The first week of June always brings about the start of the school year. From the ages of 11 to 15 I studied in a school called Hill Valley High School, grades 6th to 10th. It was a quick walk away from my home and so I didn’t used the school bus or the van that they used for picking up kids who lived more close by. But since I had a couple of friends who also lived near my house, we would meet up at one common point and then walk together to our school, go up the small hilly road and then walk down the mud and stone ridden path to the valley below where our school was built.
Now the problem with this is that the beginning of June also coincides with the start of the monsoon season in our state. Unlike this year where the 1st & the 2nd of June (yesterday & today) has seen sunshine and humidity, the rains are usually in full force in previous years. So usually you see kids huddling under umbrellas and just hoping to make it into the school bus before getting drenched with rain water. Umbrella sales also go up during time as do raincoats. And ofcourse, kids and people do catch colds during this time.
One of my biggest memories of the start of the monsoon season and June is probably when I was in the 8th grade. The first day of school, June 1st was a Tuesday and we were all geared up for going back to school, seeing our friends and the new grade. But the rains gods had other plans and it was pouring down rain from Sunday. And I mean, cats and dogs, someone call Noah, that kind of rain. Now since I walked to school, I took my umbrella and walked under it and braved the winds as I made my way to the school. On the way up, I saw a friend & classmate of mine walking with his younger brother who was in the 6th grade. We walked up and then down to the valley only to be told by the caretaker/security guy that the school would be closed for 2 days. The rains were so heavy that the school got flooded and that it would take a day or two to clean it up.
So the three of us walked back to the main road, having got wet for no reason. As the buses did not go and pick the rest of the kids, they got to know that the school was off for a couple of day. Remember this was back in 1989 and we had no Whatsapp or email to share this info. But yeah, summer vacay got extended for a couple of days for us.