Bookworms Express: Thank You, India! by Kavni Saxena, 5

I went to India in my summer holidays, after 2 and a half years. As soon as I landed at the Mumbai airport, I felt a bit different because I was used to life in Abu Dhabi. Some of the things I immediately noticed were that the roads were dirtier, the buildings had blue plastic sheets all around, and there were so many green trees and bushes everywhere.

As I spent time in Mumbai meeting my great grandfather and uncles and aunts, I got used to life over there. I learned that the blue plastic sheets were actually tarpaulin sheets used in many creative ways to keep the rains out of huts and homes in India. Meeting my great grandpa was nice, because I met him after so long, and I liked that he enjoyed reading books, just like me. 

 

I met my cousins, my mom’s friends and their families and had several enjoyable days playing with all my new friends, watching the raindrops from my window, attending birthday parties, having Natural’s ice cream and eating great food.

Then we travelled to Udaipur with my grandparents to visit a big temple. The best part about visiting this City of Lakes in the state of Rajasthan was that our hotel gardens had lots of peacocks; we even saw some of them dancing in the rain. My brother and I would run around the parks looking for creepy crawlies and squirrels to feed them bread. When we visited the grand white City Palace where the king stays, our tour guide told us about the famous king Maharana Pratap and his loyal horse Chetak. 

After that, I visited the state of Kerala where I met my mom’s best friends and their children. We were 4 kids and 3 dogs in total, and we had fun playing in my aunty’s big house for a whole week. On the last day, we presented a song and some handmade cards and gifts to our moms for arranging such a fun holiday for us. 

Then my father joined us in Kerala and we stayed at a lovely hotel by the sea. We took a house-boat ride, had great buffet breakfasts and watched a lot of movies together.

We returned to Mumbai just in time for the 75th Indian Independence Day. On 15th August, I got ready early in the morning to be able to watch the flag hoisting ceremony at our hotel. It was my first time seeing this, and I enjoyed it. Then we also managed to watch the flag hoisting ceremony at my grandparents’ apartment complex, where we kids were invited to pull the string of the flag. 

The next day, on my flight back, I said “Thank You” to my country India for holding us amongst its people, and giving us so many new experiences that I will remember forever.

Words by: Kavni Saxena
Photos and Edited by: Maitri Saxena