12 Reasons Why Summer Vacations Were Memorable In Childhood!

Yesterday, while taking a walk in my society, I noticed all the kids were outside playing cricket, badminton, football and indulging into outdoor activities. I was so delighted to see this because children are more addicted to technology. Well, we were quite lucky that we had no phone, laptops and that’s exactly why our summer vacations were memorable in childhood. And fortunately, our parents made sure that it happened that way!

1. Countdown For Holiday

   Before summer vacation, we had to go through a perilous task –  exams. As the exams would progress, we would start counting days and plan for our perfect vacation. We would jot down activities and amongst that our favourite pastime was to SLEEP like there’s no tomorrow. Interestingly, we never overslept and would get up early every day.

2. Say ‘Hi’ To Native Home

   My father’s hometown was Shahada that falls in Nandurbar District. The place is famous for its soaring temperatures in summers, but who cares? All we cousins would gang up at our ancestor’s place and then temperature never really mattered. We had a huge terrace where we would do yoga, play antakshari and finally would bid adieu to the day beneath the stars.

3. Cousins Get-together

   If going to our native home was not possible owing to my dad’s schedule, then cousins would come over at our place. Just imagine a house filled with 15 kids literally made my mom go nuts. At a time, my mom and my aunt would make 60-70 chapatis (flat wheat bread) and we like crazy kids would go on an eating spree.

4. Devouring Mangoes

   Summer vacation = mangoes. Just imagine, 60-70 chapatis along with mango was a deadly combination for our parents too! Well, our parents would make all necessary arrangements so that we don’t fall short of mangoes. My uncle would distribute one mango to every child and it was up to the kiddo whether he/she wants to cut it or squeeze it. Such small moments are the reason why summer vacations were memorable in childhood!

5. Beat The Heat With Indoor Tournaments

   Oh! We were in love with indoor games, then being it carrom, cards, board games, antakshari, quiz contest and even cricket sometimes. We were in love with magic tricks, science games and our hall used to be reserved for cricket catching practice. Amidst all this, we had tournaments also. We had teams and the winner would get a prize that was readily available in the house. All these antics are the reason why summer vacations were memorable in childhood!

6. Trips With Family

   We have been very lucky that our parents made sure to take us to varied places. Kashmir, Kulu Manali, Rajasthan, Gujrat, South India, some international trips, etc., were on list and were successfully explored and cherished. Even now our parents are enthusiastic to plan family trips.

7. Movie Date With Parents

   Whenever any Rajshri Production’s movie was out, our tickets were ready! My parents were and continue to be a huge fan, so Maine Pyaar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hai had to be in the watch list. Not just Hindi flicks, but they were a huge fan of devotional movies like Shirdi Ke Sai Baba. We had many VCD’s of these movies too!

8. Book And TV Worms

   Chacha Chaudhary, Panchtantra, Tinkle, Akbar-Birbal, Tenali Rama were our favourites. We would collect each edition, read them and exchange with our friends. Along with books, TV was our favourite pastime, but we hardly watched it as our house was full with cousins and relatives. Amidst that, Captain Planet, Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry, Shaktimaan scored high on our watch list.

9. Time For Some Video Games

   Who doesn’t like video games? In those days, we had to buy cassette and video games had remotes and a joystick. Spartan, Tetris, Mario Bros, Pac-man were some of the best classic video games. Today, we have a PSP but it doesn’t have that fun factor like the old ones. May be that’s the reason they say – Old Is Gold and that’s why summer vacations were memorable in childhood!

10. Savoring Kulfi And Ice-creams

    Every afternoon a kulfiwala would pass by selling baraf gola (in literal sense colourful water ice candy), Malai kulfi, Pepsi cola candy, etc., and we were his regular customers. His business would amplify with each passing day because there were 15 kids in the house. So, he never missed to peddle through our society!

11. Graduating With Hobby Classes

    My mom loved arts and crafts and due to the financial crisis, she couldn’t pursue in her childhood. However, she made sure we get access to all these activities. Summer camps, clay art, painting classes, drawing classes have been always on our list. Apart from this, dance, swimming, singing were trending and we were very much a part of it!

12. Bye Bye Summer Vacations

    Now, that we know our summer vacation were about to end and school to start, we would go for book shopping. Not just books, but uniform, water bottles, tiffin, shoes, socks, bags had to be on the shopping list. Once books were bought, putting up book covers, labels were our yearly and family affair.

Today, while writing this post, I thought our parents had so much financial turmoil, but not once they made us realise that! Today, we whine about rising fees, inflated prices, but I wonder how our parents managed in those days! Maybe they are the reason why summer vacations were memorable in childhood!