Enjoying summer vacation in the outdoors.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
In our school days, we looked forward to summer vacations. Summer in most parts of Bengal is generally marked by the glowing sun with heat waves denuding trees. In the drought-prone south Bengal district of Bankura, the mercury during mid-summer very often soars even above 45 degrees Celsius, beating the temperature of many desert regions of the subcontinent.
Yet during our school days, the summer vacation from mid-May to mid-June was the only solace to schoolchildren to withstand the unbearably hot days. We would have many plans in store, except doing the heaps of home tasks given by our teachers. We looked forward to spend the days in the lap of nature. It may sound unusual to today’s children who are generally averse to going out in the summer sun.
The small patch of forest dotted with fruit trees such as mango and jackfruit adjacent to the town or the sprawling fields covered with green carpets of grass by the river or empty grounds suited for kite flying were our sure destinations in the morning and in the afternoon. Besides, sucking the sweet juice in the soft palm seeds was, of course, an extra-special attraction to us.
Children would gather in the grove to pick mangoes dropped by the strong wind. Very often, we would be caught in storms accompanied by heavy showers along with lightning and thunder with no place of taking shelter except under the most insecure trees. If the showers lingered, it necessitated our guardians to come out with umbrellas, torches and lanterns to rescue us. Needless to say, we would be thrashed and beaten hard to teach us a good lesson in vain as we were incorrigible.
The most thrilling moment, I can ever recall, was perhaps jumping into the pond. The boys would spend hours swimming in the cold water surrounded by deep shade of evergreen trees. Unlike today, almost all the boys and even a large number of girls would then know how to swim.
Every afternoon, we would enjoy strolling or sitting on the sandy bed of the river on the outskirts of our small town. It was the perfect destination of all and sundry till the darkness of the night enveloped the area. On moonlit evenings, the landscape would turn silver and the visitors stay a little long. We would spend happy moments there picking up smooth and glossy pebbles of different sizes or watching little fish frolicking in the narrow strand of crystal clear river water or dangling our feet in the flowing stream or wading across it. The bullock carts with the riders humming the tune of folk songs would cross the river carelessly. I still become nostalgic when all these sweet memories of summer days peep into my mind.
Despite all these, nothing could be more interesting than kite flying in the open fields with plenty of wind. We had special preparation to sharpen our kite-flying strands to cut others’ kites. We would never be parted from our spool and colourful kites in the afternoon.
The nights in our ancient town were not less enchanting and thrilling. Lying with my siblings on the rope cots in the open courtyard under the clear sky lit with twinkling stars still transports me back to my childhood days. The long range of forest was infested with wild animals. The sound of maize being removed from their stalks by the jackals invading the fruit garden behind our two-storey mud hut when darkness descended, added an extra thrill to my waking moments. I can still hear the receding calls of the nightwatchmen who came from Nepal and settled down permanently.
Gone are those happy summer vacations in the lap of nature. Now the picture is starkly different. Children of today are no longer found flying kites in the scorching sun or picking up mangoes in the groves by the river or swimming in the muddy ponds. They perhaps ‘have no time to stand and stare’ to enjoy nature. They are immersed in modern gizmos. They are absorbed in social media and computer games.
Published – May 25, 2025 03:37 am IST