The first sign my non-existent ‘vacation’ was over school WhatsApp group was going crazy
The first sign my non-existent ‘vacation’ was over school WhatsApp group was going crazy
As an adult, you don’t get summer vacation as a child—not unless you’re an academic or Teacher, That’s what I used to think.
Then Kattabomman’s school, which was closed for the summer, reopened in the first week of July, and I realized that throughout May and June – during which I worked every working day – I really enjoyed my summer vacation. was taking how so? Because those were the days when I wished I could wake up, my morning coffee with the previous day’s bad newsAnd I have a few minutes to reflect on the tireless descent of the nation.
There is no such luxury anymore. The first sign that my non-existent ‘summer vacation’ was over was the school’s WhatsApp group. Apparently there were summer projects that should have been completed.
“What summer project?” I screamed. “She’s barely six!”
“There’s holiday homework too,” said the wife.
“Oh damn.”
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We landed on it on a Sunday afternoon, the last day of the holiday. Wife sat down at the dining table with scissors, fevicol, cotton, play dough and art paper to build all kinds of ‘projects’ – scale models pyramid In Egypt, Rainforests of Brazil, Gaushalas Feather Mars planetGod knows what else.
This column is a satire on life and society
I sat down with Katta at the other end of the dining table, asking him to finish 30 pages of ‘missing numbers’, ‘fill in the blanks’, ‘match the following’, and ‘ and dishes, By 9 pm, 13 pages were still left and the katta was starting Kyrgios Mode – Poor quality of pencil, weather, poor upbringing he has to bear.
poor parents
I went away to get a drink for myself, and when I came back, he was sleepy. The wife was busy filling her pages.
“you can not do it!” I said, snatching the notebook. It’s given for his writing practice!”
“I know,” said the wife. “Poor kid has been at it since noon. Either way he can’t put an end to it. ,
“Then let him take his unfinished homework to school!”
“It will have a bad effect on us as parents,” she said.
“Anyway, what kind of precedent are we setting as parents – by waiting until the last day to do our holiday chores?”
“Same example as you set by waiting until the last minute to file your articles.”
Marital conscience decided that I should rein in myself zelensky If I didn’t want to getukrainado,
“Did you just call me? Putin,
“I didn’t even open my mouth,” I said.
“I can see it in your eyes,” said the wife. Thankfully, both our phones, which were watching the proceedings with rising alarms, intervened before the tension escalated. According to Truecaller, we both got calls for ‘spam’ and ‘fraud’ respectively. We answered our mobiles, and peace reigned once again.
Katta hates going to school lightly. However, on Monday morning, his tantrums remained within manageable limits. But by Wednesday morning, he had had enough.
“Can I take leave today?”
“No, I said. The weekend is your holiday.”
“When is the weekend coming up?” he wanted to know.
“After Friday.”
“Today is Friday?”
“No.”
“tomorrow is Friday?”
“No.”
He burst into tears. They demanded that the name of Wednesday be changed to Friday.
“Wednesday is not a city in a poor third world country ruled by bandicoots,” I said. “It belongs to the Babylonian calendar. The entire solar system is included. To rename Wednesday as Friday, you must first rename Mercury to Venus. it’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Then every other planet and star will start making equal demands,” I said. “What if the Sun wants to be called the Moon? Then your Sunday will be Monday and you have to go to school on Sunday too! You want that?”
blame it on wimbledon
That’s what he thought for a moment. Then reluctantly got up to get ready. Thursday passed without incident. There was massive protest on Friday – but not from Katta. My batteries were out. I couldn’t get out of bed. Over the course of the week, I had largely outgrown the lack of sleep, partly Wimbledon – whose matches were set with little thought for parents of school-going children in India – but mostly because I was pulling all-nighters to make my country a $56 billion economy by 2023.
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The katta was up by 6 o’clock. He demanded, shaking my hand, “Get up and give me a bath.” His idea of waking someone up is to try to sever a limb from the torso.
“Let him bunk school for a day.” I said.
“How…” the wife murmured from her sleep.
“Did you say something?”
“What kind of example are we setting as parents? Dropping him off school because we lack discipline?
“Urgh!” I pulled myself out of bed and began the customary search for my glasses.
“Lo,” said Katta, handing them to me.
“How are you in such a good mood?” I said. “You’re going to school.”
“Today is Friday,” he said, bouncing up and down. “Tomorrow is the weekend, yay!”
The author of this satire is The Hindu’s Social Affairs Editor.
sampath.g@thehindu.co.in