There are four seasons in a year.
Exams bhi saal mein 3-4 baar ho hi jaate hai.
But back in school there was one thing that happened only once a year – picnics.
School picnics were just awesome. We would wait the entire year for that one day, those few hours.
From the day the notice for the school picnic came out to the final day, it was an exciting journey. Probably nothing could ever beat the excitement we had before a school picnic.
Even today when I see school buses full of children going out for a picnic, my heart is full of memories.
Memories of stuffing ourselves in school buses so that we would get to sit with our friends.
Memories of playing antakshari and dumb charades on the way.
Memories of constantly pestering our parents to give us permission for the picnic.
“Humein toh water park le ja rahe hai, tumhe kahan la ja rahe”?
From zoos to archaeological sites, it’s just strange how we loved going to all those places for school picnics we would have hated now.
From planning who’d get what in their tiffin boxes to confessing our feelings to our crush, school picnics gave us so many memories.
It was also the perfect opportunity for us to bond with our teachers. Perhaps the only day when we weren’t scared of talking to them.
Our school had a weird rule. We were allowed to put on sports shoes for picnics but we had to wear school uniforms. This somehow got me very excited as I got a chance to show off my best sports shoes.
The innumerable pictures that we clicked on picnics still give me nostalgia. Students literally got into fights to get themselves clicked with the teachers.
Not to forget, school picnics gave us our first lessons in planning.
We had proper planning committee meetings to decide who will get what. From games and music to food and drinks, each one of us had designated departments.
Remember how our parents would deny giving us money for these school trips? While some of us made the right use of our piggy banks, others had to resort to emotional blackmail to convince their parents.
I in particular troubled my parents a lot to buy me new and cool stuff like water bottle, tiffins, backpack, watches, etc., especially for the school picnic.
As kids we’ve always envied the older kids of school going on trips outside the city. But trust me, as soon as that happened, we started missing the good ‘ol days.
Those short little trips for school picnics were treasure troves of fun, memories and so much more.
I still wish how wonderful it would be if we could go back to those days with the same people all over again.