THE SUMMER ESCAPE

From the beginning of schools new session, we used to think when will be the arrival of this 45 days holiday which comes once a year, day dreaming about this upcoming vacation would immediately begin after the end of annual exams these 45 days seemed very less time to enjoy both the trip and fun with cousins. But what will happen if you are told about not going anywhere in your summer break because of xyz reason that very moment actual frustration and irritation begins brainstorming for the Prime question of what are we going to do for passing these days arise. The same 45 days which appeared very less for enjoyment, fun now appears to be the most painful days. This horror truth became my reality in 2006; my brother was born in March thus my whole family paid him a visit. So in the summer break, we stayed in my hometown. In my hometown summers are brutal you can’t go out after 10:30 AM; if you want to smell mango you will also smell heated iron, one would feel as if they are melting.

Vacations began and the very first week went calmly me doing nothing, in the second week my frustration began to which my elder sister diverted my attention to my pending summer homework, yes I am the middle one after working on my homework I successfully passed another week without being thrown out of my very own house. The third week began and my crankiness kicked in, I started fighting and annoying everyone, my father for the very first time lost his cool and very strictly told me to do whatever my sister was doing and that itself is a joke, my elder sister is a very good painter she is used to spending her whole day painting and painting some more whereas my relation with colours was like an atom bomb without a pin, I can’t even draw a straight line without scale, but still as per the command I tried processing what I was expected to do hence I tried painting which turned out to a horrific incident down the memory lane and that very moment man of the house aka father decided nothing doing I was not going anywhere near colours, after crying for nearly an hour I was quiet and now seated nearly 3 feet away from paint looking at my now very annoyed sister continuing her painting work. I was feeling unwanted, It’s a very common issue with middle ones they feel they are being left out or nobody cares about them. And this was the beginning of third week, I still had 3 more weeks to kill or to get killed depending upon the current scenario I felt definitely the second option is going to happen. But as usual, my saviour and knight in shining armour my sister came to my rescue don’t get me wrong here but I indeed was very prone to accidents. After seeing my frustration for past two weeks she tried helping me with something that even she never tried, that something happened to be Books. Our mother is an avid reader, if you say something while she is reading her book in afternoon you definitely have a death wish, I used to go at bookstore with maa, and she helped me to pick random books but I never read them carefully unless they were my syllabus ones. My sister got me her fables tales book, the only book she ever tried reading except her curriculum, she made me read the book seriously with a dictionary beside me in afternoon while she painted. For the very first time in 2 weeks there was pin drop silence in afternoon. As the week progressed so did my book and at the end of Thursday my book was completed. Before I once again start my melodrama she got me another book to read at the end of 3rd week she was convinced that I enjoyed reading like our mother. She made my father to get me new books to read, and soon I started reading and completing book in 2 days average. From that day onwards there was no turning back. I understood the meaning of Diana Duanne saying i.e. “reading one book is like eating one potato chip” till date I spend my most of the time reading I lost the count of books I have read and now if anyone asks me have you read this my answer is yes or no It’s going in my TBR. After I passed 12th I opted for commerce stream but again my sister and parents were more sure than I ever was they made me take English Literature for graduation and now I am more than happy to call it my future. Summer vacation of 2006 gave me the escape that no holiday would ever be able to give. This escape made me live thousands of life in my single life, “A good book is like an event in one’s life “well said by Stendhal through books we have travelled in the past, present and future, every day we explore new people, new culture and many new things. Surprisingly, whenever somebody is asked about their hobby they say I like playing video games, shopping even gossiping. Whereas some people say they like gardening, music, dancing which to my brain seems to be actual hobbies but lately rarely someone said I like reading I don’t understand what is wrong with reading why is it called old-fashioned. Once a lady in my parents social circle asked me about my hobby and I told her I like reading to which her immediate reply was only curriculum books are important other than it books are complete waste of time and money. After her such a comment I wondered how many people really like reading and soon I found the answers. I saw books in many peoples house when asked they replied about not having time to read or worst were those who kept them for show. But I also met some people who worshiped reading and read books like their entire life depends on it. When I started reading off bit books like Mark Manson, Dr. Joseph Murphy etc. I realized why one needs to read a book every day. Books are the least costly item one could own; you can carry it anywhere in your mobile as well as in your purse. For past one year I have personally felt that reading habit among people around me has increased more people started reading to avoid the reality of life and felt better. Books will never bring any harm but would rather help us with new friends. Nowadays people read to show off their intellect or to look fashionable, but long back Mortimer J. Adler said “in case of books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you”. Books are not about the quantity, its all about the quality. In my opinion not a single book lover would ever differ from Lena Dunham’s saying “let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading”.