June

When I was in school, June used to signal the beginning of the summer vacations... long days spent with my cousins from Jeddah, playing guns and robbers, having "midnight feasts", reading Enid Blyton, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Sweet Valley and going for our annual ride in the "victoria". We'd gorge on Mr. Burger and chips and Pakola, have carrom board and ludo championships and watch WWF (anyone remember Bret, the Hitman Hart??!).

We'd watch Johnny Quest and Ninja Robots and stay up till 5 am while our moms and grandmother watched old bollywood movies...

We're all grown-up now (N, A, S, Ai and myself), two of us are married, A recently got engaged, S has started his first job and Ai is about to graduate... The kids who came later have different experiences... My 13 year old sister plays badminton, hangs out with her friends and watches movies in the cinema... N's younger sister is now in Canada, the cousins don't visit as often since it's become more expensive and their holiday schedules don't match. Our priorities have changed; husbands and our own homes and jobs need to be managed.

I miss the good old days... Thank you Amima and NanaAbbu for giving us a grand childhood :")