I remember hearing Viswanathan Anand in an interview talking about his parents’ reaction to his being featured in Time Magazine or some such achievement. Apparently his parents were most matter of fact about that – the whole “OK, well done beta ! Now let’s get you down to earth !” routine. I can almost see that, because my parents are much the same. I think it’s got something to do with the fact that we are desi, and very much the anti-rah-rah brigade.
Well, rah-rah-ing is the flavor of the month, it being June – the month for graduations. And graduation parties. As students, young and old, graduate from their classes or colleges, there is a general feel of celebration in the air. Department stores hype up the marketing touting their gifts for the new graduate in your life. And at graduation ceremonies all over, you see beaming parents, grandparents, and other assorted family members, cameras in hand, proudly take photos of the grand moment.
This is one tradition that was missing when I was going through my school and college years in India, and I’m not sure if it has changed now. Celebrating going to the next class in school was an unheard of phenomena (I can picture my Mom shaking her head about the vanity going to my head “What’s so great about that ? Everyone goes to the next class.”), but even major events like graduating from school to college are a mere blip in my memory, more a specific school event rather that a celebratory ritual practiced across the country.
It is not just students who complete a major degree that celebrate graduations here, but also school kids, who have an end of the year awards ceremony every year. My kids have been having them since their pre-kindergarten days. And it is indeed lovely celebrating accomplishments. Especially of the little ones, who scramble on stage, happy, smiling, bumbling, awkward, not knowing where to walk to, or when to walk off stage, but ready to give and receive hugs and awards.
Graduation takes on a whole new meaning when kids move from elementary school (Grades K through 5) to middle school (Grades 6-8), and from middle to high school (Grades 9-12). A sort of coming of age, if you will, with nods to parents and teachers. In most ceremonies that I’ve attended emcees and students formally thank the important people in their lives, their teachers and their family, often giving them standing ovations before they begin awarding the students themselves. Really moving; I am weepy at most graduation ceremonies, and the husband accuses me of the “June sniffles”.
A philosophical friend of mine tells me that every moment in life is worth celebrating. While I agree with that in general, but having been reduced to pragmatism by kids who live in a very real, meat-and-potatoes kind of world, I also think that we take few occasions to celebrate ourselves and our accomplishments (and Happy Hours don’t count) with the people who matter most. It might be that we will be together numerous years in the future, or we might see each other only intermittently, but occasions like this remind us that we matter. That there are people around us who will drop the important work in their lives to come celebrate in our accomplishments. And that we will always have them. No matter where we are or what we are doing.
Quite a wonderful thing, no ?
