A Special Edition: Vanilla Tea Cakes & Tinkle Comics

A list of I remembers

Dearest Reader,

As promised in my last newsletter, here is a special bonus edition just for you.

If you haven’t read the previous issue yet, don’t miss out!! Read it below

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Okay moving on to my “I Remember” listicle, I took a long stroll down memory lane (inspired by a piece written by Joe Brainard). I absolutely cherished reliving memories through the writing of this listicle <3 I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I Remember

I remember Everyday milk powder sachets in hotel rooms 
 
I remember decorating the white board with multi color markers; top center- thought for the day, top left corner – date followed by the class timetable.
 
I remember school annual days; dance practice, purple knees, sweaty hair and adrenaline rush
 
I remember vanilla tea cakes and mayonnaise cucumber sandwiches that my friend would pack in Tupperware lunchboxes
 
I remember long journeys on the school bus, playing anthakshari and passing back and forth packets of kurukure, hide and seek and dark fantasy. 
 
I remember buying Tinkle comics just to search for pages with Supandi and his silliness.
 
I remember the smell of chlorine and coconut oil on skin after swimming classes
 
I remember daddy’s rollicking voice “ten thousand gold coins!” in all the Tenali Raman bedtime stories he told us 
 
I remember how toothpaste was the most popular middle school remedy for pimples
 
I remember making paper boats with old newspapers and letting them float on puddles
 
I remember collecting miniature tables placed on pizza’s within pizza hut boxes
 
I remember the bubble-gum pink calamine lotion that you’d apply over ant bites and bee stings.
 
I remember seven colour glitter pens packs
 
I remember pretend cringing and curiously sneak peaking while fast forwarding kissing scenes in movies
 
I remember clinic plus shampoo ads featuring women with long straight jet black hair
 
I remember playing name, place, animal, thing with my cousins
 
I remember posing at the sky with a smile that stretched my cheeks every time there was lightning, thinking lightning was the sky’s way of taking photographs
 
I remember feeling like a model after getting my first layered haircut
 
I remember playing FLAME in school lunch breaks and the disappointment when a boy’s name and yours wouldn't land on L or M.
 
I remember making origami stars with chocolate wrappers
 
I remember drinking Horlicks in a tall steel tumbler, eagerly waiting to eat the semi-dissolved bits with a spoon in the end
 
I remember hopscotch with chalk boxes on the street end
 
I remember school stationary – an eraser with a duster in the back, Aprasa pencils, Natraj ruler and Camlin geometry box
 
I remember street vendors selling rose milk in glasses
 
I remember the refreshing cool of tang in summers
 
I remember being fascinated with how homeopathy pills (a medicine) could taste sweet
 
I remember the mix of shyness and embarrassment walking into instore to buy my first bra
 
I remember plastic covered notebooks with brown paper and name slips
 
I remember the excitement when a friend brought watermelon flavoured gum all the way from America
 
I remember holding CDs over index fingers like a chakra to avoid getting scratches on them
 
I remember purple hajmmola containers and the SunTV serials playing in the background
 
I remember creating a club penguin account and finding puffins adorable
 
I remember the smell of window ACs, like wet earth and rain
 
I remember blowing soap bubbles every time I washed my hands and doodling on foggy mirrors
 
I remember treasure hunts on birthdays
 
I remember the flamboyant red Jungle geraniums, plucking their flowers and sucking on sweet nectar from their backs
 
I remember the game Bounce Tales on old Nokia phones, a red round bouncing ball controlled by four arrow buttons 
 
I remember what having crushes on boys felt like, the feeling of your heart doing a backflip 

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Before you go…

I would love to hear about the memories reading this piece brought up for you. Why not try writing your own 'I remember' listicle? It's an absolute joy!

And that’s a wrap of the first special edition of Masala Puff Moments!

With warmth and wonder,

Vaishnavi

From the table of Masala Puff Moments, a newsletter

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You know the rest. If you cherished reading this please take a moment to share Masala Puff Moments with anyone you think might enjoy it. It would mean the world to me + it would truly help me grow :)

And as always, remember to subscribe!

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Wait… drop by and say hi?

I’m Vaishnavi Radhakrishnan, a management trainee in a business that I love, a poet, a writer and a 23 year old figuring out her space in this world. I love buttery masala puffs, admiring bougainvilleas, being by the ocean, and buying jibbitz for my purple crocs.