You could hardly wait for the summer vacation. As the annual exams came to a close, you maintained a daily countdown. Two more weeks for summer vacation, just one more week and finally, it was the day of the last exam! The excitement peaked- you could barely write the last exam. The moment you submitted the answer booklet, the euphoria was indescribable!
Only a convict incarcerated for decades would know the value
of that freedom. Emotions overflowed. Some shouted, some cried, some laughed, and
some scattered the desks into complete disarray! School authorities stood out
of harm’s way and allowed the emotional catharsis to empty out. Shouts of
“happy holidays” rent the air. A notable feature of the celebration was to
squirt ink on the unwary bystander! Even the Principal, looking immaculate in
his white cloak, wasn’t spared.
Students took out a procession shouting, “We want holiday!”
It could not be more incongruous. You already had the holiday, and two full
months of it! The freedom fighters had got so tuned to protesting, they overlooked
the vital point that freedom was now attained!
The rowdy celebration spilt over to the school compound and
beyond. You said goodbye to your friends and hugged them. You wouldn’t see them
for 2 months. You vowed to write letters
to close buddies and made grandiose plans to meet midway through the vacation.
Neither of it would materialize- students went off to their
native places or spun in different orbits. Once you reached home, it was a
complete anticlimax. There was nothing to look forward to. It was like the
vacuous feeling a mother experiences after childbirth. After touching an
emotional high, you hit a plateau- an endless, trackless plain that stretched
to eternity.
That very evening, you complained repeatedly, “I am bored! I
don’t know what to do!” It was the height of absurdity. For months, you had
waited for these holidays. And now that you had the holidays, you suddenly wanted
school. The rat had got so used to the coziness of the cage, it refused to stir
out, even when the door was flung wide open! You missed the routine of school. You
missed your friends. You missed even Mathematics- at least you could express
your irritation at something!
The next morning, you woke up with the same tasteless
feeling.
But my sister was up and about. “Where are you going?” I
asked her as she looked overly busy. “I am joining a circulating library to get
some books to read!” My eyes lit up. That looked a fun thing to do. “Wait for
me. I will also come!” I insisted.
“What a copy-cat you are!” she commented. I grinned and put
on my chappals.
Nostalgia moments, still I remember how we all friends planned an excursion to Sugar cane fields. Ate how much one can ,by paying 50 paise not allowed to take the cane to home is an agreement
ReplyDeleteSuper comment!!! Sugar cane fields...and sugarcane juice!!! That's a nice topic in itself!!!!
DeleteThe last bit of joining the lending library rings so true. I often believe that these private libraries made the the maximum business in the summer holidays. The other thing I recall was that TV was open season without restrictions in the holidays. The first day I even would watch the program for Farmers with all the details on Phosphates and manure and water management. Some friends still had exams as they went to a different school. We had to wait till they finished so that a cricket game with at least 5 people on a side could be held (including the Katcha Limbu).
ReplyDeleteSuperb comments Raj!!! You took me back in time!!!!
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