-2 + 3 = 1

After playing the game for over 17 years, the batsman was preparing for his last innings. It was not his choice to make the next innings his last. It was fate. If he had his way, he would have wanted to play till the end of his life. But he knew that there was little a man could do against his fate. He knew that when he stepped out onto the crease the following morning, it would be the last time he would be doing so.

He had been preparing for this moment for the past six months. He normally didn’t use any material to analyze the bowlers. He liked to take them on the run. But he knew that this was his last. He had to make sure that he ended big. So, very much unlike himself, he got himself all kinds of information on the bowler - how he has bowled previously, what is his speciality, etc.

He knew that only a CENTURY will quench his thirst. But he didn’t know why he needed a century. Just because it was his last innings seemed to be a lame excuse for being selfish. Now, just hours away from the big game, he only knew the end, not the reason. A century would mean the world to him, and his fans. But why??

Not finding any answers to that question, he decided to do one last round of training before he called it day. He was bowled the first ball he faced. It was not that he wasn’t prepared, but the usual concentration wasn’t there. Throughout the evening his shots were below par. It was then that his coach came up to him, and gave him some advice. It was then that he got the answer.

He did need a century. Not only for himself, but for all those who had helped him reach where he was now. His coaches, his friends, his family...He didn’t want to train anymore. He just wanted to take the field the next morning.

When he faced the first ball on the D-day, he knew that all the training hadn’t gone to waste. The balls were the ones he had practiced for. He just hit them to the boundary, piercing them or over them with ease. He was confident in every stroke. He did enough to take him to a century in 1.5 hours. He left the field after making sure that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

Once outside the field, he checked with his mates. He had done everything right. He knew that his would be a well-deserved hundred.

His joy was short lived though. One of his friends brought him the bad news that he had made a simple mistake. He added up -2 and 3 as -1, instead of 1.

There ended his dream run. Now he awaits the result of his match, hoping against hope that the opposition makes some mistake, resulting in his victory.

And he will be waiting and hoping for the next six months.

I knew that Adieu to Mathematics was something that I was not going to like. What I have described above is my last university exam in Mathematics.

Mathematics is not the favorite subject for the most of the students, but I would hold three persons responsible for my extreme love for Mathematics.

1. Remadevi madam, my Mathematics teacher from 1st to 5th std, who made sure that I had the right foundation for playing with numbers.
2. Jayadevan sir, who taught me Mathematics from 12th till last week, who helped me to attack higher level Mathematics with ease.
3. My father, who has been there with me since LKG, making sure that Mathematics was always the subject I enjoyed the most, and the one I always excelled in.

Thank you all.