A few months ago, our internet was blocked. Mom said it was because of some big problem in Manipur. I didn’t really understand what that meant, but it felt strange without the internet.

When there was no internet, all my cousins came out to play outside with me. Since they couldn’t play games on their phones or watch videos, we played board games instead. One of my cousin brothers challenged me to a football match. He looked very strong, and I thought he would beat me easily. He even said he would go easy on me – but guess what? He lost!

It was very hot outside, so we played in the shade. When we got tired, we played card games or did some drawing. Sometimes we just sat and talked about school and funny things.

Later, me and my brother Pravin played football while my cousins watched. After that, we all sat in our cousin’s father’s jeep. I asked, “Can we sit at the back?” and he said yes. We sat on the backseat and talked about so many funny things that I couldn’t stop laughing.

But one bad thing always happens to me – I always get hurt! This time was worse. I tried to balance on a tall stack of bricks, but the bricks fell, and I got injured in four places – two on my arm and two on my leg. Still, I didn’t cry! I just sat for a bit and then went back to play board games again.

The next day, I didn’t have to study much because there was still no internet. I was kind of tired of these holidays. My cousins kept calling me to come outside, but it was blazing hot. I didn’t want to sweat too much because my mom always says, “You smell so sweaty!” When I sweat a lot, my skin feels sticky, and I really don’t like that.

Even though it was very hot and I got hurt, those days without the internet were really fun!