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Ding…ding…ding…ding

Was the sweetest sound at eight,

As we cheered and shoved and pushed out of the class,

Long and bright summer vacation lay ahead in wait.

The clanking trollies of ice lollies

The sweet calls of the berry vendors,

Colorful frams, kiss me toffies and the loly pops,

And that one rupee coin with which I bought it all.

I came in running and threw the bag aside

It seems you’ll never need those books again,

Came mother’s chiding voice as she stared at me in surprise,

And I just smiled for,

Long and bright summer vacation lay ahead in wait.

As the morning sun filled the room with light

And at seven the drawing room clock chimed,

I woke up chirpy and bright,

Clad in a pale blue frock, said, here I come and smiled.

That gigantic black gate was as daunting as it could be

And the quiet growling of ‘Sheroo’ was paralyzing me,

Sapna? Sapna?! I somehow mustered,

She’s still asleep came a frail voice and I sighed,

For long and bright summer vacation lay ahead in wait.

My happy morning was spent sulking

And to make it worse mother suggested some reading,

Thank god it was time for breakfast,

As grandpa, had started to show the types of cursive handwritings.

Three long lessons of prose and poetry

And summer vacation looked miserably long,

Lalsa? Lalsa, where are you? Came the voice,

And fell in my ears like the morning dew.

Why are you so late? I wanted to shout

But the dolls in Sapna’s hands made me forget it all,

The far end of the terrace was long waiting for us,

Guarding us from the noon sun stood the neighboring mango tree, tall.

Tea was made and lunch was prepared

Tiny pebbles were rice and the mango leaves were the flat bread,

We took turns and went to office,

But not once we agreed when it came to doing the dishes.

The Sun was no more overhead

And the shadow of the mango tree fell on the other end,

Heat had risen and mother’s patience dropped,

Lalsa? Sapna? Sapna? Lalsa?! Were the angry calls,

That made us scared.

Waiting at the gate were our mothers

Exasperations and sighs were made very clear,

Enough already! It’s time you both came home.

But mother! But mom! Was the unanimous implore.

Mothers were determined and we too were hungry

So, at five?

Oh…yes, on the ground I said,

And we were quick to agree.

Four hours of playing was not enough!

Mothers wondered

We simply smiled

As the long and bright summer vacation lay ahead in wait for us.