Graduation Day!!

 

Graduation Day!

Back in school, we had graduation day where we graduated from senior KG to class 1. It's strange how I still remember that day. After our class performance we were all dressed up in the graduation gowns over our dance outfits quickly by our seniors and the square hat which was difficult to balance, and then we were queued according to our roll numbers. Once our name was taken we climbed the stage with the help of seniors and then our school principal along with the chief guest presented us with a white rolled paper tied with a red ribbon. Post this we stood on the stage serially and after everyone in the class received it, a class photo of the little graduates was clicked and a memory of a lifetime was created.

 

When we grew up and realized that the actual graduation was too far and it takes many years of schooling followed by entrance exams and then after completion of college one actually gets graduated, we used to convince ourselves that no worries we are already graduated back in senior kg! Also after some years when we were schools seniors, we hosted graduation day for kids in school, help them wear the gowns after their dance, assisted them in climbing the stage, fix their square hats and make them stand serially after receiving their white rolled paper, it felt like life had come a full circle, yet we were far away from the real graduation and so were the kids. Though when we hosted the graduation day one of our curiosities back in senior kg was answered, the white rolled paper tied with ribbon which was presented on stage was quickly taken back by seniors as soon as we got down from the stage, so when we became seniors and collected those white rolled papers we actually gathered enough guts to open and see what it has, and to our surprise it was a white blank paper, though later we are given certificate saying we are graduated from senior kg to class 1.

 

So after waiting for years, finally last month I attended my very own graduation day, the real one. And surprisingly there were no butterflies in my stomach as much as I had expected there would be all these years. It was a day I will forever remember like the first one, but no matter what, firsts are firsts and are always more dear! Well for the real graduation our college had a different dress code than what we expect otherwise, instead of the usual academic regalia we were asked to wear all white and were given sleeveless jackets and the Indian pheta (Turban). It was different yet we all looked beautiful in it. In fact while we were all sitting in the auditorium, it felt like we were at a wedding where everyone is wearing the pheta's. The guy tying the pheta was a pro, he tied pheta's in a jiffy.

In pheta and jacket.

 Then we were asked to take the Engineer's pledge followed by the degree distribution ceremony aka the real graduation. It was definitely a surreal moment when my name was announced and I went up on the stage. One of my favorite teachers from college presented me with my graduation certificate. She was as happy to present me the degree as I was to receive it from her. And maybe now life has come full circle from senior KG graduation to engineering graduation, as this time the white rolled paper was actually replaced by a certificate claiming I was an engineer. After the official ceremony was over we had arranged for ourselves the academic regalia (the black gown and square hat) to click the pictures we missed clicking back in senior kg as there was no Instagram back then to give ideas and to post the clicked pictures, though we do have hard copy of those pictures which we don't have of this ceremony. We all threw our caps high up in the sky which signifies a symbol of achievement and readiness to embark on the next chapter in life.

 

I used to wonder why school gave a blank white paper to those little graduates, now when I look back I feel they were right as they didn't know back then who will be engineers, who will be doctors, who will be financial experts and so on and so forth. Maybe the blank page was for us to fill in with our dreams or maybe it signifies that life is all about learning each single day until the last day, and that these graduations are not destinations but mere milestones and that we have to keep learning, and always believe that our page is blank and we have a lot learn before we actually graduate from the school of life.

 

To all the graduates and learners,

 

Happy Reading,

 

Siddhi Bhosale.