How I Spent the Summer Vacation

"It is the longest season of the year" Change is the law of nature as well as the spice of life. The old order changeth yielding place to new. Similarly, winter passes yielding place to summer. India is a hot country. A hot summer day is a common thing in India. 21st June is supposed to be the hottest day of the year. A hot summer day is no problem for the rich. They can buy with their money things such as water cooler, air conditioner, air cooler, and refrigerator. Above all, they go to hill-stations during summer to escape from the heat.

I requested my father to take us to Shimla for a fortnight. My sister also was interested to go to Shimla as she had never been to Shimla earlier. My father agreed. All the members of the four families were very happy. We boarded the 'Satabadi Express' from Delhi on 2nd June and reached Kalka in the morning. Here we changed to a narrow-gauge train for Shimla.

It moved at a very slow speed. I think I could run along with the train. But, this proved a source of enjoyment for us. It passed through long pine trees, puffing out smoke in a zigzag line. There were steep slopes of hills on one side and deep khuds on the other. Our train halted at Barog railway station. We got down and began taking breakfast. But soon, the guard whistled. My father requested the driver to wait for few minutes. I was surprised to find that the train moved only when all the passengers had boarded the train.

We reached Shimla at 1.45 p.m. We hired a taxi and left for Deluxe Hotel. We had already got our rooms booked in the Deluxe Hotel. It is situated in the Mall itself. We had our lunch there and then went to sleep as we were all tired. We slept under quilts. We got up at about 4 p.m. Then we came out of the hotel and went to the famous Mall. People were going up and down The Mall in a gay mood. We were all wearing our woolen clothes as the weather was cold. We went to the Indian Coffee House on the Mall and enjoyed coffee with cheese pakoras. Then we came to the ridge. It is a good place and Shimla looked very nice from there.

At about 9 p.m. we went to Kwality Restaurant and enjoyed our dinner. We returned to our hotel at about 10 p.m. and went to sleep.

I reserved morning time for my studies. After that, we started with outings. We visited places such as Jakhu hill, Prospectus hill, Chadwick falls, Glen, Kufri, Naldera. We returned in the afternoon, took our lunch, and took a rest.


On our return to the hotel, we used to stand at the gate of the hotel. Shimla presented a marvelous scene from that place at night. It looked as if Diwali was being celebrated. The lights in every house, situated at different heights, presented a fascinating sight.

The next day we went to Kufri. It is a very nice spot. It is famous for skating. Then next day we went to the Jakhu Temple of Lord Hanuman. There were many monkeys.

We stayed at Shimla for a fortnight. On our way back, we came by taxi. The journey looked very risky. There were many blind curves. The driver had to be very cautious at speed breakers. We heaved a sigh of relief when we reached Kalka.

It was indeed a very happy experience for me. I intend to visit Shimla again whenever the circumstances permit.