Paper Magazines and Paper Guy

I was rummaging through the drawers, trying to find an HDMI cable. The plan was to watch a movie with cousins on the big old screen. Instead, I found something from my past.

If you have read my recent blogs, you'd know that I'm visiting my parents. They moved twice since I got married. So, I've lost some of my belongings in the process.

My nostalgic blogs might suggest otherwise but I don't keep things for the sake of memories only. I have a few old possessions at my parents' (like photographs) but most things are gone. I give away everything which I think might be more useful to somebody else. Not to mention the extra space such things take and when I know I won't be looking at such stuff in years.

I've never longed for objects anyway but I do have a crazy unattainable yearning to travel back in time to particular memories to be able to re-witness some scenes and to feel some emotions again.

^sighs....

Anyhoo, I found a bunch of old magazines in a drawer at my parents' home. I was pleasantly surprised to see something from my teens. The year on the magazines was 2010 which doesn't seem too long ago but if I think about my teens it feels like a century has passed.

Forget movies, I sat down and started skimming through the pages. Release of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows movie, lyrics of Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day, article about heartthrob of that time -Robert Pattinson, posters of David Archuleta, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Atif Aslam, Zac Efron and Selena Gomez's new song A Year Without Rain.

I loved books, music, and movies. Magazines that covered all these things were a delight to read. (Now I lean towards books mainly.)

Although computers and the Internet were pretty common by that time, traditional things like magazines and books weren't lost in digitization, yet.

It was a different kind of feeling, anticipating what posters, lyrics, or crossword puzzles would be posted in the next issue. I looked forward to reading book reviews.

I miss waiting and anticipating the next issue, that made me value what I had. Back then the scarcity of such sources where everything was available in one place, felt annoying. But now when everything is digitized and at my fingertips, I miss that scarcity because that made me value what I had even more.

I even had the attention span for reading everything because I wasn't in a hurry to read countless more things.

It would be unfair if I didn't mention the paper guy. I have annoyed him so much for a good 10-12 years. He used to come on a bicycle carrying a huge bamboo basket full of magazines. He used to drop the magazine on the porch without ringing the bell (like paper guys used to do). I used to come and check every few minutes to see if the magazines had arrived. I have chased him several times just to remind him that he had to deliver magazines to my home too. I have given him unwanted opinions on what to sell and what to not. He was a kind and humble man.

How I wished to snatch his basket and give him back only after I had read everything.

How I thought that he had the best job in the world. I was like - who cares about money when there is plenty of stuff to read.

Time changes and with it circumstances and with it priorities.

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I'm not able to travel in the past but writing down here helps achieve some satisfaction. It's no less than a visit.

I guess I will be reading this stuff for the next few days. Although my taste in music and celebrities has immensely changed and most of it is teen stuff anyway. I don't have any favourites now. This stuff doesn't amuse me like it used to. But I feel like reading and revisiting old favourites

^{I read Owl City and now I can't stop humming this song from 2009}

What have I gotten myself into...

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^{All pictures are snippets from my magazines.}