A golden Month of joy and happiness, a 30 day long period of mosquito bites, a month filled with twists and turns. Usually my vacation is a month long, and is filled with enjoyment. It is the time when I don’t even touch or look at my books. Vacation is usually a time of relaxation and resting, it is the time when you could sleep as long as you can without anyone bothering you. But for me it is the time of mischief and Noise. A time of adventure and thrills.
In India we live in a village named Mayyanad, in the Kollam district of Kerala. The place where we live is full of greenery and calmness. But when everyone gets up together in the house it is like wildfire. The area around our house is full of plants so we don’t get a place to play. In every house there will be an old but strong farmer, who always likes to plant more plants. In our house it is our grandfather who is a retired engineer. He is the master behind the construction of these little green ‘things’. Our grandfather is a very active man and always like to move around in his electric scooter. But due to an unfortunate accident he is currently in bed, hoping for a speedy recovery. But the thing that worries him a lot is that he won’t be able to get out of the house or plant more banana plants.
Our house has the presence of about fifteen members, and along with them there are 2 pet cats, a buffalo, 10 -15 hens, a small turtle and many fishes. A very big family right? The hens are always locked up in their coops because of the threat of stray dogs, snakes and mongooses. Early in the morning, at about 9:00, the buffalo in our house would start to bellow and call someone to take him for his daily walk. Just down the road of our house there is a Paddy field, our uncle or his son would usually take the buffalo there for grazing.
We usually go to a ground near our house to play and fulfil our satisfaction. But the problem of playing in that open ground is cow dung and itchy plants. The whole ground is covered with itchy plants and cow dung except for the middle. We only get to play for about 10 minutes, when disruptions take place. My brother and my younger cousin of his same age always fights and argues over silly reasons and thus ruins every single game. But we take it in a game spirit manner. Sometimes you may see them together hand on the other shoulder, laughing, smiling and joking. But on the other hand sometimes you can see them, throwing stones and silly jokes. They both are just like Tom and Jerry. In Kuwait I usually get creative ideas, when I am in the bathroom. But in India I plan the games and the ideas when I am swaying in wooden plank. The swing is a resting place for all of us when we are tired or bored.
When the sun sets, we start playing games inside our house, like hide and seek, hint games and many more. An interesting fact about our house is the absence of a television. Our grandfather is against us sitting hallucinated in front of televisions! The most anticipating thing about going to India is a family trip. Usually whenever we come for our vacations in Kerala we go for a family trip to some theme parks and adventurous areas just close to us. It is so exciting, as it involves the entire family members travelling in two or three cars, enjoying time together – it is just like paradise.
In total I have 10 cousins 3 from my maternal side and 7 from my paternal side. We usually stay at our father house for most of the time. All 7 cousins are very different and unique, each one of them have their own characteristics and are totally different form one another. For example one of my cousins is a very shy and sleepy while the other one is a more active and mischief one. One might be like a comedian and making everyone laugh while the other one might be just like an itchy plant. We also had a short train journey to our mother’s house situated in a village named Sasthamacotta. I and my brother sat at opposite ends of the window admiring the beauty of the Astamudi Lake, Munroe Island and the Kallada River. We have a big courtyard in front of the house where we play football with our cousins.
The biggest thing I hate about India is the mosquito bites, almost every single minute I itch and scratch, and huge bumps swell on my body. To be frank, another thing I hate are cobwebs and spiders, and it just make me feel quite uneasy. Our ancestral home is quite old, dating back to the 1950s. Most of our vacation time in India is drizzly, full of rain droplets, small wet puddles. The rains in Kerala are just so unexpected, that on a sunny day it rained like hell just for about 5 minutes and then it stopped. In between all these events, I had a four day long trip at the hospital. Due to unbearable stomach pain the doctor admitted me at the hospital, it was a relaxed feeling to watch TV on the bed, while eating cutlets and porotas and enjoying the outside rain. Hoping for a wonderful journey next year.