Underlying these feelings of apprehension and excitement I have started experiencing a deep seated regret on leaving behind my childhood and teens. No doubts at this age I can no longer lose myself in my childish make believe world of fairies or in my teenage dreams, yet I miss my childhood. My childhood has not been very exciting: other than fracturing my arm twice and getting almost kidnapped from our home once, there have been no extraordinary incidents in my life. I have had my share of mumps, influenza, malaria and other maladies. I have fallen off my bicycle a number of times, still I do feel scared when I think childhood was a period of sheltered life.

I remember how the night before the examination used to work one up so much that I would run to my parents’ bedroom and lie between them. How my mother consoled me with her affectionate words !! So my sixteenth birthday has brought nothing wonderful. I have not even managed to get introduced to a girl friend. Life goes on and the earth keeps rotating in the same old way. Only, the world I perceive and live in is more real than my fantastic world of childhood.