Finally, you are over it. Good or bad, pass or fail, you are done with your exams. That heaviness you were carrying around for weeks has now started to fade. Your head feels lighter. Your body feels relaxed with no more headaches and no more stress.
The nightmares of teachers snatching your answer sheet and you running late, or the paper is finished before you even enter your class, are finally over. Ahh... this is just amazing to feel so light and happy. Even those of you who are not satisfied, feel yourselves to be on cloud nine, it’s like someone lifted a weight off your chest.
You start feeling like a free bird. Not in a dramatic way, just free in small, everyday things. Free to sleep without guilt. Free to wake up late. Free to lie in bed scrolling, watching TV, doing nothing important at all. Free to use your phone without someone reminding you about studies every five minutes.
You eat whatever you like while staying late watching movies. You play games. You meet friends without constantly checking the time. Even your parents loosen their grip a little. They let you breathe. They know you’ve been through enough and this break is earned.
Your plans slowly start forming, just casual ideas, maybe a movie this weekend, maybe an outing, maybe travelling for a few days. In many families, the wedding season also starts around this time, so preparations begin and everything feels more festive.
Even though the winter holidays are very short, they feel extra special. To me, they feel magical, because I notice everything, and all those winter-loving souls feel the same way. Don’t you think the air feels festive without trying too hard? There’s the smell of warm food everywhere: fried snacks, tea, coffee, soups, etc. Winter becomes an invitation to everyone to come out more and share joys.
Even simple things feel better in winter. Sitting outside at night. Walking without sweating. Holding a hot cup in cold hands. Watching lights glow in the foggy air.
What I like most about it is the way winter brings a different kind of cosiness into the home. We stay wrapped in warm comforters, sitting close and not having a feeling of rushing anywhere. To add more to it, peanuts are being cracked open again and again. You munch without realising that the pack is almost finished. While after sipping tea or coffee, conversations stretch longer than usual.
Street food becomes irresistible, too. Hot fries, corn, coffee, tea and soups are offered on food carts on the roadside. There is no doubt, winter nights make eating out feel less like an outing and more like a small celebration. No big reasons needed. Just good food, familiar faces and the festive feeling that only this season brings.
And the casual talk is different too, full of old memories and funny moments. Childhood incidents don’t usually come up on busy days, but in winter they do. It feels like a recap of old times.
Even simple dinners at home feel warmer in winter. In homes with grandparents, they sit wrapped in shawls and start sharing stories from their time. They include stories their parents told them, some real, some mythical, some spiritual. And when they switch their mode to the scary ones, this is the one most awaited by many of us, creating a complete chilly atmosphere. These stories stay with us. We may forget the details later, but the feeling remains.
We don’t usually hear such conversations in other seasons. Everyone is too busy, too tired or too distracted. But winter just pulls people closer, both physically and emotionally.
Winter doesn’t change what we do. It changes how we feel while doing it. It makes moments heavier, warmer and more meaningful. And that’s why winter stays special.
Published in Dawn, Young World, December 20th, 2025