Today, the children are spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment! Television, Internet, Chats, PSP players, iPad, iPod, Video games, Theme Parks, visit to malls … all these have revolutionized the way children can spend their spare time! Vacations also present opportunities to learn Vedic Maths, conduct scientific experiments, attend summer camps and participate in dancing workshops, speech classes, personality development classes… Phew! The list is endless. Needless to add, travel to exotic places tops the list. So, there are wide options available today for productively spending the summer vacations. What about the summers in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s? How did our grandparents, parents and uncles and aunts spend their vacations those days?
Sadly, with the advent of more and more nuclear families, seldom do children have the time or inclination to know and learn something from the past experiences of elders in the family! You can’t blame the children as technology has made them more precocious. “O, Dad, this is not so cool, It is boring,” – if your children say this, do not take offence. It is a result of peer pressure.
Those who watched the movie – “Athithi Kab Jaaoge” (O, Guest, when will you leave?) will recall how everyone squirmed and made faces whenever Paresh Rawal reminisced about the good old days. Isn’t this sad? But we have to accept that this is the reality! This is the way of life today. Today children address each other as “Hi, Dude, what you doing?” or we have comments like, “Your pulao is rocking yaa”.
So, I hope that in this article, the senior citizens and middle aged readers will get an opportunity to walk down memory lane! There is a special request from this writer, please spare a minute of your time to comment about the article and use it as an opportunity to share your experiences during the vacations!
Those were the Days!
Amol Malekar recalls his vacations in the eighties. “Dad used to take me for long drives. It was fun. Then I used to go to Pune and spend time with my grandparents. My other cousins used to join me and we used to bring the house down. My paternal grandfather was a disciplinarian but he seemed to enjoy all the din and the constant chatter. We had in-house camps and played cricket like crazy. Then of course there were indoor games like chess and carom,” his eyes turn misty as the Bangalore-based software professional recalls those glorious days.
His wife Malti chips in. “We used to practice cycling in the vacations. O, my god, we used to enjoy falling down from the cycle as that was the only way to learn! We used to rush to the gardens in the evenings and play the swing (jhoola).” She gets nostalgic recalling those memories.
Manoj Datta who works as VP- Business Development in a Kolkata-based firm is precise to the point when quizzed about summer vacations. The 48-year old says, “It was swimming in the morning and letting the hair down in the gardens in the evenings. Ice creams, wafers, sugar candy…we simply used to freak out!” It helped that Manoj was born in a family with 4 brothers and 3 sisters. It was like one big picnic for him he says with a chuckle.
Fun Trip all the Way
Chandra Menon who grew up in a Kerala village says, “Today the level of disposable income is high. Working couples can easily afford to spend for summer camps. But during my childhood in the late 50’s there was not much wherewithal to get enrolled in such camps. There were no camps either. Vacations were a big relief and we used to rush to the village river to have a swim. I used to write letters to my cousins and collect stamps and coins. “My tough childhood has made me a tough man today”, says the intrepid 57-year old who learnt driving at the age of 45 years!
In South India, the Rama Navami festival that falls in the month of April is celebrated with lot of gaiety and splendour. Many villages bear a festive look in the month of April and for close to two weeks, children and elders alike have lot of fun. Every evening, Ram kathas are told in the village temples by distinguished scholars and saints. The marriage of Sita called “Sita Kalyanam” is celebrated ornately. Children watch with glee as some of the elders dressed as “Hanuman” frolic around. There is a feast with a huge spread! I am sure most of the septuagenarians and octogenarians will recall these memories and will go back in time!
In metros like Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai, such Ram Kathas are still held by Bhajan Mandalis and erudite individuals but unfortunately, children are conspicuous by their absence in such events! To add to the woes of the organisers, TV serials have become so addictive that people prefer to watch them instead of these Ram Kathas. One can’t really blame the senior citizens as it is a nightmare travelling to some of the places where the Ram Kathas are held due to traffic congestions and pesky auto drivers!
