For the Apple of My Eye On his Graduation

My adorable technical editor will get to see this piece once it’s online. I am going to be extremely careful, lest he complains again that I always put extra spaces while typing. As much as he has featured several times in my posts (perhaps too many), this is the first one dedicated exclusively to him!

I will not be able to say all what I have in mind because as clichéd as it may sound, when the heart is full, words are indeed few. Twenty-one years ago, my better half and I felt truly blessed as an 8 pounds, 6.3 ounces bundle waltzed into our lives. Time has flown by in a wink. My little one graduated from college today, and as he takes his strides to explore newer pastures, I am on this sentimental excursion.

So here’s to you Ayan! Congratulations on achieving your bachelor’s degree. Every moment of your life plays before my mind’s eye like celluloid, but to summarize everything and put it into words is a daunting task! What can any mother say about her child? Everything and anything. She can go rambling on and on, totally neglecting the fact that she might be boring others to death. I wouldn’t do that.

Once again, I am reminded of what one of the coordinators had said during your campus visit to Georgia Tech. He warned that the last person to ask for an opinion on the personal essay submitted for college admissions is one’s mom. Almost everything that her child writes would make her cry. That is so true because our hearts rule over our heads.

Nothing has changed. To Daddy and me, you are exactly like your innocent six-year-old self who after 9 hours of travel had said to me, “Mama I do not believe in Orlando anymore,” and even before I could react posed a question, “Mama, what does ‘believe’ mean?”. I know your chords of empathy and affection have remained intact because you still feel so intensely when others suffer. You warm our hearts with your simplicity just the same way you melted it when a month after your fifth Christmas, you brought two untidily wrapped gifts for us: your toy truck for me, and Dad’s computer book that he had all along, but given to him once again as a present.

Being your mom, I should not be singing a paean to you. It’s for others to say. But if I were asked what I am most proud of about you, I would say it’s your big heart and ability to accept and be happy with the successes of others. I wish that quality stays with you forever.

Allow me now to also make my honest confessions. I will never cease to find you annoying when you spend an eternity in the shower and hike up our water bills. You will kindle my temper instantly when you tell me “Chillax, don’t worry”, when I know I have every reason to be concerned. I will never stop shouting at you if with your headphones on, you misunderstand my directions and do something totally opposite. And I will certainly not be amused when after driving 30 miles to your apartment, you realize that you have forgotten to take something!

Also let us sign a pact. If you have objections to me stopping to baby you completely, you need to also listen when I tell you not to stay up late, hours beyond midnight. If you want to hit the theater for a family movie night with Daddy and me, we will happily oblige. But you cannot possibly expect us not to be irked when YouTube and Netflix take up too much of your time. If you continue to talk to me about SQL and NoSQL despite the fact that I know nothing about these technical jargons, also give me a right. You cannot be irritated when I tell you to upload your projects in GitHub and Bitbucket. I have that basic knowledge that they are repositories for your work to be stored on the cloud. I am scared that if your computer crashes, you will lose them all. Are you impressed or annoyed now?

My love for you is unconditional. You are the apple of my eye! Can there be any second thoughts about that? I am forever grateful to you for having given me the status of a mother, the most beautiful entity on earth! I fall back on what I love saying and have said before: that I will continue to protect you against the big bad wolf and keep you warm when the night is cold. And as you take your steps to open a fresh, new chapter in your life, I pray that many smiles and sunshine grace your path and may you continue to be the wonderful human being you have always been!

Best of luck Ayan!