Spectator by Seema Goswami: Hot days, idle worship

Why are holidays packed with activities? Vacations should ideally mean less stress and more fun for kids and for parents

Last week, I met a friend with school-going children for coffee. Seeing her look more frazzled than usual, I asked what was worrying her. It’s the school holidays, she confessed. And she was going mad, coordinating the different activities that her son and daughter were signed up for. “I can either do my job,” she complained. “Or spend my day ferrying them from one place to another. I can’t do both!”

In the Parent Trap (1998) Lindsay Lohan plays twins who find each other at a three-month long summer camp. In reality, summer camp just means insane scheduling to keep children busy while on vacation.

My favourite summer vacations were the times I spent at my aunt’s tea estate in Assam. It was here that I was allowed to run completely wild, blissfully free of any supervision. (Shutterstock)