Aditi Panda

Even though we have up-gradation in facilities and materialistic options today our children are still deprived of the warmth, love, bonding, sharing and fun of summer vacations. Think about it!

Every person has some nostalgic memories related to summer vacations. Going back home on the last day of the annual exams and throwing the school bag in the closet with excited frenzy. Everyone had a blast playing for hours together forgetting hunger, thirst and also the raised mercury. Well that was past tense, isn’t it!

A few years back summer vacations normally kick started in a similar fashion. Plans were made to visit grandparents who normally stayed in the sprawling ancestral homes in villages or small towns surrounded with lush greenery and tall trees. Bags were packed, train tickets were booked in advance and the summer holidays were spent prancing and playing as if there is no tomorrow.

Now-a-days the picture has undergone a total makeover. The final exams are wrapped up in February with the new session restarting in the month of April.  A one month break in the name of summer vacation is given to the children but it is loaded with project work and holiday assignments. In the era of nuclear families with both parents working, the little free time the children have is packed with some summer camps or holiday classes. The children have their hands full even during the vacations to keep them from mischief.

“Times have changed rapidly. It only seems like yesterday when my mother and aunties used to pester us to eat and then continue playing and today we are also dragging our children to the table but from cartoons and video games. We rejuvenated amidst greenery in our village with all my cousins joining in to climb trees to pluck mangoes, swinging on rope swings, running behind bullock carts, playing in mud but never falling sick and binging on homemade snacks and savouries made lovingly”says  Arpita Ghosh sadly.

“There was no TV and we all gathered around my grandpa who told us stories and we all slept huddled together in open air. Today it breaks my heart to see the children in front of TV or play video games the entire vacation”, she adds further.

“Digitalisation has created a huge impact on the change in lifestyle and children are addicted. Summer projects and holiday homework leaves no energy to go out and play in the hot sun. So they sit in the AC, sipping chilled cola and watch TV or play games on the laptop. It’s fun and we have competition to reach the next level first”, says a shy Varun Mahapatra studying in 6th grade.

Jyotirmayee Mohanty teaching in a reputed school shares, “it’s sad to see today’s children miss out on their childhood. With the advent of computers they get everything in one click but they do not know how to enjoy small things. When we were small we found pleasure in trivial things like sucking mangoes that were stored in the small tank of water. Eating sugarcane with our teeth and bathing in the village pond was bliss. Now the parents want their children to complete the syllabus for the next term to be able to score full marks in the exams.”

“The old system of the new session beginning in june was good because the children could relax for a few days and enjoy some outdoor activity. Today the children are seen cooped up in their rooms with a mobile or an I-pad for company. The only change we can give our children in our busy schedules and work load is a weeklong trip to some exotic destination” feels Sikata Panda a working mother.

These days, the children are over burdened with rat-race competition, parent-peer pressure and extracurricular activities throughout the year. The vacations have decreased as there is a five day week in many schools and therefore the schools cut into the festival holidays to complete the vast syllabus. Hence it becomes difficult for kids to catch a breath even during summer vacations.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

8 COMMENTS

  1. I still remember the vacation thrill i experienced. I used to visit my cousins staying in talegaon. The train journey itself was so much fun that we looked forward to the onset of holidays. I had massive vacations right from April to mid June which made all the homework and exams seem puny.

    I used to turn at least 2 shades darker due to playing in the hot sun right from morning to evening. There wasn’t any television or mobile games to restrict my fun. It was cricket in the morning followed by cycling or playing marbles. all afternoon and then football or badminton in the evening. As if that wasn’t enough, we used to play carroms as we weren’t allowed to go outside at night.

    I never ever remember an inch of fat on my body until my 10th board exams. I learnt so many new things, most of all being making friends, sharing things, learning to accept rejection when the neighbourhood team beat us in cricket, going in groups to each other’s houses to eat amras, and so many other things.

    The happiness was unbridled though my mother used to shout at me for soiling my clothes and not having food at the right time. This was the best time of my life…

  2. Well written article Aditi. It really rekindles the lovely memories of our childhood where as the present young generation is missing all the fun.longer summer vacations is a good idea& with time constraints big family( oldest to the youngest)get together can be organised to bring in some part of fun which we enjoyed.

  3. In our school days Summer vacation means full of fun, masti, almost zero contact with study, visit to relatives place. Marriage dates of relatives were fixed during this time, so that maximum persons could attend & enjoy the occasion. In those occasions we met many persons, knew each other, too source to strengthen the social bondage. Now a days children don’t get that scope. So we were anxiously waiting for summer vacation every year
    From saibali pal ,bhubaneswar on whatsap

  4. Very true….we had much better childhood, as a child. Now a days it’s become so much complicated for a child. They are not exposed to small n simple things for pleasures as we used be. Rather I think to an extent, it is the fault of the elders also that they are directly or indirectly encouraging the children to take happiness from material n money related things.

    From prasad barve,pune on whatsup

  6. Yeah..I remember,when our summer vacation wes started we were eagerly waited for mamaji. He always came after our annual exam over on April and took us to their place and we spent entire holidays with nani,mami and cousins.
    On whatsap from sujata kanungo,nepal

  7. I went through the article, best observation you had given. But at some point I questioned the nuclear family system, single child concept, materialistic and selfish attitude of parents and after all the rat race competition. I don’t think the school syllabus play a measure role.

    From sanghamitra singhdeo, bhubaneswar on whatsap

Comment