Of super summer holidays then and now
Unlike earlier, today’s parents don’t welcome children’s school holidays. “Kids get bored,” said my friend the other day. “They eat our heads off, so we have to make holiday plans to take them out somewhere,” she added ruefully. Nowadays, summer mornings start with going through a bundle of brochures or net surfing for the best holiday destination and deals. So every vacation, social media is full of people in shorts grinning at us as they sip something lurid at some exotic place. It is difficult to distinguish one family or location from another. Everyone becomes the same person on holiday or so it seems.
The conversation with my friend made me nostalgic and took me down memory lane to my school days. We waited eagerly for classes to get over so that we could indulge in our hobbies. There weren’t too many summer camps except the scout and guide camps.
If there is one aspect of our daily life that has taken a beating thanks to the modern age of TV, internet, mobile phones and other gifts of the digital world, it is hobbies. Hobbies have become obsolete in today’s tech-savvy world. Nobody cultivates these and few recognise their valuable contribution in enriching our lives.
The best thing besides visiting our grandparents during the holidays was spending time reading books borrowed from the library and participating in festivals. We used to visit the zoo and museums, too. Going on pilgrimage was in vogue. Most of the time was spent in the company of nature, green fields and crystal clear streams. In leisure, we indulged in recreational activities such as preparing skit and dance performances with cousins for which we were applauded by our elders.
In short, we were interning in finance and event management and learning brotherhood.
Looking back, I feel summer vacations helped us groom ourselves. We had so many practical situations to enhance our talent and nurture our hobbies which strengthened our physical and mental strengths and interpersonal skills.
Now we go to beaches of Goa or a safari in Africa and many traditional families present a completely different picture than what they do in normal everyday life. The clothes get way more daring, people become someone else. The idea of the holiday has begun to take on dimensions of a giant project making the holiday less like a pause and more like an accelerated and anxious affirmation of enjoyment. From the free welcome drink to a free day at the spa, every element in the holiday counts. The sad part is most youngsters don’t know that they are missing.
Basically, Maruti changed the perception of holidays. We got a new luxury to travel in a car. The freedom to pack bare essentials and enjoy vacations within a low budget became a reality. After liberalisation and the relaxation of foreign exchange norms, came the concept of international vacations. Flying to Southeast Asia became a norm with the upper middle class. Families separated by goals and technology started travelling together and having reunions. For a while, these holidays detach us from a life that seems to consume us with stress and strain. It allows us to be on a fantasy trip of togetherness which otherwise has become a thing forgotten in corporate careers and shells we are now living in.
HOBBIES HAVE BECOME OBSOLETE IN TODAY’S TECHSAVVY WORLD AS ONLY FEW RECOGNISE THEIR CONTRIBUTION IN ENRICHING LIVES