Convocation For 'The Batch Of 2020'

Today is your day, today, with each name announced on the stage, with each walk towards that stage, and with each passing of the degree amid cheers and camera shots, IIM Rohtak declares you a graduate.

I have been through this moment over and over again in my mind. The walk to the centre of the stage, always nervous, the smile on everyone’s faces, always larger than ever, the robes always swaying with the wind and the cap, always a little tilted. I look up to see my proud parents, who are trying to capture as much of the stage as they can. In the front line are my batchmates, my friends, the ones who were my heartbeats for these two years. On the stage are my teachers, probably thinking about the sloppy kid who stuttered in her first presentation and banged the last one. I reach the eminent guests, ready to be handed over that one certificate. It has always been that one transforming moment when I am finally handed over that medal, that justification of me being a real manager. That one moment when I know..

Completing the rigorous course of MBA from an institute of national importance, from an IIM was a dream come true. IIM Rohtak had given us the best and worst memories, experiences for the rest of our lives. When it was time to leave this place, I was unsure if I would be able to live the dreams and promises I had dared to create in my mind. Leaving our home and hearts of two years was painful and scary, but as one of my friends wrote, ‘3 boxes and 5 bags packed and it’s a wrap!’: we left the destination because it was a milestone in our journeys.

There were millions like us, all over the world, ready to embark upon their journeys after their graduation ceremonies. We, the batch of 2020, the Gen-Y, born in the simpler times of the '90s, grown up in the tech waves 2000's and creating a space for ourselves in the era of exploring everything unknown. We were ready to change our definition of the world, to take forward the baton in the race. However, humanity fell off of one of the obstacles in the race before we were passed on that baton.

The sequence of events that followed after the period of static electricity seemed like a surreal movie. It was like a morning where you slept a carefree child and woke up to witness a world where you are grown-up, unemployed, with the world collapsing and you, being unsure how to hold it together! Coronavirus or Novel Covid-19 had become a pandemic, towards the end of March 2020. The death toll due to the disease was reaching one lac, millions were tested positive and the virus was still spreading dangerously. There were studies, charts, modelling all claiming that the figures are going to rise exponentially. The fear was all around, and the world needed to stay indoors to contain this disease.

It has been two months since the decided date of convocation. Two months since the country that I live in has been under lockdown. Our convocation was canceled and so were our joining dates, our trips, our first salary dates and so many of our plans. There is little time to cry over these things because of the crisis all of us are going through currently. When the world plummets into the darkest of times, that is when the best ideas are born. And those best ideas are executed when we change our perspective, look at the world in a new light.

Dear class of 2020,

Welcome to your convocation!

Today is going to be your day. The joyous wind is blowing today just like you imagined. Your names won't be called one after another. People aren't waiting for you to walk on stage to click your photograph today. Your friends aren't here to celebrate with you this time. This time, your parents are proudly watching you, and so is the entire world! The world needs a hero right now. It needs saving. And what better day to embrace this other than the day of your graduation?

When we are denied what is our due, we take it, with full confidence in ourselves and our abilities. Even if you are waiting for the lockdown to be over, searching for a job,  or are working from home for your companies, rise up to the occasion. Celebrate your success in fighting this deadly situation up until now. And vow to not back down when the last leg of the war is left.

We all have read Martin Luther King's quote, "If you can't fly then run; if you can't run then walk; if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, keep moving forward." It's version in Punjabi says, "Oh sab te thik hai Luther ji, par Jana kithe e?" ("That's alright Mr. Luther, but where exactly are we headed?")

We don't know where we are headed, but the Class of 2020 knows, come what may, we shall rise and regain our glory when the time is right.