An unusual summer vacation

When words came to my rescue

From suffering from gradual loss of hearing in my right ear to consequently losing touch with all my friends, the start of this year had been extremely traumatic for me, up to the point where I could find no motivation to get out of bed and was skipping most of my meals.

But then, during this summer vacation, I found solace in words. I found solace in the same twenty-six letters that repeated over and over again in different combinations that swooped and swirled across the page to give life to stories of raging battles and endless wars, soul mates and heartbreaks, mayhem and tranquillity, in a way that could only be described by one word: magic.

So, I picked up my laptop, and typed and typed and typed until I had crafted a world of my own, with characters that set out to fulfill my wildest dreams for me. I lost myself in the canvas of a blank page and wrote about places that I had never been to, streets that I had never crossed, and feelings that I had never experienced. Through my characters, I climbed the highest peaks and swam in the deepest oceans, without even getting out of my chair. In the times where stepping out of your house could lead to acquiring a horrific virus, I fearlessly ventured out into the world and beyond simply through the beauty of words.

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had rightly said,”A dream is not what you see while sleeping. A dream is what does not let you sleep.” The thrill of constructing plots and plot twists chased away my sleep and kept me up on countless nights, until I became so immersed in my own words that I could no longer distinguish between fiction and reality. I poured my heart and soul into every single letter that marked my page, and in no time at all, I had 200 pages of paragraphs. Thus, what had started off as a blank word document had now become a master piece. And now, I can proudly say that my debut novel —Money, Lies & Grand Heists — is set to hit bookstores in a month's time!

Sharanya Jain, Class X, Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh

VACATIONS LIKE NEVER BEFORE

For years we wished for an escape, a break from the bustling school life and busy schedules and suddenly fate swirled its magic wand and said, "I think I might just grant you your wishes". However, this ecstatic paradise did not come true without a price — a compensation. Alongside this vacation, we got during the lockdown, also came the inherent danger to our health and well-being, even financial crisis in many cases.

I personally went through phases of extreme joy of a break, to the disappointment of not being able to meet my friends and finally to an upfront acceptance of this situation. As I gradually adjusted to the idea of the ‘new normal’, I began to forget the uncertainty around me and became more content with all the things I could do in this time.

These vacations were like none before. I had a delightful time since my parents were home all day long and we, along with my brother and grandparents spent the entire day reading books or newspapers, binge watching old movies, doing the household chores and trying out every new recipe we could find. I enjoyed listening to my grandparents as they narrated anecdotes about their life, while they loved the way we taught them to use new gadgets. The most amazing thing to them was how my brother and I were attending school online at home. I spent most of my time choreographing small dances, taking my Bharatanatyam lessons and reading classic books like Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and Little women.

Between these wonderful moments with my family, especially my grandparents, there also came many deeply moving realisations. The morals that I had always read about in fables and seen in Disney movies seemed to have come to life with the events happening around me. Money truly could not buy me health or other things and that is something I understood were the most important to me. Even the richest man today has not been spared by the Nature's wrath.

The time I got during these vacations made me introspect myself and helped me become more accepting of myself that in return made me love myself even more. I can feel that I have an entirely different and mature outlook towards life now. These vacations made me more content with what I have.

Snigdha, Class XI, Stepping Stones, Chandigarh

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.