When the grandchildren descend for summer holidays, the days become hectic and fun filled. He could not help but to reminisce about his summer holidays - stay at home, roam in he neighbourhood with friends, dropping mango, tamarind (ripe or unripe how does it matter!), and gooseberry excelling the prowess of a Arjuna or a Karna, by accurately hitting them with small stones and then eagerly retire to taste them, under the shade of the same trees from which we have borrowed the eatables. Fun of a thrilling kind!
The fun lasted till such time the landlord or his caretaker came barreling down, shouting threats. We beat a hasty retreat. What else could we do, as we had stolen his produce without permission. If nothing like that was on the agenda, a dive in the pond with a ride on the back of a buffalo enjoying a bath there or run after tractors transporting harvested sugar cane to snatch some.
The purloined sugar cane tasted sweeter though we suffered incidental cuts and bruises to show for our efforts! In our world, all these are a given and taken for granted activities. How, then will we enjoy our summer holidays simply staying at home? Complaints, admonishments and the scorching sun did not deter us.
The second act of the drama called summer vacation repeated with our children. Sometimes they spent a portion of their holidays with relatives and sometimes we played host for the children of relatives, like a rotating summer camp, under the care of the respective mothers. Braving the storm, they might have yearned for a ‘somewhere else’ holiday of their own!
On weekends, it was the turn of the fathers to bear the brunt and help them to burn their energy with games, walks and hobbies. Whenever our children had to stay home, all by themselves, they were under a drill master's constant glare to prevent any loose cannon being fired, by way of mischiefs or misdeeds. Concern, of the mother, of course.
Then came a lull period, as in the eye of a cyclone. Our children moved out for studies and at those summer holidays, they made their own arrangements, probably to escape from our constant lectures on dos and don’ts. A sort of revenge holidays.
After a few years, now it is the grandchildren who perform the act three of the drama, called summer vacation. They bring with them such energy into the act, more than sufficient to turn a gust of wind into a ferocious tornado! Slowly we also get drawn into this maelstrom
When they were young a few bedtime stories helped. As the years rolled by, they have reached the stage from where they take pleasure in terrorising us with horror stories. I do not know the physics and chemistry of the origin of their energy. It mysteriously peaks at bedtime, even after lavishly spending it from dawn to dusk! To my tired body and mind, their chit-chat often sounded like garbled messages from the Voyager probe.
One day, the bedtime chit-chat hooked into me like a harpoon and made me to sit upright. Give a listen to their conversation, which I managed to reproduce verbatim.
"Noise can break silence. What can break
noise?"
The vacuum!
"What is a rest mass?"
Glancing surreptitiously at me, one kid answered, "Which is not doing any work!"
Why planets go around?
Not to get bored! This is tossed as a rebuttal
to me, for telling them not to roam in the neighbourhood.
"What is purpose?"
"Just you asked me a question. That is,
it!".
This again is intended as a sarcastic answer, as I question them often, the purpose of going around in the neighbourhood.
"Where a thief will get his food!"
"Of course, from a fast-food joint!"
One day they snuck out and munched on snacks at a street corner joint. I had seen them and they had seen me. This jibe is veiled reminder not to spill their secret.
"Why a tap leaks?"
“To do a self-test!
This was a cloaked reference, again directed at me, for spilling the beans about their secret visit to the fast-food joint.
"What will happen, if a parrot is given a
carrot?"
“It will go nuts!”
Obviously, you don't want me to reveal the identity of the intended target!
These youngsters know how to make a quick
buck, when you are ready to cry a halt.
They took their revenge on the next day, for spilling the beans, and forced me (affectionately) to swipe my card and allowed me to secretly weep at the amount on the printouts.
Back at home, the grandma, thinking that these brats must have exhausted themselves, fed them luscious food. She did not understand why they were frequently glancing at each other and then at me as if we all shared a common secret. After tousling their hairs with loving care, she gave me an enquiring look. I was tongue tied to say anything and silently placed the cash receipts in front of her. Losing interest, and a bit disappointed in not discovering the hidden secrets, she left.
That day’s bedtime was more spirited and filled with banter. With more nervous energy to spend, they chose to stage a satire filled Q & A session. I could have avoided it but joined them expecting my grandchildren to do something creative. The session progressed like this, and I decoded their quips, in to what they said and what they meant. Bear with me, it would be fun to read!
Q: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. (Grandmother forced them to eat fruits)
A1: Better, give the apple to the doctor. It is less expensive.
Q: An early bird catches worms.
(I always insisted, rain
or shine, get up early)
A1: What happens, if the worms oversleep!
A2: Or, if the bird is not hungry?
A1: What if it bites first and then barks?
A2: You mean, once more?
A: Do the birds in the bush know this?
A: What if the baby is protesting against it?
A: Will it not leave the tailors also
in tears. needle into my index
finger and a visit to a doctor)
A: What if it is trying to lose its mass?
A: Don’t want to disappoint the other frogs, not born in a leap year!
A: To avoid forgetting the facts!
A: It is the medicine's side effect! (This is to scare a free
boarder)
A: To remind you that the umbrella is safe at home! (I Forgot the umbrella and got drenched)
With all they said and did, it only added variety to our daily life, during their summer holidays. We went through a raising phase, mesa phase and a descending phase, a sort of sinusoidal curve but with a mesa region. Like the movie title "Come September" our entertainment is waiting for “The kids return for the Summer"
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