Dear Parent,

This letter should have reached you much earlier, for it was my promise to you in my last blog that I would come back  with the graduation day saga. An overwhelming sense of gratitude and happiness had pushed me into a state of wordless inner  zone. I saw the children graduate, yet could not put everything I saw and felt into words so easily. Chalk and Cheese have been thrown into an opulence of emotions lately , and getting back to the blackboard and chalking away Cheese stories needed some composure and time.

The batch of 2020, 2021and 2022 graduated together. The pandemic delayed life, but the university did not let their students down, the celebrations took place with the grandeur they deserved. The young girl or boy you had said goodbye to from home, a few years back, finally  graduated from the university. I saw them all. In my eyes they were just like young children running between Squirrel Hill and Shady Side, crossing signals at Walnut street and Hazelnut street, either with a grocery bag from Giant Eagle or a bagpack on their slightly drooping shoulders. I saw your child and mine. A bunch of young people, happy, confident walking down the streets of the city, the corridors of their university buildings at ease with themselves and their surroundings. They were young adults  (much beyond our recognition) living a life filled with dreams in their eyes and the confidence to fulfill those dreams.

Chalk and Cheese were welcomed with open arms to take a peek into this world that belonged to our children. A university campus is just not an educational institution, it becomes a second home for the students as well as the teaching faculty. These modern day Gurukuls train young minds to achieve their dreams in these absolutely beautiful  campuses with fully advanced and brilliantly supported technological emenities. Each year the university gates open to welcome new students and to bid goodbyes to the passing out batches. The professors stand by the students like strong pillars, guiding them, teaching them and giving them confidence as their friend, philosopher and guide. In those long ,silent , solemn corridors of learning , I saw the Goddess of knowledge being worshiped in a focused, calm and almost meditative mode of concentration.

When a family decides to send their child away from home to an academic institution, whether within the country or in a foreign country , it is not an easy decision to make . Beyond the pursuit of a degree alone every parent wants to see their children achieve certain goals and dreams in life. Long after a child leaves home the empty rooms echo with with their laughter, the empty kitchens echo with their tantrums, and the parent’s heart echoes a lonely tune all through long drawn summer afternoons and cold winter nights. The changing seasons do not bring in Dusshera, Diwali, Holi with the same fervour and happiness ,instead parents change calendars with fall, winter, and spring of a foreign land. They live through the same anxieties and tensions ( which their children feel) of first semester, second semester, and all the way to the final semester. At the end of this long journey, D day arrives, and as the scholars wear their robe and hood, the father takes out his old but neatly ironed coat, and the mother pins on a saree kept aside for this special occasion.

While the parents and family back home coped and adapted to their changed life, the children too faced their share of challenges. Life changed for them all at once, new country, new people, new friends and new ways of life. They learn to cook, clean, manage money and all this without once complaining. The new rigorous academic program starts on immediately, and falling  back in class is not a negotiable option. So the climb is uphill right from the very start. This next generation of amazing individuals have the ability to  handle difficult situations with a calm head and clear disposition in a way which is way beyond my comprehension.But one thing these young adults could never learn ; they never learnt how to lie when they had to  answer that one repeated question from home : ” khana khaya  ?” or  “Did you eat ? ” Their half smiling mumble always gave away their truth.

So here we were Chalk and Cheese sitting upright in the audience to be a witness to this culminating day of the journey we had all started together. In this vast ocean of scholars there was no ‘ yours’ or ‘ mine’, there was no country, ethnicity, community or colur which could divide them.  Every single student had earned their day and hour on the podium. The honour to wear the robe and the hood, the honour to march in unison to a live band playing just for them, the honour to drown in the applause coming from the audience gallery.How beautiful and happy the graduates looked together, moving slowly like waves , waving out to their families and friends.They were graduating from a prestigious university to carry on the lineage of the university into the world outside. It was a day of celebration. Celebration of perseverance, integrity, hard work, sacrifice wisdom and  accomplishment . This day will always be the first chapter of a new life of adulthood, a life they are so eager and joyous to embrace.

For the families and friends who were in the audience and also for all of them who could not be present, it was a big day of achievement. I could see in those young faces a reflection of their parents ;  as I hugged my son’s friends I knew they thought of you, their mother or father back home. When I saw a grandmother or grandfather waving and clapping all at once, I  knew the values and unconditional love which these young people had been blessed with. My eyes brimmed up again and again, through the blurred vision of a mother’s love I saw your child and mine walk the walk, stand tall, and accept  their graduation degree with utmost humility. I feel grateful that in my own small way I could be present to see and chronicle the best day of a scholars life. The incredible journey which these young graduates have made from far away homes upto this threshold of life was worth every mile of their travel.

This blog was not about graduation day alone. You and I too had graduated from colleges ,some day in the past. There will be fresh graduates every year. This blog was about the immense sense of fulfillment which a parent gets from seeing their child’s accomplishments. This was about passing on the responsibility of the baton in able hands of the future. The journey never ends. Life continues giving lessons at every turn and we keep learning forever.

Yours emotionally ,
Chalk and Cheese ,
(Parent).

PS:  Chalk is as emotional as Cheese about this day and all the mushy feelings that goes with it.