First first love

In my study days,the dreaded subject was Mathematics.Everyone simply hated this subject.Carl Gauss,Pierre Laplace and Newton were cursed (and even threatened to be murdered if alive!) everytime we had a maths test.Unlike other subjects,Maths could not be learnt by repetition,one needed to understand the underlying concept.Maths was a completely different subject and one needed to use a different approach to pass a maths exam unlike the other so called friendly subjects.This was a subject where last minute crammings wouldn’t help you and getting the elusive centum was dream come true for many students.Fortunately I was very lucky when it came to maths,maybe lucky is a wrong word here,lets say I had the knack of solving any problem correctly be it a permutation,combination sum in arithmetic or solve for ‘x’ sums in algebra or finding the surface area of a trapezoid problem in geometry,there was never any problem for me with the maths paper.But on every maths exam I would be very tensed.”Passing is not a problem,I need to get my 100 upon 100″ I would say to my friends.”You just get out of my sight for the day” my best friend would retort looking at me with disgust.Everyone simply detested me on the maths exam day,the tall,huge guys of my class would fear looking at me cause just a glance at me would distract them,I can be very intimidating.So I would just hang around alone in the corridors going over theorems and their proofs.
My parents were very proud of me,I mean I didnt aspire for a JEE certificate,I was an average student in other subjects so the only thing about me that they could boast about to my relatives was my ability to get centum.So before every maths exam amma would force feed me ‘vendakkai’ (ladys finger) for it was believed in my family that vendakkai helped a person solve maths problems.I liked the vegetable so I would eat it.I remember the last maths exam of my life,I was extremely nervous,there was a lot of pressure on me not just from family but also my teachers.Also I myself put a lot of pressure by thinking it was the last opportunity for me to get 100 on 100.The previous maths exam had resulted in me getting a 99.I had found the ‘variance’ whereas the question demanded ’standard deviation’. “Don’t make silly mistakes and verify your answers” my dad would wisely advise.”Don’t worry,you have Lord Dakhshinamurthy’s blessings with you” my mom would say.The joy of solving a problem to completion without getting stuck in the middle,turning to the last page where answers were given and seeing that my answer is correct gave me a big kick.I am going to become a maths teacher I had decided,but just like how every first love fails and never works so did my first love end after my college days.