The beginning.

And that day is here. Bright morning sunshine streaks through the blinds, nudging you awake. In that sweet subconscious spot where you are neither asleep nor awake, you are jolted to full awareness by the the thought that today is the big day.You get up and wake up the rest of the sleepy heads. Looking at the tousled hairs and dreamy eyes and you cannot believe how fast time has flown! The house address and phone numbers have been memorized and repeated, the bag is packed, the excitement of the last few days has been replaced by a slight trepidation. You get everybody in the car, yelling instructions at every step, trying to appear calm though you are past hyperventilating inside. Then you reach the destination. You turn back in your seat and see a nervous smile on his face, the look that says "I'm confused. Should I be happy or anxious?" You walk to that door, beyond which you are not allowed, beyond which a whole new world beckons him, a world where you will not be able to hold his hand, or give him a hug to comfort your own fears or go over all instructions twice to make sure he remembers.

No, all you can do is let go. And watch as he joins the sea of other anxiously smiling faces.

...ah!yes, school has started.

A Treatise on Tenacity

So, today is the big day. Days and months of planning, of separation, of anxiety and pain come to a crowning end. And today, the only thing I can think of is tenacity.

I am sure it is written in self help books under the title of how to succeed in life, but to me the most important requisite to success is tenacity. Here is a man who has achieved what he wanted. He may not always have known exactly what it was that he was after, but he knew he had to make it big. It was not for him to lead a normal, comfortable, good life. He wanted the best in life. And he had the determination to stay the course in spite of the setbacks that he faced.By the force of sheer ambition and tenacity and sharp intellect, he set himself up to where he is graduating from Harvard, today. When I started out on this journey with him, many moons ago, I knew he was going to make it big. I don not think either one of us realised what that was going to be. But by keeping his eye on the goal, he has achieved it. Today marks the end of a long and arduous path, one that took him from his home in central India to this bastion of education, far away from home. It also marks the beginning of a new journey, one that is sure to take him to the heights of success he yearns for and deserves.

This reads like a motivational speech, but it is absolutely true

This man is my husband, Partha and I congratulate him on this awesome achievement.