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Holidays. If they had a way to express, ‘spare me’, would it be. Looking at holidays, then - and now.
Holidays. If they had a way to express, ‘spare me’, would it be. Looking at holidays, then – and now.
A sparing dose of holidays was enough to kick start the rest of the working months. After slogging it out; waiting for the next fresh batch of holiday, was a natural progression of deprived corporate and state slaves. Packing off clothes for weeks of stay at the native place. Then packing another smaller duffle bag for a weekend stay at another relative’s place. That’s how holidays started and ended. Chugging through the length and breadth of India.
If, back then holidays were ice creams, then they were vanilla flavoured.
Now, I eat ice creams flavoured with all edible toppings, fillings and sprinklers. Low fat ice creams. Vegan ice creams. Green tea ice creams. And much more. I am spoilt by options now.
Current. Holiday departed the relax mode and is meshed in the ‘status update’ or ‘checked in’ mode.
When the big ones comes knocking once in summer and once in winter; more than the jubilation the larger mystery looming in the family – which part of the world do we hit? Or who will plan it?
Of course not the hill stations of yester years. The ones which were honeymooned even by our grandparents. Urbanisation spread its tentacles to the once popular Bollywood film shooting stations. Unless Discovery channel or the urban nomad finds a virgin corner under the canopy of deodhars in the hills of north India or under the fronds of the coconut trees in the south, we are not jaunting around these places. Until then. Europe. Middle East. Southeast Asia. And the intrinsic USA. It be.
So, while the desi tourist is posing ‘swatch videsh’ at an exotic location…somebody back home is spying on you with envious eyes. Eyes that pierce through the ‘check-ins’ on Facebook posts. Ghostly skimming through those locales and you. Raking their brains – how does she do that? A perfect work-life trapeze artist at work.
While on that side of the fence, the desi tourist from India sits silently on curiosity. Checking and rechecking. Against the serene pastures of Scotland. In the vineyards of France. On the bench at the Chappel. By the Atlantic ocean. Or may be over the Mediterranean, in a luxury suite. The number of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ for the truckload of pictures uploaded on Facebook. Or on the other social media hangouts. Those pictures are all over the place. Giving some peers sleepless nights and creepy others an easy feeder on their personal lives.
Frequent changing of DP’s (display pictures) is akin to picture talking. Even if the traveller doesn’t divulge about the details of his summer holidays, the picture says all about his destinations of vacationing. Ah! So the lady chooses a pose against the Acropolis for her DP. So they were in Greece for summer holidays. Ostentatious in mild dosage.
Planning a vacation has become an after office activity. Like the after school tuitions, to improve academic score. Taking family to any exotic location and planning so, much in time is an additional task. Striking the right group discounts or early bird discounts are availed by the most planned family. And if one is getting those discounts, then why not?
Or, there can be an utterly impromptu holidaying scenario. Just pick up the car. Drive where the road takes you. Don’t expect any scheduled arrivals or welcome drinks. This is the next thing trending. Holiday like a nomad. Not just a trend setter, but also free rein from spending hours on browsing through various travel portals.
Elite set of parents, who send their kids to IB ( International Baccalaurete) schools; have another advantage. They have the privilege of buying holidays at an ‘off-season discount’. When the quotidian’s are lugging their bags to school, the rich kid is saving on his father’s holiday splash; amongst his many wads of notes; as though the father really cared.
Mind it. I am not even going any closer to the pressure of packing strollers for the family, last minute purchases and the many pre and post holiday de-tanning visits to the spa. Well, also omitting the planning for short weekend getaways!
Business of holidaying. Who had thought that this could be another checklist on the fluttering paper, held by the magnet of Leaning Tower of Pisa; memorabilia from the last summer holidays to Paris. Refrigerators are an extention of lifestyle; not just by the technologies and brands but also by displaying the destination magnets collected from places far and near.
Image via Pexels
Entangled in balls of yarn; origins unknown...With a blunt pencil, the quintessential machine and the cacophony; hope to knit a flying carpet and steer the magic carpet around… Yours truly, Slave Of Words read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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