Summer
Dear Blog,
Its summer now as you know. The heat has increased and you know how charged up usually I am during this season, its my favorite season much to the horror of some people especially mom. I love summer. I like the fact I am able to do with only 5-6 hrs of sleep daily. I like the fact that I don’t feel dull or bored as I do in winters. I call winter as a pessimistic season and summer as an optimistic one. You have no choice but to be on your toes and do something to take your mind off the heat. But this year I am seriously sad. I am missing the exams and the summer holidays, which used to follow them. You know blogy, after you start working and “grow up” nobody really asks if u want a holiday, a change from your routine work. Nor have I been asking myself. But I do, I miss my summer holidays terribly..
Exams too.. I think its always good to have a dose to adrenalin rushing in the body, it keeps our mind alert and doesn’t not allow us to think of nonsense stuff, like some of the things I have been thinking lately. I loved the last day of exams when we used to throw the writing pad and pencil box after the last exam not even bothering to hear mom or answer her “ after exam cross checking sessions” she used to hold every day.. DP maama (uncle)used to come within 2-3 days of the exams to take me and my sis to udupi to our grandfather’s house. Grandfather on his own was an eccentric fellow, never used to talk to his children or grandchildren except to give lectures on life, behavior, and other HR topics. I don’t even remember talking to him for more than a minute, but thanks to him we had a beautiful house with a big garden with lots of trees just 15 minutes walk from hotel Diana (which was more of our another grandpa’s place!!) in udupi. . May his soul rest in peace!..
It used to be riot back in the house, mom’s instructions of not to trouble her younger sisters and brothers thrown into air, while parents stayed back in bangalore, it used to be bliss and complete freedom for me, I think at that time I was 6-7 yrs old ..I still remember the way Dp maama used to pamper us with everything we asked and we dint ask.. esp the frequent visits to Diana, Diana holds a special place in my heart. Mom says she used to bunk college and used to go there sometimes for a plate of cutlets and fruit salad with ice cream.. I remember going there ever since I was born, and even now whenever I go to udupi , even if I don’t visit the Krishna temple, I go to Diana more than once even if the stay was of 1 day..
One summer I remember him taking us to Diana almost every single day.. how many gadbad ice creams have been devoured there! Once I decided to change my choice and ordered a honeymoon special. But giggles and smart comments from my maama as well as the waiters around bruised my ego that I never ordered that again even though I remember it was yummy! Expecting 7 yr old to know the meaning of honeymoon is stupid! :X they shouldn’t have had it on the menu itself! Paah! Expecting honeymooning couples to come and eat it in the temple town of udupi is also expecting too much!...
The walk back to the house with a stopover in the park called” ajjarkad” which literally means grandfather's forest! It was as a park where old and young alike of that area got together in the evening..It was here Indira gandhi came and gave a huge bhashan it seems long long back- info courtesy ajja( grandad) Playing in the sand for hours and on Sundays the trip to malpe beach! Coming home back dirty and getting scolding’s from my aunts( they are similar to my mom) who used to threaten both us and maama that they would complain to mom the next time she called..
ye phones were a luxury which my grandad’s home at that time dint have.. so it used to a be a weekly affair going to the nearest phone booth and calling home..
My sister and me were the only kids in that neighborhood actually! But it was fun though.. I remember the times I used to sit with the cats and watch the elderly women of our immediate neighbor household clean the freshly caught basket of fishes for lunch!!.. Bangade thintiya??( bangade- a kind of local fish and thinthiya means will you eat?) they used to ask me sweetly.. I used to shake my head vigorously, not coz we were vegetarians but coz I never liked its smell!.. Maybe that time if it had smelled delicious I would have probably eaten it!
Jumping the compound wall was one more thing for which my aunts shouted at me. Going through the gate to the neighbors required a long trek, so the easiest way was to jump the walls! Don’t do that, there are snakes out there, my aunts used to shout..
One day I jumped and landed on our side when something slapped me across my leg. I bent down to see a water snake( what was it doing on land?) hurrying across the path which had given me one rap and I went bawling into the house. I wasn’t hurt or anything but sometimes one likes to bawl.
And of course how can I forget that cycle man who used to come honking at 12pm sharp every day selling locally made candy like thing! I used to run inside the house and pester my aunt for 50 ps and run and buy that and suck it away to glory! We would have never eaten that in bangalore, but in udupi everything was allowed and it did taste great..
