THE SUMMER VACATION





















For Aakash, today is the last day of school. He has just concluded his second standard. Sometime in June second-week, his school will re-open, and our Aakash will be in third standard.


So, from tomorrow, the summer holidays will begin for Aakash!


Will they?


Let us see.




At 7.30 sharp, tomorrow morning, Aakash’s Tennis class will be starting. It will go on till 9.00. 9.00 to 9.30 will be breakfast at the ground itself. ! Sharp at 9.30, the Speech & Drama session will kick-start which will end by 11.30. Aakash will be brought home for lunch. At 2.30 sharp, he has Calligraphy class. At 4.30, the dance class is scheduled. At 6.00, the Football coach will be waiting for him. That will go on till the darkness falls...


And, this will go on throughout our little Aakash’s summer vacation… 


And then, the June second-week will come…


And then, his school will start…


And then, his tuitions, too– Maths, Science, Social studies, English, Hindi, Moral Science, - yes, ‘all subjects’ and everyday. All through the year. Till the next summer vacation comes…


Then, when the next summer vacation comes,  Aakash will have the Phonics class, Vedic Maths, Cricket coaching, Personality Development, EQ, IQ and SQ… Maybe Photography or Acting classes… Maybe Gym.


And, the June second-week will come… Aakash’s school will re-open… His tutions for ‘all subjects’ will roll again… and, he will be busy with them till his summer holidays come…


And, yes, when the summer holidays come, his loving mom has already lined up the summer itinerary for Aakash: Mountaineering, Boating, Horse riding, Shooting, Swimming, and Aero-modelling…



And, lo! Soon, the June second-week will come… and, Aakash’s school will, once again, start… and he will be, busy – all over again -  with his ‘all-subjects’ tuitions!


And, when all this will be over, when our Aakash will come out from his High School – as a 'big boy' – he will be a fantabulous young man! 


Different. Smart. Outstanding!


Oh yes, he will be… That’s what Aakash’s young mother hopes, dreams… and is so ambitiously and single-mindedly working towards. 


Aakash has to do what no one else is able to do… Something extra-ordinary, something that would make her incredibly proud!


Aakash has to do what she could not do when she was like him… 


Aakash has to… Aakash has to… Aakash has to!













Before the Sun went down on the last day of our school, off we went – we all brothers - to Karambar, my mother’s birth place. We refused to return from there, till the Sun went down on the last day of our vacation.


About two glorious months of summer vacation… That was!


There, we jumped in the ponds and wells and swam along the water snakes…


We climbed the Jack-fruit trees and finished the jack-fruits on the tree itself…


We went to the paddy fields and stood on the plough as the buffalo did the hard work…


And, when the ploughing was done, and the buffaloes were washed, we got a joyride home on the buffalo’s back’…






There, the coconut tree gave us our boats 


and we sent them through the gushing streams, 


and when we saw our boats speeding, 


we danced with joy…







We plucked mangoes and cashews from the trees and feasted on wild berries from the bushes…


We climbed the coconut trees to quench our thirst… and, on our way home, caught a few squirrels…


We made lovely swings around the mighty jack-fruit trees…


We made scarecrows and went with our uncles to the fields to mount them in the in evenings…


We sat, all wonder-struck, as our grandma gently sang to her cows as she milked them…


We climbed the hills and mazed through the jungles before we could find our way back home…


And, before it was 8, the kerosene lamps would go off… and, it was time for all of us to sleep. But, not without praying the Rosary… That was a must. Yes, a must!


The Rooster crew the next morning, and that was the alarm for all of us to rise… 


And, it was one more day… in Paradise!












Today is the last day of school for the little one – Aakash. 


From tomorrow will start… his Summer Vacation!