Travel Southwards…
Mumbai housewives Rajam and Vani eagerly look forward to the onset of summer vacations. Rajam got married to a Mumbai-based banker but her heart lies in Coimbatore where her parents and brother live.
“Coimbatore is in my blood. I have fond memories of my childhood there. Mumbai’s mad rush can be unnerving at times! “says Rajam. She ensures that tickets for her travel by train are booked 3 months in advance. The sweet-tongued Rajam attributes her glib talk to the water in Coimbatore from Siruvani River! “Generally, my return journey is scheduled around the first week of June” she adds. The eateries in Coimbatore are to die for and people in this city are cordial, warm and friendly. Hill stations like Ooty and Ercadu are close to Coimbatore. The temple town of Pazhani is close by and so is Marudamalai another holy place. Anamalai is a place that houses another temple of Maasani Amman (a village deity that is revered by the villagers in the neighbouring areas) and of course there is the ashram of Swami Jaggi Vasudev in Coimbatore! No wonder Rajam is smitten!
Vani who is married to college lecturer Parameshwaran never wanted to marry a Mumbai boy. “But what to do? My husband got a lucrative teaching opportunity in Mumbai and we shifted soon after marriage. For the last 12 years, I regularly take my children to my village in Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district (near Kanya Kumari) where my parents and sisters live. I am sorry I can’t bear the Mumbai heat.” says the housewife and mother of two.
Rajam and Vani may be the few lucky ones. As Uma Padmanabh, a Bangalore based software professional adds, “I work in Bangalore and live close to my parents’ home. I see them every alternate day. Plus, I can’t take leave for days together and sit at my
parental home.” she signs off.
So, even in this technology age, we have housewives like Vani and Rajam who grab the first opportunity to visit their parental homes in summer.
Play to one’s heart content!
Nandini settled in Bangalore now recalls her summers in Pune. “Yes, we did visit our native place during the summer but that was only for 10 days or so. Once we were back, me and my brother Vaidya spent time playing with other children in the building. We used to be in the sun all day and my mother used to moan about the harmful impact of sun on our skin! “.
Nandini rattles off the games that they played as she recalls those fun-filled days! “Running race, langdi, skipping, playing hide and seek….why, we even used to compete with the boys on a game of cricket!” she laughs. The boys were adept at playing with marbles and gili-danda. Then there was the pech (a wooden piece and a rubber hand) used to fling stones at trees. Some boys ran behind pups and cats.”
My cousin Sudhakaran was so attracted to cats that his building terrace had become a cat house with a cat and its 3 or 4 kittens. Sudhakaran was lucky that other residents in his building in Mulund did not consider it a nuisance. Sudhakar’s neighbours were a step ahead. They had 3 or 4 cats roaming in their home all the time and children used to rush to their home during the vacations.
Amol adds, “My mouth still waters when I think of the raw mangoes that we used to eat with salt. It was divine!”
Many children, like this writer, have also witnessed how mothers used the summer to their advantage to prepare rice-based fryums on the terrace. The women used to get up early in the morning, prepare the dough and target to complete the spreading of the dough as papads and fryums by 9 am. To ward off crows, there used to be a stick with a cloth tied around it and this stick used to be hung from the doors.
The children were requested to make periodic visits to the terrace. Some of them of course couldn’t resist the taste of the wet and kaccha papads. Some of these went missing from the terrace and the crows (poor things) were blamed for the missing papads! After 3 or 4 days of drying in the hot sun, these were packed in air tight containers to be used as fried items during the remaining part of the year!
Adapting to changing times!
Summer was also the period where teenage girls were advised to learn household chores and learn stitching and knitting. But during those summers, time simply flew! Children had so much to do at a minimum cost. But now, summer camps and summer workshops have become a lucrative proposition and the children are spoilt for choice!
Those days in the summers spent by all of us will only be part of our wonderful memories. But given the time, why not share these episodes with our children? We can’t replicate those instances but our children can visualize our experiences vicariously. What say?
