Another old post that I had written down elsewhere on Summer Vacations

summer vacations

Posted on December 20, 2008

It's that time of the year when colleges and schools have vacations for a
whole month.Seeing my aunt ( a teacher) at home reminded me of the many
summer vacations that i had once had.How i would wait for the middle of may
for the school to close,not that i didn't like school,but...vacations
charmed me more,even today it has not changed.

Summer afternoons remind me so much of my grandma,whom i lovingly called
"ummi".She used to be an ardent television watcher and every afternoon,i
remember,she'd watch the serials on doordarshan.there were so many and my
cousin and i would often watch them with her.vacations were a time to watch
tv shows.i especially remember watching serials like
"aurat","shanti","swabhimaan" and the like.

My mother was a member of the local library"JAGARANI PATHAGAR" and i
remember she used to bring so many books by different authors which were at
that time not suitable for my reading.but i would lie on the floor,often
under the bed and read them while ummi would relax on the bed.she had a
programme till 2:30 afterwhich she would come downstairs to relax in the
ground floor bedroom(as hers on the 1st floor was unbearably hot) and she'd
ask me."tutul,ghumobi na?mati te keno?" and i'd make an excuse of feeling
hot and hence continued reading books.

even earlier,while in primary school,summer holidays meant loads of
homework.they included writing an essay each time invariably on"how i spent
my holidays".and this was a topic that was a favourite with the teachers
and till high school,teachers kept asking at least,the same
question!primary school homeworks(or fondly abbreviated in the school diary
as HHW) also included an exercise of increasing the vocabulary by learning
5 new words daily.handwriting practice was also a common task.

Summer holidays meant a lot of friends going out for trips but having
recently had a trip in the easter holidays,it meant that i had to spend the
lazy afternoons at home listening to All India Radio,especially the western
music shows and the daily "natoks".the first trip that i made in the summer
holidays was in 2001 when i went to kedar-badri.

With the increasing pressure of studies,vacations gradually became
synonimous with extra classes in tuitions,different timings,mock
tests,marathon phone call sessions with my best friends...but one thing
that still remains the same is that i still read books in the afternoons
while listening to the radio.today ummi is no more with us,so i need not go
under the bed for cover but i prefer keeping my door shut during that
time.habits never die...

Vacations are the time to get nostalgic.this year i have no separate summer
vacation,it's the study leave that i have now,but lying down on my bed,i
fondly recollect the lovely afternoons that i once spent.will they ever
come back?i don't know but they will continue to be a part of my best lived
days.

"din guli mor shonar khachay roilo na,roilo na,shei je amar nana ronger din
guli........."

P.S. this was writeen by me long time back,way back in may 2003.had never
posted it anywhere,so thought of doing it now,though it's not summer
now,but somehow rjdeep's blog made me feel so nostalgic......