10
The next morning, two hundred fresh MBA graduates and their insanely proud
parents sat in the Louis Kahn Plaza lawns for the convocation. The cief guest, a
third generation silver-spoon-at-birth industrialist, told students to work hard and
come to the top. He also had the tough job of handling out degrees and posing
for pictures with two hundred students. Today, we had to collect our post-
graduate diploma in management, a ticket to a lifetime of overpaid jobs. Ananya
wanted everything to be perfect. She had reached the venue half an hour earlier
to secure six seats for her family and mine.
My mother wore her best sari. I wore graduation robes rented for thirty bucks.
‘Mom, this is Ananya. Ananya, my mother,’ I said when we reached the
premises.
Ananya extended her arm to shake my mother’s hand. My mother looked
shocked. While Ananya touching her feet would be too much, I felt Ananya
should have stuck to a Namaste. Anything modern doesn’t go down well with
parents.
‘Hello, aunty. I have heard so much about you,’ Ananya said.
‘Actually, since I have arrived I am only hearing about you.’ My mother smiled,
making it difficult to spot the sarcasm.
‘Let’s sit down. Ananya, where is your family?’ I asked as we sat down.
‘My mother takes forever to put on her sari. I came first to get good seats.’
Ananya wore the same peacock blue sari that she wore to her HLL interview.
She caught me staring and blew a kiss. Fortunately, my mother didn’t notice. I
shook my head, beseeching Ananya to maintain decorum.
Ananya’s parents arrived ten minutes later. Her father wore a crisp white shirt,
like the one in detergent ads. Ananya’s mother walked behind in a glittery haze.
Her magenta and gold Kanjeevaram sari could be noticed from any corner of the
lawn. She looked as if she had fallen into a drum of golden paint. Behind her
walked a fourteen-year-old boy with spectacles; a miniature version of MBA men
who would get a degree this evening.
‘Hello mom,’ Ananya said and stood up, her voice her cheerful best.