CLOSE your eyes and for a moment, try and transport yourself back to your childhood. Do you remember how you would wait throughout the year for your school to go into summer vacations? And, how you would travel with your parents to your grandparents’ place for a lovely holiday.

There your granny and grandpa would pamper you with loads of goodies and gifts and let you do whatever you wanted to. You could climb trees, build toy mud houses or while away whole afternoons reading under a slowly rotating fan. You were allowed to watch TV for hours, gorge on mangoes and play ghar ghar with your friends, as each long, languid summer day melted into the next.

Circa 2009: Kids no longer go their grandparents’ home, boys don’t spend their vacations merely playing cricket and girls laugh if you expect them to play with dolls. Instead, they go skiing down the icy slopes of Switzerland, take a speedboat ride in Lake Geneva, go rock climbing, paragliding and mountain biking. And, on the side, make new friends and pick up a smattering of Spanish or German or French.

Packing kids off to summer camps around India has been popular for several years now. However, sending them to places outside India is gaining ground as a trend, especially among the rich.

Vandana Nirwani, owner of MSC Builders, sent her two kids to Switzerland last year and she can’t stop talking about how they enjoyed the experience. “They met children of their own age from different countries and picked up new languages. More than anything else, this travel taught them to become independent,” she says.

Moms and dads these days feel that such camps help develop a child’s personality as it exposes them to different peoples and cultures. Since the children are on their own at these camps and are free of parental meddling, they learn to be independent.

Devak Kamath, a class 12 student at Bangalore’s Jain College, went on one such trip. He says, “For my last summer vacation I went to a camp abroad and also visited a relative. I loved the camp more than anything else. I learnt skiing, which was like a dream come true. And I made loads of friends, including two from Holland.”

Amrita Gokani of Les Elfes, which runs international camps, says, “We offer holidays which combine the discovery and practice of exciting new sports and activities with learning and brushing up on languages. Exposure to an international environment helps kids find new friends and builds their confidence. It helps them to develop more balanced personalities and become open to new experiences.”

Les Elfes takes around 400 to 500 kids from India to Switzerland, Australia, Italy and Canada every year during the summer months of April, May, June and July. It charges between Rs 130,000 and Rs 200,000, depending on the activities that children choose to do. The charges are inclusive of plane tickets, boarding, lodging and activities. It hosts students in the age group of eight to 18 years from all over the world in three categories of camps: junior, teen and senior.

All these camps revolve mainly around outdoor sports and activities and last around one to four weeks. The aim is to allow youngsters to try new activities, with optimum safety, and to hone skills in those they already possess. Their entire day is structured. From the time they are woken up by their counsellors, they have a varied schedule for each day. Some days begin with bridge swinging in the morning, swimming in the afternoon, and ice-skating after supper. From water sports like rafting, canoeing, hydro-speeding, tubing and banana boating, to airborne sports like paragliding and hang-gliding, an opportunity for success is provided to all, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses.

Hiking and mountain biking, trekking in wild Alpine locales and horseback riding, all add to the magical experience. They also get the opportunity to learn figure skating, ice hockey, curling, swimming and water skiing.

Four mornings a week are spent on learning a language. Participants can choose from French, German, Spanish and English. Classes are taken by university teachers, and are entertaining. The children receive a certificate of participation for languages in addition to a camp participation certificate.

While at the Swiss camp, they also make an overnight trip to Mountain Emosson that faces the tallest European peak, Mont Blanc. This short journey is made doubly enjoyable by taking first a bus, then a tram, then a tiny train, and finally a cable car to get to the mountain.

While international camps offer a wide range of activities, there are hundreds of camps in India that are more affordable. Some are held in your city itself; others take you to places like Shimla and cooler destinations. These camps have been in great demand. The activities they offer include rock climbing, football, volleyball, table tennis, hockey, basketball, trampoline, squash, tennis, badminton, putting golf, day-long treks, walks into the forest, night outs (where children learn to pitch tents and cook food), creative workshops, theatre, creative writing, star gazing and all that keeps the kids thoroughly busy.

Sumita Rathore Singh of Smile Foundation that offers summer camps for both rich and underprivileged kids, says, “Our idea is to teach children that we all are human beings and should not discriminate against anyone based on race, caste or wealth. When the rich kids come to our camps they learn to respect those from poor backgrounds.” They teach painting, singing, and dancing. Unlike other camps, it happens within the city.

Neither entertainment nor imparting knowledge seems to be the motive behind these camps. Rather, all camp organisers strive to build confidence in children. “Entertainment is an illusion. We really don’t need it if we learn to enjoy life as it is… if we can appreciate nature around us and if we have self- esteem. We treat children as equals at our camp and hope they pick up the attitude of being happy with whatever and however they are. Imparting knowledge too is an artificial concept. We just share knowledge and show them the beauty of nature that surrounds us. Each child explores whatever he or she finds interesting,” says Parvez Imam of Route Purple, which organises summer camps within India. It takes children in the age group of 10 to 16 on an eight-day, nine-night camp near Binsar in Almora.

Most important of all is ensuring the safety of the participating children — be it at a camp in India or abroad. Before sending their kids out parents have to ensure that they are accompanied by counsellors and instructors. “Our entire excursion is done under the careful supervision of counsellors, who are young, trained and motivated professionals who encourage and care for the children while they are at the camp. The counsellor-to-participant ratio is 1:5, but with the guides for various activities, drivers and other allied staff, the supervisory ratio is more like 1:3. Each camper receives an unusually high level of nurturing and individual attention,” says Gokani.

Triveni, owner of Krishnia Chetty, Bangalore, says, “I sent my children on a trip abroad because I was sure of safety. That’s a very important issue.”

Be it rich or middle class kids, sitting at home and playing board games is passé. Generation Next ka dil always maange more.