"Few days ago, I sat by the windowsill, thinking about how my life changed in these nineteen years. I had loads of memories to recall on, good, bad and some even ugly.."
A guy said on the podium addressing the audience and few people burst into fits of laughter the way he used the dialogue.
"... But all had to be connected with this school. Georgia High School has given a lot to us, if not then a lot to me at least. From learning A,B,C to fixing trivial calcus sums, from making stick figures to intricate biology diagrams, from playing in the toddler's pool, to becoming athletically adept. I withold a sac full of memories with this school. Spending my toddler days, my innocent childhood days, striking the puberty ages and apparently reaching the "rebelious" adolescence as our teachers fondly addressed it, I now think I am ready to face the world. From having silent crushes on fellow mates to experiencing the adrenaline rush at seeing young teachers, from being bullied by seniors to become one, my life has always been eventful and a wonderful experience to look back on."
He sighed and passed a warm smile to the audience where his father smiled back as he took his video.
"We were asked when we entered the nursery, what you want to be and we would ambitiously reply 'Pilot' or 'Teacher' and they would smile at the cliched answer pulling our cheeks or simply patting them saying 'How cute!'. Then when we were asked the same thing in our junior school and we would determinedly say 'astronaut' as this was the big word or say profession we had newly learnt. We were all the next Neil Armstrong or the new Kalpana Chawala! They still smiled and would say 'good going!'. But now, if they ask, all we reply is 'time will tell' or 'haven't decided yet' and only few would come out with the cliched 'engineers' and 'doctors'. Now, it is the time to face the real world. To become a part of the race, the race to come first. My father always says, you may become a chef, a singer, an amateur or a neurologist - as I wanted to become - remember one thing, you should always give it your best shot, because apparently career is what you choose for yourself and for self-satisifaction..."
He took a sigh and saw his father wipe a small tear off his eye, embarrased.
"... And accordingly, our teachers have always encouraged us. Being a Georgian is a proud symbol and yes, I am a proud student of Georgia High School where my innermost passion in dance was always accepted as well as encouraged. And the end of this speech all I want to say is, I thank all my teachers for being there with us througout our journey. And my special thanks to Mrs. Smith who has always been a motherly figure for me. She has been with me, by my side since Nursery and has always helped me, and sometimes even told me what I was unsure about. Leaving Georgia would be a huge task me. I have been through many emotional ups and downs, pragmatic concerns, and many first-times..."
He smiled a bit and confidently looked at the audience.
"... Thank you all for giving my path of life a direction. Thank you for being there with me and Thank you for making me what I am. Whichever part of the country or the globe I go, I will always know that I would be successful only because of this school for whatever it gave me. Thank you so much!"
With this he folded the piece of paper on which his speech was scrawled, stood aside the podium and bowed in his graduation gown.
The teachers, students and all the parents stood up in applause which pleased him and he smiled. He went and sat on his chair and soon the principal came to announce the scholarships and topper students.
***
"Wow! This is such a wonderful dress. Isn't it sis?" The girl asked her sister while rumaging through the dresses hung in the designer shop.
"Erm. Try something better." She replied.
"Gosh, I can't believe we are in College Already! Though there isn't much difference as we would only be going to Senior College. But, this is so wonderful. Right Kria?..."
"Absolutely Sharon. This is just simply awesome."
She saw she wasn't paying attention to her as one voice held her attention
"Kria, Kria, KRIA?"
A guy shouting Kria's name as she ducked and ignored him, casually moving around the shop. Sharon noticed the guy and waved gently towards him as he smiled back and returned to his onerous job of catching Kria's eyes.
Sharon simply smiled at them as the guy sped and caught up to Kria. She observed their act silently.
"Listen, I am really sorry Kria. I wanted to come early, but I was caught up with some work with my dad. He called me up last moment and I couldn't deny. I am really really very sorry."
The guy literally begged on his knees for an amnesty from Kria.
"But, that was 2 hours ago. Why are you late now?" Kria demanded, shouting at the top of her voice.
"Actually, I was stuck in a very humongous traffic jam and only God knows how I managed to come out of it. Listen, Kria, I am really really very sorry! I promise I will make it up to you. Please forgive me." He replied calmly, not caring about the attention they had suddenly caught from the whole shop thanks to Kria's loud outburst.
"Do Twenty Push-Ups!" she said.
"Huh?"
"I said,do Twenty-Push Ups! And then I will forgive you."
"But?"
"Rey, Do Twenty Push-Ups or else just move away." Kria barked turning away towards the mirror and putting a dress on herself to check.
Rey sighed and avoided the pitiful eyes of the customers and attendants. He pulled up his sleeves and shuddered as Sharon passed a thumbs-up to him. He lay flat on the floor and started to do as his girlfriend wanted him to do.
All the guys tried their best to turn away their girlfriends as they stood gawking at Rey doing the push-ups. With each push-up, his muscle twitched which made all the girls to drool at him.
Sharon stood there admiring Rey when suddenly she realized what she was doing. She mentally slapped herself and sighed. How she wished to have somebody in her life as her sister had.
***
"The Best Student of The Year as an All-Rounder is..." The dean chirped on the mike and stopped mid way to create an atmosphere of suspense.
All the students crossed their fingers in anticipation while some sent prayers to all the Gods in the sky. It was a very big honor to get this trophy, especially from the Georgian High School.
"Our very own Valedictorian, Swayam Shekhawat." Kartik gleamed with pride and happiness for his son's success. He held his head high and smiled from ear to ear.
Whereas, Swayam's mouth flung open in astonishment. He had never even imagined in his wildest dreams to be able to grab this honorable trophy. But after all, he was the topper of the school and the most athletically adept student.
Swayam went up on the stage and took the trophy in his hands. He smiled widely and kissed it before raising it high in the air.
The audience stood up in applaud and Swayam closed his eyes, remembering his mother's face and her smile.
***
"Congratulations Sam!" was all that people were saying as they passed Swayam and Kartik. Few even stopped by to initiate a conversation while few hugged and went off for their airports or last moment packing before college.
Kartik sighed as he waited his son to get over with a conversation with one of his batch-mates. He could no longer hold it, he had to let it out. He would just drop an idea, but the final decision lied on Swayam, because it was his life after all.
"Okay, bye Mark. Catch you soon!" Swayam bid farewell as he turned back to his father and smiled. They had been standing next to each other since half an hour but could not speak properly due to so many intruders.
"Let's head out for lunch? I am starving" Swayam exclaimed. His father simply hugged him and whispered a 'Congratulations' to his ear.
Swayam hugged him back and mumbled a sweet 'Thank You'. He knew something bothered his father as he had been acting fidgety. He sent a silent prayer to the Gods that all is fine and it is just good news and not bad.
They came out of the hug as Swayam's phone rang. He rummaged his pocket for his mobile, and seeing the caller ID smiled. He looked at his father who nodded at him genuinely. It was his mother and seeing the proud smile, he knew that his father told her about everything.
"Hey Maa, how are you?" Swayam said, picking up the phone.
"Congratulations beta, I am so proud of you!" his mother replied overseas.
"Thanks Maa, that means a lot to me!"
He talked to his mother for a while as they headed out for the restaurant. His father still fidgety, as he wanted to talk about something important to him.
Seher Hone Ko Hai
Members Lounge
