"From Rivals to Forever: A Journey of Love"

Chapter 34

Kabir's Perspective

Around one month later

It was finally over.

I walked out of the JEE Mains exam center with a slow smile spreading across my face. For the first time in months, I felt the tension in my shoulders start to ease. The sun shone bright overhead, and there was a cool breeze that felt like a gentle reminder that I could finally breathe again. No more practice papers, no more sleepless nights worrying about formulas I might forget. The exam hadn't been as tough as I'd feared, and while there were a few questions that had tripped me up, I felt confident about most of it.

I looked around at the other students spilling out of the center. Some were already deep in conversation, animatedly discussing the questions, while others walked silently, probably replaying the exam in their minds. I, for once, didn't feel like overanalyzing everything. "Jo hogaya so hogaya," I thought to myself. There was no point in dwelling on those few tricky questions now.

Reaching for my phone, I realized that Raghav's exam center was far away, somewhere across the city. He had messaged me earlier, saying his exam went well but had some tricky parts too. With a grin, I dialed his number as I walked away from the crowd.

"Arre bhai, kaisa gaya exam?" I asked, hearing the familiar ringing tone.

"Yaar, it was fine overall," Raghav replied, sounding a little tired. "But there were these 2-3 questions I got really confused about... ek baat bata na, what did you do for the calculus one?"

I could hear the frustration in his voice, but I had no desire to revisit those questions right now. "Raghav, chill yaar, jo hogaya so hogaya. Ab tension mat le."

He laughed at that, sounding more relaxed already. "Pehli baar kisi topper se aaram karne ki advice mili hai. Chal sahi hai. Mera center to dur hai thoda, ghoom-fir ke aata hoon. Kal milte hain, theek hai?"

"Kal milte hain," I agreed, shaking my head with a grin as I hung up.

The streets were buzzing with activity, the late afternoon rush already setting in. I hailed a rickshaw and headed home, feeling lighter than I had in months. I had a whole month now to wait for results and another month of preparation for the JEE Advanced, but this moment—this small window of freedom—was something I was going to savor.

As soon as I stepped inside the house, my mom appeared in front of me like she had been waiting for me all day. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, her anxiety melting into relief now that the exam was done.

"Kabir, ab tension nahi leni," she said, her voice a little shaky with emotion. "Jo hogaya, so hogaya."

I chuckled, hugging her back. "Arre, ma, main koi yudh ladke nahi aaya hun. Relax, mujhe itni tension nahi thi jitni aapko thi!"

As I pulled back, I saw my chachi bustling out from the kitchen, holding a small thali with a diya and some flowers. She was ready to do aarti, while my little cousin Arjun stood behind her with a mischievous smile, ringing the small temple bell in his hand like he was conducting some grand ceremony.

"Yeh kya ho raha hai?" I asked, laughing as I stepped aside, but chachi had other plans.

"Nahi beta, pehle aarti le lo, phir baithna," she insisted, smiling proudly. Arjun kept ringing the bell, thoroughly enjoying himself.

I shook my head, laughing at the whole scene. "Itna tension aap sabko tha? Arre, maine exam diya hai, koi dangal nahi lada!"

Chachi ignored my protests and continued with her little aarti, muttering a quick prayer under her breath as she waved the thali in front of me. Arjun gave the bell one last enthusiastic ring before running off into the living room, probably to play with his action figures.