Summer hols...

I love this time of the year. There is something nostalgic about May. The heat, mangoes, jackfruits, curd, tender mango pickles... I miss my childhood days. Every year ( for years) mid April we would head to my native Kerala. As we landed at Kochi ( then) the fresh air and the greenery would excite us. One of my cousins would always be there to pick us up. With suitcases in our hands we would watch a Malayalam movie and then head home- to my paternal grand mom's. Days would blur into nights and vice versa. All the cousins would gather under one roof and we would take turns at staying at the various aunts/uncles' places. Swimming and bathing in the local rivers/streams/ ponds were an everyday affair. We would then head to our grandfather's hotel and hog all the delicious items on the menu. Playing hide and seek, cycling, playing cricket, movies, stories and plenty of food kept us going. Sometimes a wedding or a family function would enable us to meet distant relatives.
A couple of weeks later we would head to my maternal grand mom's house. There a different routine, nevertheless every minute was enjoyable. I would admire my grand mom striding across the paddy fields, doing all the jobs like a man would. climbing trees, running to the mango tree when the winds blew in order to gather the most of them, playing house, trips to the temple, early dinners and story time were the highlights here.
And every year my parents would leave without me as my cousins would beg and beg for me to be left for a few more days.
Oh I miss all those days of fun , laughter, daydreams and simple fun.