Close to my heart....

If you are guessing that I'm gonna write about my hubby or music or books, you are wrong. Definitely they are close to my heart but one unique aspect of my life which I used to long for and cherish those sweet memories forever is May, the month of summer vacation.

This morning, when I lazily turned my daily calendar to read the thought for the day, I realized the date was May 4th. Is it the same month which had myriad moments of fun, frolic and laughter during my childhood? After starting to stand on my own legs, this month made hardly any difference to me.

Turning a few pages back of my unwritten autobiography, I can't come to a conclusion which May was the best.

Is it the May when my brother and I(Herein after will be referrred to as We!!!) climbed the guava trees in the hot summer afternoon plucking the ambrosial pink coloured guavas and our grandpa caught us red-handed?

Is it the May when we took 25 paise from our grandma's cute jute purse (Com'on, don't call it "theft"), ran towards Thatha Kadai (a shop owned by an old man) and bought colourful candies?

Is it the May when our father took us on a trip to Bangalore, Mysore and Ooty?

Is it the May when we went on a long tour to Calcutta and Delhi?

Is it the May when our dream of moving to Anjali movie kinda apartment where we'll get to know a lot of friends came true?

Is it the May when we played ice-boys (our version of hide-and-seek) with our friends and cousins day and night, in the terrace, in the backyard and inside the house?

Is it the May when we celebrated our apartment complex annual day , dancing and singing all through the evening?

Is it the May when we organized chess and carrom tournaments in our apartment where we sat in the 2-wheeler parking area every afternoon and played matches one after another?

Is it the May when our whole day routine varied from shuttle-cork in the morning, playing cards in the afternoon, a game of country in the evening and a thrilling game of ice-boys in the dark?

Is it the May when I ran a marathon race from maths to physics to chemistry to biology tuition centres and came back home, with not even an inkling of tiredness, threw my bag in a corner and jumped to play WWF trump cards.

Very difficult to pick one, na? When I go back to my good old apartment complex, it is no longer the same. All my friends have grown up, including me. The sounds of iiiiiiiiiice-boooooooooooy cease to exist. Kids have become friends with Age of Empires, Quake-3 and the likes. Hardly any child is seen outside their apartment. The sad part is they don't even know that kids of their age are living in the same complex.

The not-so-salubrious climate of May, especially in Chennai is not the reason for this difference. Parent's mindsets have changed and as a result, their children's vacation plan is also changed. Now I know why I see a huge summer camp hoarding at the end of every street.