SUMMER HOLIDAYS !

I am sure that just reading this title would have brought back childhood memories to most people’s minds. And, most of those memories would be related to the time spent during the break from school during the summer. To people from South India, it would be the months of April- May, while for the people of North India it would be May-June.

My earliest memories of school holidays are of visiting my maternal grandparents’ house at Edneer and sleeping out in the open verandah. For a young child, born and brought up in Bangalore, sleeping out in the dark (electricity had not reached this place then) with the thick, tall trees casting creepy shadows around and the night life making strange sounds, it was time to plot horror or mystery stories in my mind. Frolicking in the little natural pond near the house and screeching to find a frog swimming beside me, another incident of my umbrella flying off and landing in the paddy fields on a rainy day,- these are some faint memories of my early childhood at Edneer.

I have a recurring memory of some of my summer holidays spent at my paternal Aunt’s house at Biligeri near Madikeri. Trekking around the hills near their place and breaking into sweat despite the cool weather, walking around the coffee plantation, plucking “Chittupuli” from the trees and relishing their sweet-sour, juicy taste sitting amidst the thick green foliage,watching vehicles ply on the Mangalore road from Raja Seat…the activities were endless, especially when all the cousins had gathered together.

The highpoint of my every visit, was climbing the Brahmagiri hill at Talacauvery..I remember that though my cousins could climb faster than me ( as I was the youngest of the lot), they made sure that I reached the top along with them and I would have a great sense of accomplishment. Mind you, back then there were no steps to climb. It was just a rough path etched out on the hill by constant trekkers. The view from the top of Brahmagiri – it cannot be put into words! All I can say is that at this point of time when I am writing this sitting under the fan to tolerate the Delhi heat, just the thought of the view atop the Brahmagiri, brings solace to my mind and body. I have been there several times, but each time I have an exhilarating feeling, despite all the urban infrastructures that have come up in and around Coorg. Then there are memories of visiting some tourist destinations when my father availed his LTC. Somehow, my first visit to Mysore is clearly etched in my mind and several scenes from that visit glide in front of my eyes.

Those summers when we could not go out of Bangalore, the holidays have been even more memorable. We lived in a colony of SBI employees and everyone knew everyone in every house. So we were a big gang of children of varying ages. Our mornings started very early, even earlier than the school days. It was either going to the first batch at the local Corporation swimming pool, or an early morning walk to the Vasanthapura Lake and back.

In those days, there was just a mud road from Sarakki to Vasanthapura with stretches of wilderness on either side. So we were not allowed to go without an adult accompanying us. Usually, it would be the father of one of the kids in the gang, who had to forgo the comfort of his bed early in the morning. (In one of my recent visits to Bangalore, I tried to trace this route out of nostalgia and got lost in the concrete jungle). The time after breakfast would be for sharing the rented bicycle to do rounds of the locality. When the sun started scorching above our heads, we moved indoors and our favorite pass time would be Carrom and “Chauka Bara”. The houses in the colony had long drawing rooms and every house with a child had varying sizes of Chauka Bara patterns drawn on the red-oxide floor throughout the holidays. Some days we also enjoyed playing the “Aluguli Mane” and what ruckus we would create to win over each other! Evenings, till it was too dark, would be spent with all sorts of outdoor games. By night we would be so tired that we would be asleep as soon as we laid down on our beds.

In between all these fun, there would be all those household chores designated for the kids – cleaning the windows, dusting and rearranging the showcases, wardrobes and cupboards, separating the stone from the rice brought from the ration shop, and so on. Another distinct memory is about the kids put on duty to guard the “Happala and Sendige” put out to dry in the courtyard or on the terrace. It would be our favorite place to read books, play Antakshari or plan the cultural programme for that year’s Ganesha festival. When I think back, I wonder, from where we got the energy to pack so many activities into one day. Was it because of the diet we had, or the early to bed and early to rise routine that we had? Or, was it that we had no other distractions like the present day so called entertainment? The question also arises in me – Have we deprived our kids of all these pleasures and enjoyment, in our quest to provide them a better life than ours’.

As we grew older, holidays became the time to attend camps, workshops or seminars to learn a new skill or to fine tune an already existing one. Soon we all graduated from college, summer holidays ceased to exist as each one of us chose different paths ahead in life. Though I got busy establishing myself in my profession, I would look forward to the schools closing for summer holidays as it would be the time for my sister and her children to visit us.

Summer holidays again became a time to look forward to when my children started going to school. It would be time again to visit my parents and relatives and to go on tours to different tourist spots. When I see my children bonding well with the members of our family far and near, I am glad for the two months break I took from my profession every summer till my eldest reached 12th standard. Now, they too have sweet memories and have several stories to narrate about their summer holidays.

Summer holidays have again taken a break now, as my children have grown up. I am now waiting for it to come back once the newer generation in the family starts going to school.

Let there be “Summer Holidays” in everyone’s life, just for the sweet memories and nostalgia that it leaves behind!

Shalini Prashant

Delhi