Memoir of Summer 2012

This summer has been unlike any other I’ve ever had. Not a boring summer, not in the least. Actually, it’s been very…eventful.

In the beginning, due to our joy about the fact that exams were over, and summer had started, my friends and I celebrated by swimming each afternoon, having sleepovers, and dinners together. We would meet up several times a day; in the morning for basketball; at 11:00 for cards; at 3:00 for swimming; and around 6:00 to play. This was our carefree, fun-filled routine for the first few days of our precious holidays, before people started leaving to go on trips.

Then, of course, my camps started. I’m sure that I was not the only person who was attending the Ranga Shankara theatre camps for the first time. And probably everyone was a “happy camper”, but I don’t know if anyone else fell in love with the place and classes like I did.

Sometimes, when everything in the world feels wrong, even a few hours in a different place, a different atmosphere is something to live for. Somehow, my camps always seemed to start right when I needed them, when I needed a break from the world I lived in. Or perhaps, it was my problems that popped up at the right moment!

As the summer progressed, the worries got heavier…... Between my grandmother’s surgery, my mom’s absence to be with her, my two-week long fight with my friends, and the only pal I seemed to have at that moment having gone to U.S, the camps and my morning swims became the only highlights of my days!! The camps kept me occupied in and out of Ranga Shankara, and the swims, served not only as exercise, but as a bright and fresh start to the day.

But maybe, there’s a limit to the number of problems a person can have at a time…. As my despair over the ending of the camps, and the shuffling of the classes in school mounted, my grandma slowly started to recover, my mom started staying at home more often, and the feud with my friends slowly faded away. 

Not just for me, but for everyone in my family, this summer has been curiously unusual – and not necessarily in a good way. However, in all our efforts to cope with life as it comes, we’ve had our share of new experiences, made new friends, and had our own little adventure in self-exploration.