As a child I used to look forward to the 2 month long summer vacations. The thought of meeting up with cousins, spending time with grandparents, gorging on some delicious food always brought a smile to my lips. Most of my vacations were spent at my grandparents place. Neither did we go to any special summer classes or hobby classes; nor can I say that I had a big gang of friends at my grandparents place. But somehow, I don’t remember getting bored.
I remember we had a kind of routine even during our holidays. We used to wake up, (not very early morning), spend at least an hour solving math problems and writing a page of cursive handwriting (Loads of importance was given to handwriting then) and then the rest of the day was ours. I remember spending most of the time playing some silly games with my brother and a girl who lived in the opposite house. Though we had our set of quarrels, but we’d become friends with the same speed as we fought. Apart from playing, I read books, helped mom in small ways, loved to listen to stories from my grandma and there my vacations would’ve come to an end and it would be time to pack our bags. Wish I could get into a time machine and go back to those good old days.
As the saying goes, “Change is the only constant”, times have really changed. Today, if you ask a child about his plans for the holidays, you’ll be amazed to know that he has a busier schedule than a working adult. From dawn to dusk, he attends a minimum of 4 to 5 classes – anything from, swimming, cricket coaching, tennis, yoga, karate, art and craft, western dance, abacus and what not. The options before him are just too many. Caught in this busy hustle, today’s child has lost the simple joys of life – like reading a comic, chatting up with a cousin/friend or just playing around in the front yard.
I do understand that these classes are a great way to learn something new and interesting. Keeping them engaged in these classes for 1 or 2 hours sounds good but not the entire day. At the end of the day, they are still children aren’t they?
Now off to today’s recipe, which is a really simple salad perfect for the scorching heat and for times when you don’t feel like being in the kitchen for more than 10 minutes.
What you’ll need
- Watermelon – 1 cup, deseeded and cubed
- Papaya – 1 cup, deseeded and cubed
- Apple – ½ cup, cored and cubed
- Cucumber – ½ cup, deseeded and cubed
- Dressing
- Lemon Juice – 2 tbsp
- Ginger Juice – 1 tbsp
- Honey – 1 tbsp
- Mint Leaves – 5 to 6, torn
- Pepper Powder – ¼ tsp
- Salt
Method- Chill the chopped fruits until serving.
- Combine all the ingredients for the dressing and refrigerate till use. Make the dressing at least half an hour before serving.
- While serving, Place the fruits in a bowl and drizzle the dressing liberally. Add salt to taste. Toss well and serve.
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