Of Vacations, of joy and finding peace

My first memory of a vacation is the time Nithya and I travelled to Neyveli by bus. Alone. I think I was five? Im not sure. But the memory is somewhat intact. The fresh smell of jackfruit, the colorful bubblegums and joojips that we packed, the breeze on my face. I didnt sleep a wink. To me vacations mean playtime with cousins. Although we have a lot of cousins, there were barely any occasion that all of us got together at once. It was always with bits and pieces of them and time with each of them was unique. My vacation memories are filled with cards, cricket, hide and seek, kallu kuthi (srilankan version of hide and seek) and throwball. No vacation is complete without either of these.

As years pass, our vacations have become so different. We want to travel distant places, to see the lands beyond our access, to be enthralled by mystique sights, sounds and smells. To take pictures, to feel accomplished and get back home, eat home food and cuddle in our bed. Somehow, our ideas and needs of vacations change, but one thing doesnt. That a vacation is temporary and we need to get home. Perhaps that is what makes vacations beautiful everytime? That they are short lived?

Our last vacation was one of the most memorable and brought back childhood memories. People. Being with loved ones. With amma appa and nithya under one roof and voila! An entire vacation with them! Kids shuttling to and fro the stairs and making my stairs target an easy one to get. Girls time - although this one was very limited, it is precious to me! The last minute planning and literally running out of the house & boarding the metro to believe this was happening. Meeting my friends and having those conversations that do not go through whatsapp. Trying to look into their eyes and the joy in finding peace. And lastly watching kids grow up and finding joy with cousins.

The world needs cousins and vacations with them. Endless playing and being shouted upon every night to sleep. Mostly playing make-rules-as-you-go games that involve noise, noisy running and noisy violence. When eating is considered a waste of time, and even loo times are postponed testing bladder capacities. To forget that our life exists elsewhere, to forget that this is transient and to live in the present and make most out of it. The last days of cards brought back the childhood memories in me. Of crazy laughing, of screaming, of having tears rolling down my eyes, of forgetting everything else and enjoying the moment.

Maybe that is the best part of a vacation, to create a bubble, a bubble of joy, of perfection, of freedom, of wishlists being striked off, of conversations, of the endless walks, of looking beyond and finding peace in the people we love. The best part of a vacation, is that this bubble needs to be broken, and that the bubble waits until next time we return, and until then, the bubble keeps us going.

Thank you God.

Cheers,
Hopie