It's All Very OverWhelming..

   In my younger years, whenever I used to say 'last day', my grandmother would scold me saying never say last day and I had to rephrase it to 'last day of school' but now it literally is the last day. As one of my friends put it, 12 years of a daily routine just came to an abrupt end on a random Friday.

I couldn't accept it at all till Thursday. Since Friday morning my friend kept chanting "last day" from when saw each other in the morning and I kept running away. I mean it was one thing to end one academic year and start another... the excitement of expecting what class we are going to be in, who will be the class teacher, will or will not our friends be there in the same class, will I settle in (we always eventually did and found more amazing people and made more fascinating memories)? That was a different kind of excitement and expectation. But to know that this is the end of academic years and the start of semesters requires a whole different level of acceptance. We did not even know when it started and when it ended. And Covid did not make the ending of school life any more fun. But we don't have another option other than to say online classes were also another kind of memory and move on. Although it really is hard to digest all of the amazing things we missed out on that we have been looking forward to since our middle school.

One of them was Teacher's Day celebrations. It used be such a huge deal cause all the Annas and Akkas were dressed in color dress and look over all of our classes while the teachers had their fun downstairs organized by the same Annas and Akkas. It was such a fascination for us to see all of them in sarees and salwars and kurtas. And when they used to come and describe to us what the teachers said and did and about all the fun that they had, it only lit more hope in us and longing to become seniors and share our celebration experiences to our juniors. Not one year went by without us saying to each other with so much hope and excitement in our eyes, "I can't wait for the day that we get to do that" but unfortunately we never got to. 

One of my other precious memories from school for me are the bhajan practices. I was blessed enough to be a part of the school choir and the bhajan group. We had so so much fun in each and every one of these practices, goofing around, having our own inside jokes and of course the best part... SKIPPING CLASSES. The number of functions, small and big, in and away from school that we attended and enjoyed are so treasured to me and I hold such cherished recollections from each one of these in my heart. We used to go to sing the daily prayers everyday during the beginning and dispersal of the day and I will definitely miss the running to get the mic, who will sing what and more so than anything... the UNITY. Even though I got to sing it a few more times in the past months, it didn't feel as precious as it did before. But more than anything, I found two beloved friends for life who have become so dear to me that now it is very hard for me to imagine life without them. 

Not to mention the closest bonds I made in the past few months with my class mates and my teachers. We all became so unexpectedly close and in such a short time but built unbreakable bonds. I have never had such personal relationships with my teachers as I could find in the ones I was blessed with these two years. Even though we spent more than a year online, we all sparked so well with each other as soon as offline classes started and I couldn't be more grateful for having them in my life. Some of them I found, I would never have believed that they would be one of my closest friends if someone had said so to me a few years back. I found something very special and so close to my heart that I never expected to find in anybody. 12th gave me a lot of new dear people and a whole different level of learning experiences that I will always cherish.

It has been haunting me the past week so much about losing touch with my friends (I don't know why with all this social media) and eventually becoming strangers with them that I felt a very painful distance with my closest friends while they were right in front of me. But eventually I did get the validation I needed from each one of them that we will be together and stay in touch always which was everything I needed. And deep down in my heart... I know it is true. 

We do have a few exams left but that's it... then we close for study holidays and then boards and then its done. It's not that I am not excited for college.. there is a whole different level of looking forward to for that, a very very crucial one of them being the INDEPENDANCE. But the pampering, the protection, the fun, the teachers and obviously the peeps will definitely be missed and will always hold an irreplaceable place in my heart. But this is going to be a whole new journey with a bunch of new people to meet, with the strong bonds right beside me, a whole new level of education and the actual stepping stone to establishing a career. Everything Will Fall Into Place 💟🌟