Time flies – it certainly does. I first wrote about this on a Monday in July 2013, and now here I am—12 years later—still wondering where the time goes. Back then, I was in India for the summer, which was kind of the norm at the time – summers meant India. And now, things look a little different—but the feeling remains the same. So today, I’m giving this post a refresh adding a few reflections and reads today…

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Time Flies – From 2013: Time-Traveling to India…

Note: This section is from the July 8th, 2013 post I originally wrote. I’ve left the content intact as a memory snapshot, with only light formatting—breaking it into sections and smaller paragraphs to improve readability.

“Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.”
— Anthony Doerr, Cloud Cuckoo Land

🌧️ The Weather and the Roads

Time flies here in India — the same as it does back in the US.
The rains here mean that it is not very hot — in fact, the weather is very pleasant indeed. But the downside to it is the roads.

Considering most of the road as well as the footpath (or what remains of it in our area) is occupied by traffic — even though traffic is supposed to be moving and hence cannot really occupy a space — there seems to be an unknown source of vehicles somewhere which makes it seem that the spaces are never empty, hence always occupied.

And now to get back to my original sentence — our feet do not find many places to put themselves in that is free of slush or traffic. But that is what it is, and over the past couple of years during my visits in the summer, my feet have developed a muscle-memory of sorts and they know exactly where to place themselves.

☕ Every Destination a Reward

And it is worth it when we reach our destination — whatever it may be. Over the past few days, it has been varied — the SLV a few minutes away from home or the revered Brahmin’s Coffee Bar or just the streets of Gandhi Bazaar or one of the more modern ice cream parlors that have sprung up in every corner (like the Cafe Coffee Days).

We walk down to the nearest Darshini or SLV for a cup of coffee or a paper-roast dosa or one of those gigantic stadium-sized bhaturas with yummy chana, and our mind forgets those puddles and hurdles our feet overtook on the road just moments ago — or should I say — our tummies make us forget.

As my 10-year-old orders one of these for himself, I ask him if he will actually finish it — but he does! Now only if he eats all the meals I make for him the same way!

👣 A Walk of Senses

Being in India is definitely a sensory explosion as all our senses are overwhelmed with a walk down the street — the wonderful smells of idli, dosa, and coconut chutney as well as coffee; the constant sound of traffic, of haggling vendors and customers as they bargain over the price of coriander; the feel of drops of water as they splash on your feet when you fail to look down and walk, and from the jacaranda as a light wind blows down drops from the rain a few minutes back; the wonderful sights; and of course, the warmth of both my kids’ hands as each holds me on either side while we walk enjoying all of this.

Catching Up and Flying Time

And while I am on the subject of time flying, this was the post I meant for last week’s Sunday memes (along with last week’s other memes!). I will be posting for this week’s Sunday through Tuesday posts later today.

So here it is, a week later:

• OSI: Fragile
• Sunday Scribblings: Insight (2025 note: this weekly meme is no longer active, but the blog is still there with all the prompts!)
• 3WW: flabby, indignant, stench
• Whirl: fallen, retreat, bend, rock, lane, wild, bridge, meadow, bear, island, unstable, bird, heaven (2025 note: this weekly meme is still active, and you can check out yesterday’s prompt. the words here are from july 2013)
• SY: Oasis (gorilla) (2025 note: this weekly meme is no longer active)
• Magpie: image below
• Dverse: Disney

Do You Prefer a Snow White Instead?
Do you prefer a Snow White instead?
She asked, as she lent him a spa
Encased in glass, a kiss to wake me from the dead
Where would you find me thus? You ask.
Across the bridge, and over the meadow
Turn right at the next bend of the lane
As you enter the wild, reach out to Baloo the bear
He will help you, don’t despair
Watch out for swords in fallen rocks
If you pull them out, you will be ruler
Don’t retreat at stenches that smells like docks
That is just Stinky Pete, the flabby prospector
He might be slightly unstable, might look indignant
But fear him not, look up instead to the heavens
The Jub Jub Bird doesn’t need any incitement
To swoop down and pick you up as presents
So look out for him and find a safe haven
An oasis, an island of peace
That is where you will find me.
He then replied, I do not care for a delicate miss
You light up my world, as you are is what I need.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Reflections and Thoughts on How Time Flies

Current updates; writings in 2025

“Time flies.” It’s one of those phrases we say so often it almost loses meaning—until we pause long enough to feel its truth. A dozen years have passed since I first wrote this post, and yet it feels like just yesterday I was typing those words, caught in a moment of wondering where the hours, days, and years go.

Time doesn’t really fly, of course—but I guess, in a way—it does have wings. For doesn’t it carry our memories softly, sometimes silently? And then one day—like I did today—you turn around and realize just how far you’ve traveled.

They say “time flies when you’re having fun,” but I think time flies even faster when you’re not paying attention—when you’re busy, distracted, or simply moving through life without stopping to notice how much has changed.

Twelve years have passed since I first wrote this post in 2013, and it feels both impossibly recent and somehow far away. My kids have grown, the streets I walked then may look slightly different now, and I myself am no longer the same version of me who typed those words. But the feeling that “time is slipping by” remains just as real—maybe even more so.

As we get older, our brains kind of compress time. We stop noticing the little things because they blur into the background of routine. That’s part of why time feels slower in childhood and faster in adulthood: children are constantly experiencing “firsts,” while we adults are often reliving variations of “already dones.”

I’ve come to believe that being present is the only way to slow time down, even just a little. Taking a moment to savor a smell, linger in a conversation, or re-read an old post (like this one) becomes a way to step outside of the rush—and maybe, just maybe, to hold on to a little more of the moment.

🖋️ Journaling Prompt

What’s something from 10 or 12 years ago that still feels vivid to you today? What has changed—and what hasn’t?
(Optional: Where do you think your future self—12 years from now—might be reading this from?)

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”
— Michael Altshuler

Reads to Make Time Fly: Literally!

Here’s a curated list of books—both nonfiction and fiction—that explore the theme of time flying, of how we perceive time, how we remember things over time perception, memory, and how we experience the passage of time. Maybe you, like me, think that sometimes time flies, at others it moves too strangely, and at yet others crawls at a sloth’s pace, or freezes too maybe.

🧠 Nonfiction

📖 Fiction: Words Where Time Flies

• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. A book I have been thinking of reading, and keep getting distracted (maybe I need to read Stolen Focus first:)). In this one, a woman explores all the different lives she could have lived—if time and choice had gone differently. Touches on regret, potential, and life’s fleeting moments.
• Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. I came upon this book when I started searching for Einstein related reads after reading his The World as I See It. I have just read a couple of the essays in this and found them fascinating. This is full of short vignettes imagining worlds with different rules of time. Intriguing, unique, and thought-provoking.
• A few more as well, but maybe will have to write a whole post about it.

Picture Books With the Title Time Flies

I had to write down this list because I found quite a few books with the title Time Flies. Here are some of them (skipping the title and giving you just the author/illustrator info and a quick peek at the book!)

• Tara Lazar’s book illustrated by Ross MacDonald is pure pun!!! So of course, I loved it!
• Pj Harris and Dylan Fant bring us a reminder to savor the moments and be in the present.
• While Eric Rohmann brings us a book that is both time-travel-adventure and scientific-preview. Note – it is wordless but the artwork is so stunning and detailed that words are unnecessary.

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, what has changed in your life over the past dozen years? How has your sense of time evolved? Any books or articles you would recommend to me about time and its flight? I’d love to hear of these in the comments below.