Last week my NID Convocation marked an important milestone in my life’s journey. I finally managed to earn the tag of a ‘Young Designer’ after (quite ironically) spending most of my youth struggling with incomplete courses and two monstrous documents (they almost took my life but on the positive note they gave me the conviction to start this blog, so not that bad!). The four year long phenomenal journey or rather a pilgrimage deserved an equally remarkable end (I just figured Convocation in Hindi is ‘dikshant’ which literally means an end to education surprisingly).
The trip to Ahmedabed with my family for attending the convocation ceremony was indeed quite extraordinary. Covering 960 kms by road was an adventure (maybe not an hair-raising one but with parents it is quite substantial!) you would never regret but would not repeat it either. Driving all the way to Ahmedabad was one of my father’s fantasies that we never considered seriously until this time. With the number of days at hand and the ambitious itinerary it was the most fitting option available. Only stops were for food and refreshments (and of course the unavoidable nature calls!).
While after starting we realized covering all the places on the plan was literally unfeasible within the given time frame. The reward for going through wearying drive (specially for my mother) was a day in Nathdwara and Udaipur. After traveling whole of the previous day, early morning ‘Shringar Darshan’ at Nathdwara were really enriching. The rest of the day went in sightseeing in Udaipur admiring the exquisite architecture of City Palace (the stained glass and marble engraving is magnificent), Sahelion-ki-vadi (the dream bathing area with gorgeous fountains), Moti Mahal, Maharana Pratap memorial and not to forget the markets like Bapu Bazar (with my sister as usual tripping on all the bling stuff and clothes available!).
By night we found ourselves in Ahmedabad. Till this point I hadn’t told any of my friends about the mode of travel, just in case to avoid their questions and concerns. Somehow, Siddhartha guessed and I had to spill the beans. Obviously, the outcome was a series of questions and disbelief! Komal and me landed straight in Chocolate Room (one of my fav dessert places in Ahmd) that was followed by a coffee at Chirag. We spent most of the time fielding these queries from Pogo, Siddhartha and Bhavin. It certainly took me lot of time to sink in that I was actually yaking with them in Ahmedabad.
The following two days went in attending or rather managing to attend all the Convocation ceremonies (except the photo shoot, which I missed but yes, thank God for Photoshop!). A big chunk of time went into running all over the place with Rimjhim in order to fix my famous convo ‘sari’. All my dreamy plans of showing my family places around Ahmedabad went straight down the drain, as there was hardly any buffer time (but no regrets again!). The most special part of the trip was that it was my mom’s first visit to my institution. I strived my best to show them my studios and rest of the campus as to affix visuals to my long narrated stories and experiences in the past. The main ceremony somehow didn’t have the overwhelming impact I presumed it to have, thanks to the all the surrounding events (being more exciting ones!). Though the overflowing pride in the eyes of the parents assembled made me wonder – Is it really an achievement, that big?
The rest of the night (after the ceremony in the eve) and following day were spent in the car traveling and sleeping in turns (of course, apart from my Dad!). Finally, we managed to reach the start point ready to drop. Indeed an extraordinary expedition to be remembered all my life!
With the New Year knocking at the door, I look forth to embark on new roads with new milestones!
