appeared smaller and cluttered. I felt like a part had been cut out. I went out and looked from outside whether there was any division but no. I went back in and started asking people.

There used to be open spaces outside each door. The members of the first house could interact with the last. Now there were walls and that open space was taken inside to make another room.

The new residents had shut the door. In a way they were saying, "This is my house now." I still managed too peep inside. It had changed completely. The long marble bench where Nanny sat, fed us fruits and told us stories was gone. And of course, Nanny was gone.

In the end, I found some children playing in the building compound. Though the games had changed, there was still something like the good old days.

Amanda Mendes

This is a picture of all of my soft toys that i have collected throughout the years. These are special to me because these are the only toys from my childhood that I have left the rest were all burnt due to a shock circuit problem that took place in my house a few years back and this is all I have left, so i have stacked them well in my bedroom.

This  picture is of my  favorite seafood dish which reminds me of my home town Goa. I love fish and today my grand mother made some for me which reminded me of goa and how whenever I visit Goa I need to have some good authentic fish fry.

The reason i took a picture of the stairs was because these were the stairs i used to climb when i would keep on going from my granny house which is on the sixth floor to my house in the seventh floor. I would do that the whole day just keep going up and down. Since I was alone at home i used to stay down and the moment my parents come I would go up. yesterday when I sat to think what i should put for this assignment this was the ideal picture because my whole childhood I only went up and down these stairs.

Shobha Bhaskaran

With Ganpati Celebrations in my building, I always look forward to attend these functions as this is the only time when all members come together to be a part of it. There are performances, fancy dress competitions of all the kids.

Looking at the enthusiasm and confidence of all the kids performing on stage, I was suddenly taken to my childhood back, where even I used to be all excited and dressed up to perform. There were aunties from my building who said I resemble a certain kid as they  have seen me grown up all these years.

I really missed those moments when we used to start practicing almost 3-4 weeks prior to the festival just to win prizes and be at our best. I know realized that prizes seemed nothing, it was only about how bold and confident we are and how we entertain everyone. 

Saloni Anand

 After this assignment was given my childhood memories were refreshed again. My childhood was one filled with sweets and toys. These are the memories i can never forget. :) 

 The first memory that I get is of the M& M toys.  My Mom’s friend got them from abroad and on seeing them I was so happy. These were the first toy I got and it dispensed gems from its stomach when the hands were pushed down. Remembering the days when I forced mom and dad to buy me gems so that I can put them in the toy and take out and eat them. 

The second thing that makes me nostalgic are the candies specially Polo. Polo was something that I loved. My parents could make do anything, make me eat food, drink milk easily if they gave me polo. I was in love with Polo and Kit Kat. These were the things that made me happy. I remember mom and dad telling me that I would stop crying when I got Polo or Kit Kat. 

Candy Floss or Budi ke Baal as its called locally, is another thing I loved. India Gate was the place I ate them the most. These are the memories I have of my childhood.

These memories are the best memories. They can never be forgotten. 

Tejasvi Momaya

Hey,

I felt seriously lost as soon as I read the post by Briana. All I could think was, "There is nothing that reminds me of my home here. Everything is different, everything is new, even though this is my 4th year in the city." But as I looked around more intently i suddenly noticed small things that did remind me of home.

Cotton candy all time favourite since childhood till today.

As kids me and my siblings use to play on these carts used in our office for carrying heavy loads. We use to all gather and sit on them as one of us pushed the cart off a slope with speed.

This tree reminds me of all the times I had climbed a tree in our farm back home and used its hanging branches as swings.

These two little girls reminded me of me and my cousin sister who were inseparable as kids and did everything together. Both of the girls have hair which was similar to ours and that bright back all the memories I have with her.

Dad use to always carry me around as a kid in crowded places and I felt oddly comfortable in his arms as oppose to my mother's.

We have our festival of Paryushan and I miss being part of it because I am in Mumbai. There is a Jain temple right next my PG here that celebrates it and takes me back to my roots.

Mamta Kalambe

Childhood for me has been all about eating, playing, playing and only playing! I have been so busy since I joined SCM, it was good to go back to my cupboard where these things lay  stashed in one corner. I am sure even you all will get nostalgic after seeing these little things that mattered the most then.

 Remembering Summer Time! When there was scorching heat outside and our parents would not let us out for a play. We always found some alternatives...

Remember playing these? I'm glad I have still kept them safely..

Things that me and my brother fought over..

I thought only a genius could win this game! And the slingshot never hit the right target..

Little study never harmed anyone! And when I got bored I used to fill the drawings in textbook with colour.

It was some sort of an achievement to own this. Video games created fights in our house. Me and my cousins used to pull each others hair if anyone took an extra chance. We mumbled all kinds of spells just to see 'GAME OVER' on the opponents screen.

Mom bribed me with these! I found these slice cakes in Merwans Bakery and they remind me of my childhood days. No Christmas Party in school was complete without these. 

Arushi D

Ok, so this might seem like pictures ripped straight out of Google, or product placement ads, but they're pictures I took myself from different departmental stores. My childhood was filled with SNACKS. When I moved back to India after ten years, and saw these same lables 'Dairy Milk,' 'Kurkure,' 'Maggi,' and 'Amul,' it just brought back a ton of childhood memories. Cadbury was and always will be the ultimate chocolate for me. Yes, I've eaten Hershey's, Gems, Mars, Snickers, and all of that good stuff, but nothing like Cadbury's Dairy Milk. I would reward myself with those Rs. 5 Cadbury chocolate bars, every time I scored a 100 on a test, or listened to my Mom. Good times...

The most unique thing in Indian convenience stores I've noticed are those long strings of packages of chips, decorating the storefront. Seeing them now I am reminded of the days I used to rip off Kurkure packages and beg my Mom to buy them for me. The spicy chips are the ones for me, even to this day. But the variety of chips from Lays, Kurkure, Cheetoh's is astonishing, something that I missed greatly when I was away from India.

I remember running home from school, and begging Mom to make Maggi noodles each time. No matter how many days in a week I'd had it, I would NEVER get tired of it. In the US, I used to eat Top Ramen, but it was nothing close to the taste of Maggi noodles. One of the best things of coming back to India was eating authentic Maggi noodles, the irreplaceable snack. I still prefer my Maggi noodles to be as dry as possible, with no extra veggies.

Amul, as all us media students have already discussed, is the pinnacle of India's successful brands. So seeing anything Amul nowadays brings back to those delicious days of munching on Amul cheese slices. I remember I used to steal cheese slices from the fridge, and eat 2-4 each day, even when I was told not to indulge in more than 1! Of course, I didn't listen, and one day ended up falling so sick, and vomited it all out :/

The multitude of Indian snacks is something like no other, and revitalizes my childhood even more.