Trip to Hometown

It was 18th of February of this year, 2022. The whole family was waiting for it
for years. We were longing for the rural experience together. Due to exams,
our plans kept being delayed. Suddenly, one day my aunt invited to take us for
a holiday vacation to our hometown, Sharishabari and we all agreed as the
exams were delayed by a week.
We decided to have fun within four days. We cousins were all excited to spend
a vacation together – it almost felt like freedom from exams. It was decided to
go together at the same time to have fun as we travel in the train. I personally
really love travelling by railway-train since childhood. This time all the relatives
and the all the family members came, even my cousins’ family. It was a whole
new experience.
We munched on snacks and gazed at the nature as we passed by other rural
areas in the train. It took us five hours to reach our destination. Our
hometown relatives welcomed us warmly with sweets and flowers. Our
grandmother prepared delicious lunch for us as we were hungry.
We met other cousins and decided to play together. We caught some sheep
and fed them leaves, beans etc. We played with a baby sheep especially as it
was cute although it was afraid of us. There was also a wedding party beside
our area so there was music playing all day.
The next day, we got up and went for a walk together in the silent streets of
our hometown. We also flew a drone and took pictures of the scenario. My
parents invited all of the relatives to a restaurant for a feast together. We
dressed up in our new clothes and played around before we left.
We had to take four vehicles. After we arrived, we children sat together and
the adults sat in other seats. We had chicken rice, chicken and French fries.
We clicked some photos together and then decided to visit my paternal home.
We walked there and roamed around in the courtyard as my uncle was not
home. Then, before leaving, we bid our father goodbye as he was leaving that
night. We got back to our grandmother’s house tired. We started a campfire
before going to sleep.
The next day, I had attended my classes as it was a Sunday. I called my friends
to show them around and they liked it as the house’s interior was very
beautiful. Later, we all went for a walk in the local area. We walked around the
neighbourhood and had snacks before coming back. Each day, we had lunch in
different places. I baby-sat my youngest brother as my aunt had to go for
eating. My other younger brothers and sisters were playing in their respective
devices. My mother took me and my grandmother for grocery shipping.
At evening, the elders decided to host a game show for all the relatives just like
the previous times after dinner. We all gathered in the courtyard. The
ceremony started with ‘Throw the ball in the bucket’. All the young girls
seemed to hit the target but the boys couldn’t. So they were given a second
chance. On the other hand, despite my sibling sister being sick, she hit the
target at first try and won. Then, we teenagers played a sport called ‘Balance
race’. We practiced twice then played the real game- I won all rounds. After
that, all the woman members gathered in a circle and played ‘Pass the Pillow’.
My aunt, my grandmother and another aunt won the game. Next, the elder
male members played ‘Break the Pots’. They had to cover their eyes with a
blindfold and break the pots using a stick. It was the funniest game so far.
The next segment was cultural program. It started with we teenagers’
speeches. I was to go first. In that game, only I could give a full speech and my
teenage aunts hesitated and felt shy but at least they could say a line –
something is better than nothing. Afterwards, the youngest members recited a
short poem and sang a popular Bengali song. The second generation members,
our parents, told jokes of different types. My mother also won a prize in that
section. In the end, all the eldest members, our grandparents, gave a finishing
speech about how they felt. In the price giving ceremony, me, my sibling and
my beloved mother all got prizes and that made us the champion family. After
all the other members got their respective prizes, we all went to sleep.
The last day came and we were already sad about leaving. We all had our last
feast together. We visited our favourite sheep in the yards. By the end, each of
the cousins had got their favourite sheep. We got ready for leaving in advance
and were busy with packing up. After being done with packing, we cousins
played our last games. Our vehicles arrived in late afternoon and we all were
very sad about it. We bid farewell and wished each other well. It was a very
emotional scene. Before getting on train, I was reminded of the good happy
times and felt quite very happy about it.