Alive For Go-Ahead Men : A Delhi Press Magazine

In May 2006, at the age of 84, I attended my granddaughter’s college graduation ceremony in Berkeley, California. This was the first college graduation ceremony I attended in the USA. Earlier, I had attended high school graduations, about which there is so much hoohah in this part of the world.

Back in India, when your son or daughter receives good marks after the school final exams, parents breathe a sigh of relief. Their next anxiety is their child’s admission to a good institution for college studies. After 12 years of school, in India, the child can apply to a professional college, and the student does not need to wait to graduate from an undergraduate institution, as in the USA.

In India, all parents are highly stressed till the final year of school is over. And then they are further stressed in their search for placement of their child in a good college.The final hurdle is the college entrance examination.

When the results to that are known, there is a sigh of relief.

Graduation from college, in India, is a solemn occasion but family and other loved ones hardly participate in the ceremony. And their flying in from distant places, for the occasion, is unheard of. Many students do not receive their certificate in person but just pick it up from the university office after the convocation.

However, during the ceremony, there are many similarities between the process in the USA and in India, such as donning caps and gowns, awaiting your turn to be called up to receive the diploma, all sitting in assigned seats etc. In the USA, it appears, that the immediate family and many friends make it a point to attend the commencement ceremony.

We stayed in a quaint hotel in Berkeley, not far from the campus. It was a 101-year-old house, which had been converted into a Bed-and- Breakfast Inn. There were many steps to climb which I was fortunately able to do.

The University of California (UC) at Berkeley is first of the 10 UC campuses, and was started in 1848.

Students come from all over the world and so the campus is very diverse.

Historically, it was very politicallyconscious, especially in the late 1960s and '70s. One could also call it “a home of lost causes” — like Mathew Arnold, once upon a time, described Oxford University in Britain.

My granddaughter was graduating with Psychology as her major and Anthropology as minor. So we attended the graduation of students from the Psychology Department; the Chair of the Psychology department delivered the keynote address.

This ceremony was held in the Greek Theater complex of UC Berkeley, which is an amphitheatre for the audience, facing a raised podium, where the staff and graduates were seated. There are no special tickets or passes and the convocation or "commencement ceremonies" as they call it, is held on different days and in different places, determined by the department from which the degree has been obtained.

The graduation ceremony for the Psychology department was slated to start at 2 pm. The entrance gates to the Greek Theater were opened at 1 pm. There was a separate entrance for the disabled, which was a boon for me, because I had just recovered from a fall and needed a walking-stick as well as somebody to accompany me.

I was surprised to see all manner of disabled people — on wheel-chairs, motorised and other wise, and crutches — attending the ceremony. People filed in on their own, with no pushing or bumping; there was ample space.

There was no formal dress-code and people came dressed in different garbs. There was chatter and noise but, the moment the speaker came in and raised his hand, there was pin-drop silence. He announced that, after a speech or address, one could cheer and clap and also when the graduates lined up to take their certificates.

The Bachelor of Arts graduates were 373 in number and about 20 post-graduates obtained PhDs. The outstanding students were asked to speak briefly about their experiences and life in Berkeley. There was a lot of hollering, hooting and cheering as the sons and daughters and loved ones received their certificates.

I decided to do my bit. I yelled and shouted, cheering Sarah when her name was called out and I saw her walking across the stage. My instinct was to shout, "3 cheers for Sarah, Hip Hip Hurray!" 3 times, but I hesitated as it would be out of place.

The post-graduate students were “hooded” by their mentors, with a cloak over their shoulders, bearing the colours of the University of California — blue and gold — by their mentors. The graduates were then asked to flip their tassels from one side to the other, as a symbol of having graduated from college, and everyone cheered.

The ceremony was followed by a get-together, after which, all went their way. That evening, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant, close by. My son opened a bottle of champagne and that was the grand finale.

Because my grand-daughter was moving away from Berkeley, after graduation, and planning to start a job elsewhere, she had to vacate the room where she stayed. We loaded all her stuff into the van we had brought. These were things she wanted to bring back to the house after being there for 4 years.

Parents and grand-parents, all took part as you don’t hire people for this sort of job. Besides, it would be horrendously expensive. They provide 4- wheel carts, which you can load and bring stuff down in the elevator.

Bidding farewell

For my grand-daughter, bidding goodbye must have been very poignant. She just loved being on campus at UC Berkeley.

We had brunch around 11 a.m., the next day, a Sunday, at a quaint restaurant on the grounds of a Thai Buddhist Temple. The meal was prepared by many elderly ladies, who did this with great enthusiasm, because it was a fund-raiser for the temple.

There is a menu, from which you choose and pay money in exchange for tokens, which are given at the counter.

The particular dish is then cooked before you and served, all hot and instant. It is a very popular eatingplace.

Had we reached half-an-hour later, we would have had to stand in the queue for quite some time.

After the last hugs and byes and the clicking of the cameras, we set forth on our 8-hour trip back to San Diego. Fortunately, on the way back, there were no traffic-jams.

Again, I felt like saying, "Hurrah!" We had a good time. It was a test for me, to see if I could withstand the rigours of the long drive up and the long drive back home. I am glad I went and was able to enjoy the trip.