Page 161 - Musings 2020

16

Just Another Boy

Swastik Mohanty 2017A8PS0282P

The bell finally rang, the silence in the class full of 40 people was suddenly interrupted by the
following shout- “Time’s over students, submit your answer sheets”. Immediately all the
students in that class were divided into three unnamed groups. The first group likely believed
in peace and calm as the students belonging to the first group silently handed over their
answer sheets. The second group however was just the opposite as its students threw a
tantrum, asking even begging for some more time but had their sheets snatched away from
them. The third group was similar to the first group in the sense they readily handed over the
sheets but rather than doing it calmly they were restless and full of adrenaline, it was as if
they just wanted to hand over the answer sheets and get it over with. Majority of the class
belonged to this group and so did Arjun. Finally, after everybody’s papers were collected the
following announcement came from the other side of the table - “Okay children, the
examinations are over. Enjoy your holidays”. For the first time in a long while, Arjun truly
was happy. 12th had snatched a lot of things from him - his movie time, his gaming time, his
friends, and even his girlfriend. It was time to get it all back but wait now even though the
boards are over, the entrance exams are still left. Realising this Arjun sunk back into his seat
as the people around him were dancing and celebrating.

A couple more months, Arjun once again struggled for a couple more months before he was
free or so he thought. He had made an entire list of things to do after his JEE paper but once it
was over, he just wanted to rest. He slept for almost an entire day and then decided to make
up for the lost time. Though his girlfriend didn’t answer his calls, all his friends were free and
he spent a couple of weeks hanging out with them and even spent some quality time with his
family. He read as many books as he could and went out once every three days to watch a
movie. Finally, it was time for the announcement of the results. His mains marks were
enough to secure him a good college but he was really rooting for his advance to go well.

The atmosphere around the house suddenly grew tense, everybody except his sister was glued
to the screen as Arjun opened the site. The site asked for his Username and Password, both
were quite enthusiastically shouted at

him from behind. Arjun couldn’t understand his own feelings, it was a mix of anxiety, fear,
hope, and excitement. With such a unique set of emotions, all he could do was mechanically
follow orders. The site took some time to load and with each passing second, Arjun felt his
heart would stop beating. Finally, a large number was visible and seeing that Arjun’s heart
came to peace. Irrespective of his bad result at least the ordeal was over. Sure he felt
disappointed in himself but he never had any ambitions in the first place so all he could think
about at that time was that no matter what, at least it’s over. His parents however were a
different case.

Arjun didn’t know what to do in life. As a kid, he liked a lot of things - music, sports, space,
art but not so much that he would make any of them his profession. He was a good student
with a high intellect but wasn't at all hard working therefore his parents much like everybody
else they knew enrolled him in science in class 11th. He couldn't make any objections

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