Summer Came When We Were Falling Out!

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April 13, 2010 by Preeks

I have been thinking of a good reason why I haven’t posted in a while. It’s not that things haven’t been happening. There was the mindblowing vacation in Japan, the new found love of my life – my brand new, sleek and super smart iPod Touch, also a by-product of the afore-mentioned trip, the exhilaration of 2 international technical publications in 1 month (Yeah, now I am just bragging! I know! 😉 ), the airport incident, the grandparent’s visit. Basically, life was happening. But, lethargy unfortunately, took precedence over all this, and I just could not get myself to write! I am back now, basically to rant. About the heat, as the title suggests.
 
I have always loved summers. Most people look shocked when I say that, but I do. Really. The reasons, I have always stated as (a) Mangoes, (b) Lemonade and (c) Bhindi (Ladyfinger). But here’s a revelation. The principle reason why I loved summers was Vacations! Two and a half months of blissful laziness, no school/college, no getting up early, no deadlines, no time-tables! Oh, such was life! This year, I hate summer. I hate summer because for the first time in the 22 years of my sweet life, I do not have summer vacations! Instead I will be slogging it out in office, and with a product release due, I might be on the road, in the sweltering heat, putting our promotional and marketing strategies into action, begging people to “Buy” (Ok, now I am just exaggerating.) But, I will definitely not be sleeping at home, sweet home. And that thought is depressing, to say the least. In sweet memory of the summers that I loved, here’s a list of things that made me fall in love with it:

• Mangoes and chilled Lemonades with extra sugar 
• White Cotton frocks, kurtas, with cotton capris and slippers
• Hot afternoons spent in dark rooms, with closed curtains, a loud whirring cooler, wind zipping through the hair
• Lazy day spent watching afternoon soaps on TV with Mom and irritating her till she generously donates (or throws) the remote in our direction
• Curling up in a corner, reading novels, till the eyes start to water
• Playing Badminton and Pithoo (Seven Stones) as kids!
• Evening/morning walks, started enthusiastically as daily routines, gradually becoming a twice a week event and then, once in a blue moon event!
• Nights on the terrace peppered with idle conversations on politics and randomness
• The Ice Candies! I claim the favorite is Lemon, but frankly, I don’t care which one it is, as long as it is ICE!
• The failed attempts at making Kulfi, throughout the season. By the time we master it, the season ends, and the next season, it is a new beginning!
• Random movies on Star Movies and HBO, watching repeats of shows on Star World.
• The 4pm snack – a mixture of all random eatables found in the kitchen, mixed in uneven proportions, smacked generously with ketchup to hide the inability to conjure up a delicacy. It was always tasty nonetheless.
• Long showers, watering the garden, the smell of wet mud, washing the face a zillion times, everything to do with water!
• Looking for occasions to don sunglasses! 😉
• Nariyal Paani! A rarity in Delhi, but the taste just lingers.. Sigh.
• The Sound of Music movie. Why? Because we wached it every summer for the first 13 years of my life.
• Random hobbies that were forgotten about by the end of the vacation. List includes Painting, Guitar, cooking, philately, sketching, cartooning. Yeah. Needless to say, none worked.
• Did I mention Mangoes? Worth mentioning again.
• Most of all, the pleasure of going out in the heat, coming back into the air conditioned zone and then claiming that momentous joy as the reason for loving summers!

If I can get someone from HR to read this post, and make them see how much I will miss my vacation, maybe I can get them to grant me 2 months of paid vacation. For the sake of employee satisfaction. Or not. Whatever. I will go spend my pseudo summer trapped in the office air conditioning. I am not complaining. 
Signing off,
Summery Me!

 PS: The title is a Shady Bard song. Do listen to it if you can. It’s quite good!