GERALD D’CUNHA


Pics.:  Vivek D'Cunha







Comments

Vinigopal said…
Dear Sir,

What a supremely sensitive blogpost! I view this new age parenting with fear...isnt childhood meant to be the most carefree period of our life? But then, what life was 40 years ago, is not the same anymore. Parents trusted strangers with their kids. Most would be trustworthy, with very rare exceptions. Now there is so much of paranoia....and I wouldn't say that it is all in the minds of the parents...newspapers are full of such horror stories. Tell me, how many of us would send our kids away on a 2 month vacation, knowing that they would not be constantly supervised and there would be no contact with them on a daily basis? The solution is then to strike a balance between being "Super parents" and uncaring parents.
April 10, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Oh Vinit, sure, times have changed... and,sending our kids on a two-months vacation does seem a remote reality!

As you have very beautifully said, the solution is the 'middle path'!

I miss those days... and, I do feel bad for many kids, but certainly not all...

I am afraid, I have not generalized... and, sounded negative. Have I?

Thanks for the perspective, Vinita,

Love,

GERRY
April 10, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Dinesh Naik said…
Brilliant post, sir. Enjoyed. Keep writing.. Dinesh
April 10, 2012 at 5:50 PM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Dinesh,

Love,

GERRY
April 10, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Savita said…
So true sir. I have experienced the same..... We used to enjoy our vacations at our Nani's place and cherish those memories later... Tomorrow is Shruti's last day to school.As a caring parent even I asked her about what class she would like to join ,else she will get bored. But as usual she tell me , mom vacation me to mujhe jeene do, I will not join any class so soon, we will see later. So finaly after reading your blog decide ,no classes for Shruti and just let her enjoy her trip to her Nani's place (mumbai). Thanks Sir.
April 10, 2012 at 11:13 PM
Vimmi Batra said…
For us vacations meant outdoors...games, climbing trees, fun and frolick. We were hardly at home...probably only for food or thirst. Even TV was available only for few restricted hours. Today with both parents working, tv programmes, movies, internet available 24x7.....xbox, psp, video games...children hardly have any physical excercise....not to forget the gallons of holiday homework. Those days a 65-70% on the report card meant a good student, today a 70% means C grade...with so much competition, parental pressure, pear pressure, school pressure....poor kids just don't know what to do. With so much energy to spare...not burn they tend to have bad temper, impatience....zero tolerance...Ask me have a teen aged son...how i try to cope....it is very important to chaneelise the energy, burn it out the healthy way very difficult to balance the situation
April 11, 2012 at 12:35 AM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Savita, glad u liked the post.

Our kids are such innocent souls...

Let them have their share of innocence and wonder...

Love,

GERRY
April 11, 2012 at 12:40 PM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Hey Vimmi, send the young man here to Mumbai... Let him get rough and tough to our Locals, our shanties, our Mumbai lingo... and, then, let him also search for stars in the skies as his amazing mother does, try to pluck them, jumping...

Well, I love the young man, as u do.

Thanks,

GERRY
April 11, 2012 at 12:44 PM
Vincy said…
I totally agree what you said here but keep in mind that when we were young we neither had TV nor other Electronic Gadgets. But in the present world these Electronic Gadgets and TV drives most of the kids and parents insane. And to avoid that insanity the parent like me try to engage kids in more outdoor activities than stay home and waste time with those gadgets. Remember in our time during Summer Vacation, we were either going to our relatives place or spend time out doors playing Cricket or Soccer/Football ourselves with our neighbors but it doesn't happen these days unless parents engage their kids in those activities.. .

I am saying this because I am seeing this with my kids, unless I kick them out of the house they don't even bother to go out and spend some time outdoors which will be good for their physical and mental development but they don't..

In my opinion the world is changing very rapidly with a wrong direction and without parents involvement it will be big disaster...
April 12, 2012 at 9:37 AM
Gerald D'Cunha said…
Thanks Vincy... U really have a valid point here. Parents have to step in...

Well, all said and done, the moral of the story would remain the same, no matter how much we debate on this: Let our children be not deprived of their childhood, their innocence.

I have faith in our children, because, we have had some of the best wonder-filled days when we were small... Didn't we, dear?

Love,

GERRY
April 13, 2012 at 8:45 AM
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