But I Smile Anyway…

Having another go at Maggie and Laurens, Throwback Thursday challenge! This week it is Lauren who has set the questions.

This week’s prompt is: First Dating Experiences

1. On your very first date, did you do the asking, or were you asked out? My first ever date was a pretty big thing, especially as I really shouldn’t have been on a date as a good little Indian girl! I was in my first few weeks at university, finding my feet as an individual, with no parents keeping an eye out for me. I was asked out by an older guy, someone who was a real gentleman, when I look back, and yes, it was him who did the asking, after seeing me at a house party he was DJing at. We went to Central London, for a movie and dinner.
2. Were you typically stressed out before a first date? Did things seem to be easier the more you dated the same person? I think it was more nerves than stress, but things got much easier as you continued to date the same person.
3. What did you do to prepare for the date? Did you wear new clothes or special outfits? Well, you would have to do something special on that first date, didn’t you? I remember giggling with my friends as I prepared for this first grown-up date! Not new outfits but carefully planned!
4. How did you meet those first dates? Were your dates with friends of a family member or friends of a friend? At university, friends of fellow students.
5. Did you have a curfew on those early dates? Did you typically arrive home on time or were you constantly breaking curfew? I was at university, so my curfew was of my own setting!
6. Did your parents insist on meeting whomever you dated? I introduced my parents to the one person they needed to meet. (I didn’t date LOTS, honestly, but I wasn’t going to introduce them to everyone!)
7. Where did you usually go when on a date? (movies, concerts, picnics, etc.) It was a mixture of dinner, cinema, bars…
8. Did the boy/man always pay for the date, or did you go Dutch treat? At that time, it was more or less always the guy who paid for dates, but I also have.
9. Were you typically the talker or the listener on a date? I try to be both, but I tend to talk a lot, as some of you who have met me would readily agree!
10. What did you do if the date clearly wasn’t going well? (feign a headache, ask to go home, end the date early, etc.) There is always that backup plan, isn’t there? Luckily I never had to use mine!
11. A connection from the past to the present, if applicable. How long did you date your current partner before marriage? We just celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary in November and have been together for nearly 25 years, so it was around 4 years before we married that we dated.
12. Bonus Question: Care to share a disastrous first date?????? Thankfully, no disastrous first dates to report!

I did it! I made a throwback Thursday on a Thursday!

Having another go at Maggie and Laurens, Throwback Thursday challenge! This week it is Lauren who has set the questions.

This week’s prompt is: That Was Then, This Is Now

• 1. When you were a kid, did you like your name? Would you have changed it if you could? Do you like it now? I have to say I never really thought about it as a child, which makes me think I just accepted it as a given. Ratinder is my full name, which was used at school, or if my mum was about to tell me off! At school, it got shortened to Ratty, after the character in Wind In The Willows, when we all watched it together as a class movie, one day. The character, yes? Not because that is a personality trait! At home, all my family called me Ritu, my nickname, which is what I associate with more, hence giving that as my main name as an adult. I still like Ratinder, after learning the meaning (Changing seasons), and also because of the history behind how I got the name. In Sikhism, it is a custom to go to the Gurdwara when a child is born. After prayers, the priest opens the Guru Granth Sahib (holy book)Nand the starting letter of the first word on that page is what is used as the first letter of the child’s name. Apparently, my parents had already chosen Ratinder, and Ritu for short, if they had a girl, but were told by the family elders that they couldn’t just name me like that, so Pops went to the Gurdwara, and when the letter was announced it was R. no one believed him, so he had to go back with one of his sisters, to witness it, and R came out again, so I think my name was decided by fate!
• 2. As a kid, what always brought a smile to your face? What about now, as an adult? (family-friendly, please) It is the same now as it was when I was a child, to be honest. Seeing my family and new books!
• 3. What was the most important lesson your parents taught you? Did you pass that lesson down to your family? My parents are just wonderful. I consider myself so blessed to have them. They taught us humility and to understand that enough really is enough. As a result, I feel my brother, and I are pretty grounded folk, and we strive for the best in life but without the greed that can become associated with the need for success. And we have both tried to instil the same in our own children.
• 4. Are there talents you started as a child that you still have? If so, what are they? I always loved writing stories as a child, and here I am now, a published author! That was the same with singing. No claim to fame however, I loved to sing as a kid, and I still do, and my voice isn’t too bad, either!
• 5. Is there something you regret not doing or starting when you were young? What was it? I wish I had started writing seriously earlier on!
• 6. Did you have more close friends as a kid or as an adult? Any idea why? I think I definitely have more close friends now as opposed to as a child. I had plenty of friends, per se, as a child, but the friendships were never allowed to become too close purely because we were always so busy outside of school with family things that I would only see these friends during school hours. The friends I made in University and as I started work, then became a mum, were friends I chose and friendships I have cultivated and kept strong with regular contact. And I have made some amazing online friends. Real friends and friendships have blossomed from a blog I barrely knew how to operate when I started!
• 7. Where did you go to think as a kid? Where do you go now? I used to sit in my room, or my garden. Now I think wherever I am!
• 8. What would be the name of the chapter of your life from 10 – 18? What would the name be the name of the chapter of your life currently? 10-18 would be called Who am I? The chapter for now woudl be This is Me!
• 9. What wonderful thing happened in your adult life that your child self could never have imagined? To become a published author, having a book with my name on the spine, and to be interviewed by people!
• 10. Would your child self like your adult self? Why or why not? I think little Ritu would be proud of me, and I hope she would like the Ritu I have become. Big Ritu loves children, so that would be a bonus as little Ritu loved them too, and that is why she wanted to be a teacher, and I think she woud be happy that big Ritu fulfilled that dream, too!

There you have it! I’ll try to be on this, on the actual Thursday, next week!