The only time we were all well behaved (we includes me, sis and aunt's and maama) was during the visit of my granddad who lived a bit far away in our village coz udupi was too much of a “city” for him.. He probably came to check if his house was still standing in one piece. He used to talk to my sister for sometime give me a glance and go off the next day, and we all used to take deep breaths and smile back!
The one-month used to pass off so quickly and before you knew it mom used to come down from Bangalore. Not that much of fun when she is around, she used to stop my maama from taking us to Diana frequently and other fun things we used to do behind her back :( .. and after a week of mom coming it was time for us to go home.. :(
Home also used to be fun at that time, dad would have got all the new books for the next class, and wrapping them up in brown paper and pasting the stickers of Disney characters and writing my name on it took away our next few days.. and also finishing off reading text books of English,GK,moral science and other things before even the school reopened. Buying new stuff, box, bags etc..And the huge disappointment sometimes when mom declared that the school bag used last year was good enough and could be used for another year! I remember clinging on to dad and sniffing, and somehow before mom knew it we had a new one, yeah!.. :D
Decades have rolled by since then, aunts have got married and moved away so have my uncles.. Now nobody stays in that big house..I always wanted to be a good big sister to the kids of my aunts and uncles coz I do remember the wonderful times I had as a kid with their parents.. I try my level best, but when one has to be nice to 6 kids ranging from kindergarten to 9th std it gets difficult!! And also when they take turns ,being in awe of you when you tell them that you have finished studying or once when I said MSc, my little sister asking me how many std’s is that?? She could count only till 10th!!
Life has changed so much blogy, summer doesn’t have the same warmth anymore.. There is no more planning of summer holidays trip to other places in India mom and dad used to plan keeping in mind the school reopening dates…Now if summer wasn’t so prickly and sweaty nobody at home would even know its summer..
Summer is still my favourite time of the year though. It heralds a new beginning for me, a change hopefully a good one, more so like graduating from one class to another standard like in school!
I hope this summer is a good one for me, you and all the people reading my blog!
HAPPY SUMMER! :))
Its summer now as you know. The heat has increased and you know how charged up usually I am during this season, its my favorite season much to the horror of some people especially mom. I love summer. I like the fact I am able to do with only 5-6 hrs of sleep daily. I like the fact that I don’t feel dull or bored as I do in winters. I call winter as a pessimistic season and summer as an optimistic one. You have no choice but to be on your toes and do something to take your mind off the heat. But this year I am seriously sad. I am missing the exams and the summer holidays, which used to follow them. You know blogy, after you start working and “grow up” nobody really asks if u want a holiday, a change from your routine work. Nor have I been asking myself. But I do, I miss my summer holidays terribly..
Exams too.. I think its always good to have a dose to adrenalin rushing in the body, it keeps our mind alert and doesn’t not allow us to think of nonsense stuff, like some of the things I have been thinking lately. I loved the last day of exams when we used to throw the writing pad and pencil box after the last exam not even bothering to hear mom or answer her “ after exam cross checking sessions” she used to hold every day.. DP maama (uncle)used to come within 2-3 days of the exams to take me and my sis to udupi to our grandfather’s house. Grandfather on his own was an eccentric fellow, never used to talk to his children or grandchildren except to give lectures on life, behavior, and other HR topics. I don’t even remember talking to him for more than a minute, but thanks to him we had a beautiful house with a big garden with lots of trees just 15 minutes walk from hotel Diana (which was more of our another grandpa’s place!!) in udupi. . May his soul rest in peace!..
It used to be riot back in the house, mom’s instructions of not to trouble her younger sisters and brothers thrown into air, while parents stayed back in bangalore, it used to be bliss and complete freedom for me, I think at that time I was 6-7 yrs old ..I still remember the way Dp maama used to pamper us with everything we asked and we dint ask.. esp the frequent visits to Diana, Diana holds a special place in my heart. Mom says she used to bunk college and used to go there sometimes for a plate of cutlets and fruit salad with ice cream.. I remember going there ever since I was born, and even now whenever I go to udupi , even if I don’t visit the Krishna temple, I go to Diana more than once even if the stay was of 1 day..
