Convocation..and the road ahead

“To those who are present and those who have been permitted to remain absent, I now confer upon you, this degree of Bachelor of Computer Applications.”


These words will remain in my memory etched permanently. It was my Convocation day yesterday, a day when I finally graduated, a day when I crossed a barrier but also one when I acquired new responsibilities. Graduation is merely a stopover because there are so many heights that still remain to be scaled. However, the euphoric feeling of being a graduate, of wearing the Italian gown and flinging the hat up in the air, of rising from your seat as your degree is conferred upon you; ah! It is unparallel!

Youth is no more about being rashly independent or devoid of responsibilities. Youth is about independence, youth is about innate power and potential. With independence comes responsibilities, towards one’s nation, towards one’s family and friends but most significantly, towards oneself. The greatest injustice you can do to yourself is probably to mar your capabilities and end up as an under-achiever. This, when it comes from one of the most lethargic, complacent and under-achievers you shall ever know, is to make you take a pause. Take that pause and think. Forget your country, parents, everything; for it is a moment just meant for self-analysis. There are so many scientists, warriors, sportsmen; who have achieved fame, wealth, adulation, everything. Am I asking you to tread the path they have had? No. These things may matter for some and hold no meaning for others. Your contentment and peace of mind matters most to you and rightly so. My question to you is, will you be at peace if you remain where you are? Youth needs to be impatient, for humanity respects that impatience. Youth has to crave for more, scale new heights, make their own goals and achieve them. Gone are the days when a mere 9 to 5 job and a lucrative salary meant end of your desires. These things still do matter but self-actualization has taken the front seat.

We live in an age, in an era where probably the most significant thing for us is ourselves. We love challenges, we love bets, we are audacious enough to hope and bet against the odds. That is what makes us different from our forefathers for we have the bottom-to-top approach, unlike our ancestors. We believe in shaping our lives first and trust me, that is the right way to go. Unless you have built the smallest unit right, the entire machine will never work properly. Unless your smallest pipe isn’t clog-free, water shall not flow out even from the largest of your canals. What I am hinting here is to make sure that we are hungry, we are passionate, we go all out to achieve goals for ourselves; for only after then can we do some service to our country. Our country is made up of us, we are its future. Let us put one piece on its place at a time.

As Dr. Shashi Tharoor said yesterday-“the impatience of youth needs to be respected, for there lies the key to the progress of a growing nation.” The thing is, we need to be impatient first. With these thoughts and the euphoria of having graduated, I now set upon, first to celebrate my graduation and then to higher destinations.