My Experiments with Resistance

Angel Me : You have to study for your exam, dear girl. Its a major, life changing exam. Its in twelve days. Don't succumb to the temptation!

Devil Me : Aww.Come on. You read fast. Finish it and get the suspense over with!

Angel : What if you can't prepare well because of the time this will take up?

Devil : What if you go crazy needing to know what happens?

Angel : Go on. Listen to her. Better ill prepared than crazy, I guess. Anyway, I am dying to know what happens!

So ladies and gentlemen, I read it. The book of the moment. And what a book it is!

My to-read-or-not-to-read struggle started when my sister and two cousins went and bought three separate copies. Spoiled rotten they are, I agree. So they all came home to my place in Bangalore, sat in three corners of the room and started reading. Different reading paces. So the jokes hit at different points of time. They giggled alternately. All very natural to them. My mom, the only person without the Hallows in her hand, begs to differ. She said it felt like she was transported to a mental home with the inmates giggling to themselves at their inner jokes. The joy of being in the same room with three Potter maniacs. I heard the above story and that set me off. I had previously determined not to read it, although I had the book coming. The sensible thing to do would have been to time my exam accordingly. I've known (for what-ten months?) that the book was getting released on this precise date. But like I said to a friend, timing is my talent. I had to have my exam two weeks from the release. I had to go through the to-and-fro with myself. Yet, I had to read it.

So, the day arrived. Overslept and felt anxious. What if I had missed the courier guy? I went outside and looked. No delivery notice saying they had been there and missed me. Thank God! I called the website people and made sure it hadn't come, just in case. All was well. Then, I realized my doorbell is not working. More anxiety. Repeated checks through the morning to look for the package. Could take it no longer after a while. I sat on my front steps and waited. I probably gave my neighbors the final proof that I was cuckoo, in doing so. The book arrived not fifteen minutes from the time I started waiting! Delivery guy came up with a package. "You wouldn't happen to be from Apartment two, would you?" he said, grinning knowingly. Of course I was from Apartment two!I almost hugged the poor dude. Well, I didn't. Much to his relief, I am sure.

I opened the package. Again a moment of truth. Would I let myself do this? The aforementioned struggle happened. The result was a foregone conclusion. I buckled. Eight straight hours. I finished it. It was worth every moment.

And the exam? Well..I'll tell you what happens. If I do well, one part of me wins. If I don't, the other part does. Either way, I get to say "I told you so."