Summers are for Friends, Family and Food

For most people, summer is just a season. Another stretch of time marked by hot, winding days and the same monotonous life. However, for the school-going younglings, like me, that last bell, which is a sound of liberation, marks the start of summer vacations. This feeling is the most special when school years are coming to an end, and this time of “summer vacations” will never again be the same.

Every year, the long-awaited holidays start with plans with my closest friends, swimming, going out to lunch and endless sleepovers. Summer holidays are also a prime time to visit family. Being a part of a nuclear family, it is not every day that I stumble upon opportunities to be close to my extended family. So, flying to the ever-changing and fast-paced Bombay city is a must.

As soon as I land, I am surrounded by those I value most in life-- family. Uncles and aunts and grandmothers and grandfathers all waiting to hear the latest updates from my life, clamouring around to feed me exotic Maharashtrian dishes that I seldom find anywhere else.

Exploring the city is always a new adventure, catching trains bursting at the seams with people, crowds talking around me in my mother tongue, and the amazing coastal air acting like a channel of catharsis. My favourite thing to do is to set out and eat as much as possible.

Being a part of a family who take their mealtime with utmost seriousness, concerns of health go out the window as we indulge in hot and spicy vada pavs and crunchy fish fry. Stopping for sugarcane juice in the middle of a street in this star-studded city, the juice sellers tell you stories of all the famous personalities who came by to drink the same sugarcane juice at that very stall.

The summer fun continues as my family and I pile into cars to drive off to our native place, a village four hours away from Goa, the most magical and spectacular destination. The long, winding beaches, with stunning sunset views far away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, are exactly the type of getaway that one needs to fuel up for the rest of the year. If I had to summarise the summers, I have had over all these years, it all comes down to Friends, Family and Food. The three pillars of the most adventurous and encapsulating summers ever.

Trisha Sawant, Grade 12, Gurugram Global Heights School

Source: https://fairgaze.com/Documents/schoolasticnews/June%20final%20Schoolastic-News-Magazine-June26-v3.pdf