Summer Time

Good old days, they say, are nothing but a myth created by those who can't remember them anymore. I don’t think my memory is a cause for concern because I remember my kindergarten friends, even though I keep forgetting my relatives. Since we are talking good old days in the month of May, I am reminded of my childhood summer vacations.

Among the smaller pleasures of life when growing up was the time spent during summer holidays. Summer meant hill stations, vacations and relations. Summer also meant that laziness found respectability. Despite the excruciating heat, absence of power, and air conditioners - summer holidays of the eighties were good fun. Is it because we were kids? Because when we don’t feel the heat, we are either too happy or too young! Or is it because nostalgia comes dressed in wistful clothing? Perhaps remembrance has colored my memories with shades that never existed in the first place. Perhaps all of that, and more. 

Regardless, my summer holidays came marinated with the hope of relatives coming over for an extended period of stay. And relatives meant distant cousins, their cousins and even their neighbors. While mother fretted about extra hours in the kitchen, a visit by the grandparents or a visit to the grandparents, was a bonanza for us. Happiness rested neither in a new i Pad, nor in a touch phone but in the simple joys of meeting your favorite cousin. And chatting long after everyone had dozed off. Who among us didn’t enjoy those lazy hot afternoons?

And when parents indulged in afternoon siesta, it was time to indulge in forbidden activities. Conduct our own experiments. I remember pouring kerosene in the back yard water tank, and igniting it to check flammability. When mother woke up, she noticed that my right eyebrow was missing. Fortunately, the face remained unharmed. I did get an earful, but escaped spanking.

The evening activities of playing board games were a symbol for family unity, seeking somehow to signify that a family that spent holidays together stayed together. So whether it was dicing mangoes for dozen odd relatives, playing ludo with cousins or counting the number of fireflies on the Shisham tree - every activity brimmed with pleasure.

Back then, summers were more about passive learning without trying too hard. Even though there were music lessons, skating escapades and painting attempts, the absence of deadlines made sure that leisure reigned supreme. However, leisure activities for children in Gurgaon are not so leisurely anymore. The other day, my ten year old neighbor was fretting about not completing her story for a creative writing workshop. The girl's mother had enrolled her for etiquette and dining classes too. “Don’t worry,” I said. “It’s only a hobby class. You can complete the story next week.” 
“No, I have to finish it today,” she rued. “Otherwise, I won’t get my certificate.”

Living in a competitive digital world, it is not difficult to understand why the idea of creative leisure is unacceptable today. As we progressed, we realized that there is logic and purpose in everything. In a world where time is precious and competition aggressive, it is the extra edge that separates the winner from the second place. So children need to know more, and learn more in order to survive the competition. After all, winning is everything. At one time summer vacations were all about leisure, hobbies, visiting relatives and laid back fun. But today those ideas are too boring and old-fashioned to be considered. That laid-back world does not exist anymore. Not in Gurgaon. Bryan Adams knew when he sang:

Standin' on your mama's porch
You told me that it'd last forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life

Oh, yeah.
Back in the summer of '69, oh.

 This is an edited version of the original article that was published in Gurgaon Times, The Times Of India, 8th May, 2014.