Walking Around Matunga

Summer Vacation ………………That crazy time in between annual exams and school reopening.

The house is a buzz with studies, temperature running high , kids not studying , Mamma’s shouting making them sit hours together for revision. Papa’s trying to avoid confrontation by keeping to themselves or taking tough subjects like Maths and Science to ease the load. Then the annual exams comes and goes like the proverbial storm. The last written paper is over and there is a sense of calm and peace like the battle of Panipat is over and soldiers are retreating. A breather for both the kids and their parents. You think finally its all over , all is well for a few days till the big question arises and starts haunting you. A simple question from the kid at home jolts you –Mamma I am bore what should I do ?

Even a question about the Big bang theory is easy to answer, but this one is a loaded question. If you answer with a suggestion like read some story books  or put on the TV. It is shot down with a stern look , a look that makes you feel you have sinned by giving a suggestion. Then you realize , that’s not what was expected of you. Kids today don’t want to do small things like playing with their friends and watching TV , which they anyways do during regular school time. But these were the only option during our childhood days.

I still remember the last day of school. A few of us kids would form a group , pre-decide a small sum each would bring on the last day , then after the exam was over rush the school canteen and blow it up on Burgers , Hot Dog ( veg cutlet in sausage shape stuffed in a subway type pav , sprinkled with chutney , tomatoes and onion rings…. A Great filling snack) and finally the ice cream candy. Hopping and skipping back home to world of freedom. During vacation we use to get up as usual, get ready have some break fast and then run to play with our friends, either in the common landing in between the flats or downstairs in the building compound. Sometimes during afternoon time when most of the elders were sleeping, we used to gather in some friends home mostly in our our flat or the ground floor flat of “Daddy” or third floor flat of our friend Kilol Bhuta and play Carrom , or table tennis using dining table or cards for a game of “Pach Teen Don” , “304” , Mendi Kote , or Memory game like “Not at Home”. On other occasions we would play board games like Business or Ludo or Snakes & Ladders

Coming back to today's kids , they are so wound up that each parent needs to think on how to channelize that energy into activities they will love to do and also earn in return. For a quaint place like Matunga , there a lot of option for kids to engage in activities to care of the Summer vacation boredom. At the Dadar club , there is facility to learn swimming at their in house  nice and clean swimming pool. The Dadar Club carries out swimming classes for 5 to 12 year old kids both boys and girls from middle of April to end of May every year. Training is provided by Rane sir an ex State level swimmer and his students. The class timings are also good there are 2 batches in the morning 10am-11 am and 11am-12pm and 2 batches in the evening 4pm -5pm and 5pm-6pm. The number of students per batch is also small around 5-8 in a group. So the instructors can teach their wards in a focused manner. Girls can enroll the help of Lady instructor  so there are comfortable learning the sport. The Dadar club also has facility of a tennis court. They also have coaching camps for tennis. The court is layed out on Cement but ok for beginners to learn the sport.

If sports is what you are looking for your kids you can try out the coaching sessions for Badminton at the Matunga Gymkhana. This indoor badminton court is as per professional / Olympic specification. Well layed out and made of wood ,unlike in other gykhana’s where cout is marked on normal or cement flooring. As a result even if you play for hours together there is no harm to your legs – knees and ankles in particular. They conduct special coaching camps during summer vacations in batches of various age groups. With quality instructors this one is a good option.

Another facility where you have good option to lean sports is the Savio Club in the Don School premises. They have wide variety of options. Like special batchs for indoor sports like Carrom and Chess. Or get your kids enrolled for Basket ball or Football. The Basket ball court in inside the main quadrangle of the school. The court is marked on tiled flooring and the basket ball nets on permanent structures. The court is very professional with flood lights and separate changing rooms for boys and girls. This facility has the pride of hosting state level tournaments for inter school competitions under the state governments sports department. Great court good coaches good sport to take up. For the football enthusiast they have a big football ground behind the school with good mix of green and red mud. Bieng a sports encouraging school , Don Bosco has heavily invested in sports facilities and all these are kept in good condition thorugh out the year. Coaching for football is carried out only in the mornings makes sense as the kids and their legs are fresh for an exhaustive session of football. They also teach roller skating to kid upto the age of 10 years at this club.

If sports is not the cup of tea or rather a cup of milk for your kids there are other options available in Matunga. Like the Speech and Dram workshops – PLAY (Perform Learn and Analyse Yourself ) conducted by Dipti Gala at Mahavir Building in the lane next to the Matunga Flower Market. In these workshops kids are taught to overcome their fear to perform in front of large audiences. Sessions mostly in the late afrternoons start with speech sessions or story telling sessions where a simple story like the Lion & the mouse is turned on its head by asking each student to continue the story by adding his or her sub plot. Then there are impromptu sessions like drawing objects exchanging them and building a story line on the objects prepared. Some sessions on group plays or dance. All these activities increase the confidence level , power of imagination and concentration in the kids. A great way to PLAY and learn.

Then there and some special classes like Origami and Calligraphy classes conducted by local homemakers in Matunga, turning their homes into  hobby classes. Teaching these special art forms to bring in a lot of joy and colur in the lives of the kids. Origami being ancient Japanese art of paper folding making beautiful decorative material out of colored paper , increasing the motor skills of the kids who take this up as a hobby. The other art form – Calligraphy is nothing but stylized way of writing , making use of variety of simple and special tools / pens to give a wonderful effect to the written words. An ancient art if you look at the written scriptures in old Modi lipi (font) in context of Hindu culture or for that matter look at the Urdu writings. A beautiful way of putting pen to paper to create a little bit of magic.

So the next time you are haunted by the question “I am bored What do I do ?” from your little one. You know where to head to in this magical place called Matunga…..

Happy Summer Vacations to the young ones and best of luck to the parents. As they say in Star Wars movies ------------Let the Force be with you…………(we all parents really need it )