Where it all began

The morning was a haze of activity and anxiety, excitement and expectation, impatience and impediments, obsession and oomph, unrest and uncertainty. All the same for all my peers, I guess. Yet there was a strange calmness in me, a ray of hope and a bubble of optimism, that kept me sane. Still half unconscious, I had walked down to the phone as early as my slumber had permitted. And had been squirming on the couch in its proximity as long as my memory goes.

'Oh my god! I'm biting my nails.. what is up with me!! .. I need to walk... I need to keep my cool.. C'mon its k'

Looking back now, as though at a camera shot, each moment is still so clear and pulsating in my head, I cannot believe how I kept afloat through all the apprehension. The trepidation was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. My singly most epochal moment. Wuff! Remarkably courageous of me I must say ( :) ).. either that or I was bewitched by blissful ignorance.

Pacing restlessly all around the house, I was juggling three phones, waiting and waiting for the mysterious objects to swagger off their genius. And then it flashed! 'Dad calling'. Everything stopped. I supported myself on the edge of the dining table. My mom sat in front of me on the sofas facing opposite along with Mamu. I picked up so fast that even the ringer did not go off. My end sounded this way.

(Anticipation)
'Ya'

'Oh'

(Impatience)
'Oh Daddy! Don't fool around'

'Uhuh'

(No change of expression whatsoever)
'Uhuh'

(I stood frozen)
'Uhuh'

And I hung up the phone. Nine pairs of nervous eyes were staring at me intently.

'92'

All I caught a glimpse of before drowning in a flurry of warm hugs and affectionate huddles were the nine pairs of eyes skyrocketing towards me. And within seconds I was on phone with a hundred people, a measure of whom were absolute strangers. My insides were somersaulting and anon my appetite ricocheted back.

Some weight had simply eased of my shoulders. I wasn't quite sure what was happening though, seemed like there had been an explosion. A salvo of people. I was stupefied by the exuberance and the felicity, savoring the 'joie de vivre' of my loved ones. I smiled. Like I had never done in the past few days.

Somewhere down the line, much later, it struck me what it had meant 'to clear the JEE'.