WHY SO MANY PEOPLE?
I was intrigued by the fact that there are so many people. My parenst lost interest in my studies after high school � perhaps we were running only a high school �and my father has been a high school graduate only � with later military college. Moreover, Indian college students � the males � generally feel childish to have their parents tow along to college also. Only girls , generally have their parents go to their colleges to ensure proper well-being of the students. So I could relate the gathering of almost all parents of the students at Harvard Commencement �only with my school days and the Annual Function at
The only sense I have been able to make out of it (I did feel a bit low for being the perhaps only graduating student for whom noone had come from �back home� just like a get-together of various families �and u come without
A very large contingent of alumni was there and they had a huge function and speech �with the Univ President joining in �after we had all got our diplomas ( the cardboard sheet of the degree is somehow called a diploma!!) since he is also an alum. The star speaker Lithgow did make a funny tale on a female mouse going to a Harvard-like college of Bachelors in Science � referring to faux-paus by the president on gender issue �which had made him internationally (in)famous. The actor mentioned that he had to hide his �true-blue�Harvard qualifications while auditioning for a potato-chip commercial or a comedians part �which he is. So Harvard degree can have its disadvantages also, esp. if u wish to become a non-serious, run-down character.
The alumni contribute about 500 million doallrs per year to Harvard�s development � so I think the whole exercise �is designed to make them feel at home, to get them to keep sending their sons and daughters to Harvard �and to attract attention from other philanthropists etc � to promote development by contributing to Harvard. The colorful , people intensive function is a one of a kind experience in itself.
Though I have been to Kumbha Mela at Allahabad in 2001 , with the entire city swamped by devotees gathering in millions at a time to bathe in Ganga (Ganges) �but this gathering at Harvard was perhaps the most educated, orderly and largest gathering of its kind in the world. I will need some more time to get over this overwhelming experience. Though my job searches have started � starting with suggestions from my Pakistani IPA Faryal Khan on taking up a research assistant�s position at Harvard etc � thru prof�s help �to show my interest to potential employers later while applying there. The prof too sent me an email about accommodation in DC � right after I got my diploma and before we proceeded to the Harvard Yard for the final speeches by the Univ President. Here most professors are really quick in antic! ipating and responding to students needs (even though they are not professionally trained in MBA or management.)
My digital photos have yet to be processed �and then I�ll put them up on Yaho-Photos �all our classmates are pooling all their photos from their cameras to share. A video film has been made (funded by our program director) for the events of the last week and including all students and staff of our program. A digital version also I may share with you soon.
I think Indian private and govt educational organizations can learn from this graduation ceremony system �which helps get the alumni connected with education �so that they put their money in useful things like research and education (which helped the West dominate over Asia �with Industrial revolution etc) rather than wasting them in marriages of daughters �LN Mittal spent $90 million last year on his or house �again LN Mittal onw the costliest house in the world in UK - $240 million �and he is nowhere near Bill Gates. The professors and researchers like to get public attention which motivates them to be more creative and persevering �isn�t that the Nobel prize all about.
Any brainwaves?
Umesh
PS: I keep hearing Indians patting themselves on their backs about the lauding of IITs at
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