The concept of ‘Summer Holidays’ were probably brought to India by the British who could not tolerate the Indian summer. Going on a summer holiday is probably also a part of British popular culture. Cliff Richard, incidentally born in Lucknow, had a hit movie called Summer Holiday and the eponymous song, that was a big hit even in India: “We are going on a summer holiday. No more working for a week or two. Fun and laughter on our summer holiday. No more worries for me or you”.
Going on a summer holiday is a part of the collective consciousness of any Indian over the age of 40. It was the time when schools closed and parents packed their kids off to distant towns or villages. To spend time with their grandparents or aunts. I remember spending time in Kerala and Mysore as a kid during my summer holidays. For many of us summer holidays were spent taking a dip in the village pond, exploring new activities like catching lizards [true], visiting the beach or riverfront. If there was zoo or a museum that became a part of every week’s agenda. A temple visit is a must especially to savour the special ‘prasads’ that were dished out. A friend, a Kanpur native, even wrote a book about how his family used to pack huge suitcases and retreated to the hills every summer. The preparation for the train ride ran for weeks including the making of elaborate food varieties to be carried, to be consumed during the long train ride, and later.
To those who have not experienced all this I would recommend time with the classic TV series Malgudi Days [now available on Amazon Prime]. Our summer holidays was slow living on slow speed.
No wonder confectionery manufacturers avoided summer for launching new products. A lesson that I learnt while working on a large candy brand. When asked if we should launch the new candy during summers, I was told by the client that it is the worst time to do any new product activity. Kids need to be communicated to when they are able to speak or boast to their friends. The best time is when schools are open. Not when they are lazing about in the pool or lounging with a comic book, aka summer holidays.
Are summer holidays still as important as it was a few decades ago? Or have they all but vanished? And what has driven them out?
There has been significant changes in the demographics of middle and upper middle class families. For one they have all become smaller. I had over 10 cousins. My friend counts 35 cousins. Lesser the number of aunts, the lesser places you can go to during summer.
There was a time when grandparents almost always used to live in a smaller town. In R Gopalakrishnan’s book ‘A Comma In A Sentence’ he speaks about how his family has moved from one village to one district to one town to one state to one country; and is now spread across the world. This is probably a phenomenon that is today common across middle classes. Familes have got even more scattered. Some villages have emptied out.
Over the last three decades we have seen the rise of the ‘Tiger Mom’ phenomenon. These Tiger Moms want their kids to excel in all activities. From academics. To hobbies. Summer holidays are used to get the kids to get better prepared. Coaching for entrance exams, which used to be done after class 10 are now common in class 7. Kids are enrolled for a variety of coaching classes. These coaching classes have filled the gap that used to be filled by leisurely summer vacation.
Yet another new phenomenon that is sweeping urban India is the concept of summer camps. Parents are asked to send their kids on these summer camps to learn new skills like trekking and rope climbing.
The other spoiler could be the growth of working couples, especially in upper middle class homes. In the past the mom used to take the kids to her parents home in the village. The dad used to join them for a week or two. Now with the mom working, from home or otherwise, she cannot possibly take two months off.
Increased affluence and social media has also had a perverse effect on those old slow summer holidays. Parents want to give their kids a quick tour of the world. So instead of two months in a village it is now ten days on a trip to a foreign country or an exotic location in India. I am told, at least in the elite schools, there is a constant bragging war among kids on where they went for summer holidays. In the past the English teacher used to get the kids to write an essay on ‘What did I do during Summer Holidays’ only to get a monochromatic picture of village life in India; now that has become 70 mm technicolour world tour!
There is another interesting phenomenon sweeping cities like Mumbai. If the boss is off the Europe with his family, what is the driver planning to do? Many drivers today insist on taking two to three weeks of to take their families to the villages. May be what we saw as summer holidays for the middle class has just moved a little lower, socio-economically speaking.
One other change is the growth of Winter vacations, when family members from Europe and US descend to their home land. The Chennai Carnatic music season has become a big attraction for visiting NRIs. Goa, Kerala and even Tirupathi sees extraordinary traffic from visiting family members. Will the phenomenon of Winter Holidays take hold, one wonders!
Summer holidays as we used to experience in the 1960s, 70s and 80s are gone. The idea of a slow leisurely summer holiday just does not sit well with the new generation of millennials who are looking for instant gratification. Attention spans are shortening. Time is at a premium. And revenge shopping and revenge tourism have gained momentum. Experience economy is the new buzz word.
I wonder how many school kids today even know of a song called ‘Summer Holiday’!
Appeared originally in Hindustan Times 3 August 2023