31/01/2021
Outings: Picnic or Mall?
Outings !! During my childhood time, outing for us was mostly Picnics.Once or twice in a month , we used to go to a place where we could actually roam around for an hour or so and enjoy the place. Post that, we would find some suitable place to put our bedsheet,newspaper and have our lunch/snacks.
There were no outside food except chips and frooti. We never cared for outside food as my mother used to prepare special lunch such as aloo poori or snacks such as bread pakora, burger etc. Our attention was never food during such outings but the time we used to play - with ball , flying disc, etc. I have 2 siblings, so it was fun during such picnics.Thanks to my parents for taking us to picnics, I have numerous such memories now.
But time has changed. Our focus has shifted. Meaning of outings itself has changed. It's not about me or my views. It's about society, Nowadays, I can hardly see any family who spend their time like we had.Almost everyone wants to go to malls, movies theaters, coffee shops and restaurants. Having outside food has somehow become more of a status sybmol.
Corona times is definitely a difficult time for all of us. But on the flip side, it has helped to revive our childhood culture. It has taught us that we can survive without outside food, we can survive without going to malls ,restaurants, movie theaters etc. And to be honest it has brought us more close to nature. Outings for us have again become limited to 4-5 hrs. We can enjoy mother nature - a jungle, a dam or any park or garden nearby . Yesterday, I don't know what struck me. I asked my husband if we could pack our lunch and have it at the dam, which we were going to visit. It was just about 12 km distance from our home. He agreed too. While packing, I thought of using my picnic basket which my mother in law gifted me. A picnic basket would help revive some childhood memories, I thought.
I packed all food items, kept a bedsheet, a couple of newspapers, few utensils and flying disc. My 4 year old son enquired why were we taking his disc along. So i explained to him that we are going for picnic. His immediate question was 'Mummy, what is a picnic?' So when I explained, he got very excited with the plan. Throughout our visit to the dam, he asked atleast 50 times - 'when we will sit and have our picnic?'
It was around 3 pm. We had visited 2 dams by then but we failed to find a suitable place to sit and enjoy our meal. So we thought of returning and have lunch at home itself. But my son was very persistent and wanted to have a picnic. So we decided to take a halt in one of the gardens on our way back. We went to the park and searched for a suitable place, spread our bedsheet and newspaper and had our lunch. It was one of the most enjoyable lunches I had had in some time. Thereafter, we packed all the stuff and played with my sons disc for the next 30 mins. My son was so enthused and excited that he wanted to stay back for some more time. But we knew that it was getting dark and if we stayed back the weather would get very cold. So we left and headed for our home.
Well, no matter how short it was, but we enjoyed a lot. I was feeling as if I had accomplished something important in my life for my son. Now, this is my promise to myself, that I will keep my son much more closer to mother nature and have more such picnics. What about you?
