It's three in the night when I’m writing this down - the 33rd convocation day of IIM Lucknow just got over three hours back.
The last two days were amazing - the whole college was filled with proud parents, the whole college was bright, bright with the colours of beautiful followers growing on the sidewalk, bright with the beautiful lightings all around, bright with the smiling faces of the graduating batch.
I could not have found a better day than this to describe the hell lot of life that we experience in IIM Lucknow-
"Where heaven is camouflaged in clouds of Hel(L),
Where the world meets the leaders without any fail,
Where even the weather comes in wholesale.
Where you will have parties every week blasting,
Where you will make the memories that are everlasting
Where life is full of delights,
Where the two years just tug you tight..."
During the two years of your MBA life, you just eagerly wait for the Convocation Day, the day when you will finally write a “done and dusted” below a picture of yours holding the degree, wearing the tassel and the gown, on your Facebook wall.
And when the day finally arrives, it reminds you about everything that you did right from the start, right from the point from where it all began. It reminds you about all the hard work that you have put in to get to this stage, starting from CAT preparations, going through the interviews and finally coming to IIM Lucknow for the first time.
It reminds you about the feelings you had when you were just starting this journey of two years, it reminds you about all the sleepless nights you had during the two years of your stay in this college, it reminds about the camaraderie that you built, about all the crushes that you had, about all the best times that you had in this college, it reminds you that you will no longer be staying in the same hostel room where you had all the late night parties, in which you just let yourself loose and carefree, it reminds you that you are now maturing to a stage where you need to be more careful, more alert and even more responsible and finally it also reminds you that the two years have come to an END!
This day just sets you on a roller coaster of feelings at one end you are graduate, got a great job, parents a proud of you and on the other end you are losing the direct connection with most of your best friends you had here, your college life just ends here!
Whatever you do in your life always remember these golden words by Ann Buller-
“Courage is not about climbing Mount Everest. It’s about being true to you. It’s about holding onto what’s right and holding on to the good in the darkest of the night. It’s about holding the hand that needs to be held, holding close the weary and the worn. Standing to fight a battle you might lose because there’s simply too much at stake. I wish for you the integrity to make the tough choices and the courage to ask others to stand with you.”