I borrowed a magazine from a public library this evening that happened to be a holiday special edition. What does a holiday mean to most of the people around the world? When it comes to a holiday for two, expectations increase based on the climate of the proposed place of visit. It is usually weeks of non-stop passionate love making, hand-in-hand strolls among moonlit beaches, sun-bathing, long drives, spa, massages, relaxation, shopping, candle-light dinners, dances and intense, up-all night conversations.
When I read this, I was reminded of the holidays that I had spent in my life so far and how different were they from the ones mentioned above. I grew up as a normal Indian in South India and lived there for nearly 23 years. If I think of the holidays that I had spent prior to my wedding, it was all fun (in a different way though)! Since my parents were working, we had very few days in a year to be spent on a vacation. My Mother always availed her Leave Travel Concession that she was eligible for and had taken us to Bombay several times. Ever since my childhood we have been visiting that place. The reason for choosing Bombay was mainly because my Mother’s 2 sisters and 1 brother stayed there. If we had planned any other location, we would be able to see only a family or two. This worked far more lucrative for us. Vacation for any average Indian means visiting relatives, holy or religious places and a bit of sight seeing. My parents were hardly together even on a vacation. My Father used to be called for work even during vacation and most of the times he had traveled back alone leaving behind my Mom, my sister and me. My Mother relaxes by gossiping about family matters with her siblings and derives pleasure out of it. This is a welcome change to my Mother’s monotonous and stressful work routine. My sister and I had enjoyed our moments with our cousins. We had cousins there more or less in the same age group and that way we had some fun. Towards the end of our vacation, we do a bit of shopping, a visit to few of the famous temples there, a night or two dinners outside and of course a visit to a zoo or museum or any place of some significance to keep us entertained.
On those times when we skipped Bombay, we had visited my Mother’s native place in rural interior Tamil Nadu and had also visited temples in and around those areas quite often. Tamil Nadu in particular is a land of Temples and most of the temples have a unique history of its own and also the architecture is fabulous. Some temples are made out of one single rock and are yet massive. Some temples are known for its beautiful piece of drawings on the roof depicting the culture of those times. Some are constructed with such planning that the beauty of the structure is well revealed. The history behind the construction of every temple and the significance of the deities present in those temples are exceptional. Visitors from all over the world pay a visit to Indian temples. We, being in close proximity to those temples, have made innumerable visits to them. I was born in a family that believes in such visits to temples bring in inner peace and purity and hence we have visited lots of temples. I was very young then. Though I was proud of the vast and rich heritage of Indian temples and the unique history those temples recorded, I still would have personally preferred to go to any location that would interest me.
Sometimes, to attend such special poojas or events at the temple, we need to wake up at 3.30 or 4 in the morning, have bath, and dress up in traditional dresses and rush to stand in the queue to collect tokens or whatever. We skip our breakfast and stand in the scorching heat of mid May in queues to wait for our turn to visit the deity and offer our prayers. By the time, we are back after all these; it would be nearly 8 or 9 in the morning. We then hunt for restaurants that offer good food and then feed our stomach. Honestly, though I believe in the conventional form of worshipping, I cannot afford to starve in the morning after a bath. I never had the guts to talk about my hunger when the rest of them hardly talk about their stomach. Looking back at it now, I feel that our journey had never been pleasant and enjoyable. It had always been tedious since the time span would be short and the distance to be covered would be enormous. The general Indian attitude is to make full use of the money spent for vacation by visiting all the places of significant importance there. Not much consideration is given to personal relaxation or happiness.
In my normal school days, I get up at 7 and during vacation, it is much earlier! Our vacation was planned only by my parents and they wanted it to be the way that suited their time and hence we had to follow suit. We were not asked where we should go for a vacation. We were not asked how we intend to spend it. We simply accompanied them. Vacation was lot more stressful to me and my sister and I preferred to be at home rather than a tight scheduled vacation that was hardly interesting! That way, I lost all my interest in traveling since I had the least idea of what kind of pleasure a travel can give, when it is suited to our requirements. Will I have a holiday different from the ones I had so far? Can a holiday be interesting too? I think that the right company, the right season and the right place could be lot more relaxing than we can ever imagine. I am looking forward to spending my time shortly on a brief vacation which I was not initially interested in but now I feel that I can decide how to spend it the way I really want to since I now have every liberty to choose what I want to do in a vacation. Though I am going to be accompanied by my husband, I do not think he would restrict the way I want to enjoy. He hardly sees me enjoy a holiday so he would only be happy to see me enjoy. For the first time, the thought of a holiday is bringing in pleasure to me.
It could be because it is going to be a holiday from my routine work, a holiday from children and a holiday from house keeping. I love reading. I will read my favourite book in a much desired location for n number of hours without any disturbance. I wish to write my heart’s content in a place filled with scenic beauty. I will feast my eyes with things that I cannot normally treat it with! I will do anything that I like. I will do anything that I haven’t tried before! I will do anything that I haven’t done for long! Will I? Will let you know soon!!!
