Summers are coming… ☀️
And as kids, summers always meant just one thing: summer vacations. Oh, those 2 months of childhood bliss! Without further ado, here’s an ode to summer vacations:
The golden days of childhood,
that roaming in the neighbourhood,
playing with friends all day long,
humming that forgotten song,
gulping down glasses of aamras,
getting 5-rupee pocket money from mum’s purse,
that cooler, that freezer,
that hider, that seeker,
that cool evening breeze,
going to the hills and the seas…
Yes, those were the days,
Of endless Junes and Mays,
With bright, hot, sun rays
Our sweet, summer vacation days!
And if that was not enough, let us take you further on this nostalgia trip. Let’s revisit our amazing memories of the golden period called “summer vacations”…
1. Train journeys to Nani or Dadi Ghar
This was an unsaid, unwritten ritual in most of the homes. Come summer vacations and off we boarded the train and went to our grandma’s place (flights were so darn expensive then!). But, those journeys were no less than a picnic — filled with chips, chocolates, puri-bhaaji, station-wali chai, Chacha-Chaudhary comics, counting the cows from the window and what not! Remember how we were given the responsibility of counting the luggage, and we felt so big and responsible!?
2. Gobble up mangoes and litchis
How can we forget our favourite summer fruits! Mangoes were the best accompaniment to our lunches and dinners. And litchis were for the evenings. Those sweet, tangy, juicy pearls. How we used to carefully peel the litchi so the juice doesn’t ooze out onto our hand. And you couldn’t have just one! But, mangoes… we slathered it all across our face and hands and everywhere. And we would all have one childhood pic of us eating mango guthli...
[P.S. - We know mangoes haven’t yet arrived, but if you are craving for mangoes badly — we’ve got your back. CLICK HERE! After all, Summers = Mangoes = Love 🥭💛]
3. Endless rounds of cartoons and video games
Tom and Jerry, Flintstones, Swat Kats, The Powerpuff Girls, Scooby-Doo… the list goes on and on! And holidays meant cartoons from AM to PM!!! Yaaaaaasssss…. And video games! (Do we hear the Mario tune playing as background music?) Mario and Dave reigned. And there was Contra, Duck Hunt, Aladdin, SkyRoads, GTA, Midtown Madness, Road Rash!!! Damn… we can never get enough of these games. [And in a peculiar oldie tone: “These millennial kids would never know what real games were!”]
4. Exploring the neighbourhood on our cycles
We did not have any scooty. Or electric bikes. We had cycles. And we were so darn proud of them! We used to happily run errands for our mums because we would get to go on our cycle (with that front basket for keeping stuff!) Come vacation and our cycle was our ship, the neighbourhood was our open sea and we were pirates! The only rule: “don’t go on the main roads”.
5. Drink Rasna and Aam Panna
Start of the vacation, the fridges would be stocked with Rasna concentrate and Aam Panna juices. Rasna was our next favorite drink after Aamras. And somehow, we needed Rasna after every 2 hours! That sweet, tangy, concoction of goodness!… Aam Panna was an elder's drink, but we loved having it as well – with all that jeera and smoky tang. Plus, it kept the summer loo away.
6. Join drawing and handwriting classes
Don’t be shy now. We know each one of you has done either of these classes, at least once in their lifetime! Practicing that fruit basket, or learning shading, painting, or writing stories in Cursive – these were the general ‘hobby’ classes. The talented ones joined dance and music classes, or even skating!
7. Rushing to finish our ‘holiday homework’ of 2 months in 2 days
And amid all this, how can anyone even remember about holiday homework and projects? The last week of the vacations was dedicated to this huge monster. Completing maths exercises, jotting down tables, hurriedly completing English and Hindi cursive handwriting, Science project, Social Science project, EVS project… So much burden on these tiny shoulders! And so, the whole family came together to complete 2 months worth of homework in 2 days! [loaded with Mummy ki daant and Papa ki side wali smile! 😅]
Those were the days. Even its memory gives us this sense of satisfaction and smile.
We know you are smiling! And we hope you keep this smile with you throughout the day. Anddd… Use this as an opportunity to message or call up your long lost school buddy and take them down the memory lane on this nostalgia trip! 💓
Also, don't forget to trip down to memory lane with our nostalgic DESi product.
Check out our products here.
-- Written by Simran Doshi