One summer I remember him taking us to Diana almost every single day.. how many gadbad ice creams have been devoured there! Once I decided to change my choice and ordered a honeymoon special. But giggles and smart comments from my maama as well as the waiters around bruised my ego that I never ordered that again even though I remember it was yummy! Expecting 7 yr old to know the meaning of honeymoon is stupid! :X they shouldn’t have had it on the menu itself! Paah! Expecting honeymooning couples to come and eat it in the temple town of udupi is also expecting too much!...
The walk back to the house with a stopover in the park called” ajjarkad” which literally means grandfather's forest! It was as a park where old and young alike of that area got together in the evening..It was here Indira gandhi came and gave a huge bhashan it seems long long back- info courtesy ajja( grandad) Playing in the sand for hours and on Sundays the trip to malpe beach! Coming home back dirty and getting scolding’s from my aunts( they are similar to my mom) who used to threaten both us and maama that they would complain to mom the next time she called..
ye phones were a luxury which my grandad’s home at that time dint have.. so it used to a be a weekly affair going to the nearest phone booth and calling home..
My sister and me were the only kids in that neighborhood actually! But it was fun though.. I remember the times I used to sit with the cats and watch the elderly women of our immediate neighbor household clean the freshly caught basket of fishes for lunch!!.. Bangade thintiya??( bangade- a kind of local fish and thinthiya means will you eat?) they used to ask me sweetly.. I used to shake my head vigorously, not coz we were vegetarians but coz I never liked its smell!.. Maybe that time if it had smelled delicious I would have probably eaten it!
Jumping the compound wall was one more thing for which my aunts shouted at me. Going through the gate to the neighbors required a long trek, so the easiest way was to jump the walls! Don’t do that, there are snakes out there, my aunts used to shout..
One day I jumped and landed on our side when something slapped me across my leg. I bent down to see a water snake( what was it doing on land?) hurrying across the path which had given me one rap and I went bawling into the house. I wasn’t hurt or anything but sometimes one likes to bawl.
And of course how can I forget that cycle man who used to come honking at 12pm sharp every day selling locally made candy like thing! I used to run inside the house and pester my aunt for 50 ps and run and buy that and suck it away to glory! We would have never eaten that in bangalore, but in udupi everything was allowed and it did taste great..
The only time we were all well behaved (we includes me, sis and aunt's and maama) was during the visit of my granddad who lived a bit far away in our village coz udupi was too much of a “city” for him.. He probably came to check if his house was still standing in one piece. He used to talk to my sister for sometime give me a glance and go off the next day, and we all used to take deep breaths and smile back!
The one-month used to pass off so quickly and before you knew it mom used to come down from Bangalore. Not that much of fun when she is around, she used to stop my maama from taking us to Diana frequently and other fun things we used to do behind her back :( .. and after a week of mom coming it was time for us to go home.. :(
Home also used to be fun at that time, dad would have got all the new books for the next class, and wrapping them up in brown paper and pasting the stickers of Disney characters and writing my name on it took away our next few days.. and also finishing off reading text books of English,GK,moral science and other things before even the school reopened. Buying new stuff, box, bags etc..And the huge disappointment sometimes when mom declared that the school bag used last year was good enough and could be used for another year! I remember clinging on to dad and sniffing, and somehow before mom knew it we had a new one, yeah!.. :D
Decades have rolled by since then, aunts have got married and moved away so have my uncles.. Now nobody stays in that big house..I always wanted to be a good big sister to the kids of my aunts and uncles coz I do remember the wonderful times I had as a kid with their parents.. I try my level best, but when one has to be nice to 6 kids ranging from kindergarten to 9th std it gets difficult!! And also when they take turns ,being in awe of you when you tell them that you have finished studying or once when I said MSc, my little sister asking me how many std’s is that?? She could count only till 10th!!
Life has changed so much blogy, summer doesn’t have the same warmth anymore.. There is no more planning of summer holidays trip to other places in India mom and dad used to plan keeping in mind the school reopening dates…Now if summer wasn’t so prickly and sweaty nobody at home would even know its summer..
Summer is still my favourite time of the year though. It heralds a new beginning for me, a change hopefully a good one, more so like graduating from one class to another standard like in school!
I hope this summer is a good one for me, you and all the people reading my blog!
HAPPY SUMMER! :))
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