Finally The End

Done with my exams and looking forward to the completion of the last semester but it is amusing to note that there are quite a few weird habits of mine which has remained with me throughout the 17 years of formal education. To my parents utter dismay I still haven't been able to give up exam blues or as my father puts it, anxiety disorder. I laugh it off as tension being inherent in the family but after giving it a second thought I wondered why do I get so tensed up during the exams and later wonder why did I bother so much. I call this as the end of being bound and perceive the future full of cautious freedom hoping that the inherent tension keeps me from slacking rather than becoming a disorder!
Looking back I recall the different times when this very exam blues caused hilarious events much to the amusement of my parents. Ma was recalling when I was to give the first board exam of my life and I found the idlis tasting like pomfret fish! There was even a time when I refused to eat anything round before the exams, a notion which has remained till date. Baba even managed to come up with something of a Richter scale to measure my levels of tension and I thank him for those times when he made me laugh to ease out my tension or when he willingly became my punching bag for removal of tension!
I go back as far my memory takes me and I even recall the first Sarswati Puja about which there was so much of fuss as I was the youngest to be given a brain implant through education! My refusal to hold the pen straight which I don't do till date and its been 17 years since that day. The habit of plonking myself on my uncle's or father's lap and the glee of screaming out in utter joy while wrestling hasn't changed a bit.
No matter how old we grow there is always a certain childishness that remains in us so in a way this is not the end of formal education but a beginning of practical education with most of the quirky habits which have steadfastly remained with me through the years like a faithful companion. In a way it has been a reassurance for both my parents and me that even though I have grown up and ready to move on alone there is still a part of me which has remained childlike and it ensures that I remain their little girl forever.