Di Konvo itu....

The car park was full. I managed to get the last one right at the end. That didn't bother us. That morning was not like any other morning. I was happy and brimming with pride. My wife Aishah was seemingly just as happy, if not more. And she deserves to be, for while I was chasing my career it was her who had given the necessary attention to our children's education. That morning both of us were accompanying Fariz, our son, to his convocation at the University Malaya.

At the car park mother and son stood still for a few minutes. I caught that special moment on camera. The moment when a motherly love was much needed even for a graduating young man who was about to spread his wings to fly free from our nest. He needed someone to pin his stripes to the collar of his convocation gown. Who better to do it but a mother!

When all was done and Fariz started to look like a man with a mission, we walked briskly out of the sun heading for the convocation hall. Just as we ascended the stairs, Fariz met with a group of his friends, and they spontaneously posed in a line for me to capture their memorable day. I was more than happy to oblige!

I turned looking for my wife. It was then that I saw the girl. She has just parked her honda cup motorcycle and was holding her gown in her hand. She then rushed to the shade of a tree. She hanged her gown on one of the branches, and straightened her hair. I stood still watching. I closed the lenses of my camera, and moved to the side of a pillar so that she did not notice me watching her.

The girl was putting on her gown. She was struggling to pin the stripe. It was not an easy task. Nobody noticed her. Everyone was in their own cloud nine, celebrating! No one noticed the girl who arrived on a honda cup. Even if someone did, no one gave a second glance. After all, it has become such a norm these days that everyone come in a car to a convocation !

That morning I saw an exception. The girl was alone. There was no mother to help her to pin her stripe. No father trailing to take her pictures. No siblings to carry flowers or teddies. Not even friends to tease with something silly. I saw she was biting her lips holding back emotion, her eyes void of twinkles seen on others around her. Who was the girl? Where were her parents? Many questions rushed to my head. When she could not reach the back of her shoulder, she could not hold back her emotion much longer. She leaned against the tree and her body shook. She wept. At that instant my vision became misty with own tears.

Out of no where, my wife suddenly appeared, beaming with a smile. I quickly turned away and wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt.

"What happened?" Asked my wife.
"Something got into my eyes!" I gave a feeble excuse. She knew better as my lips were still quivering.
"Nangis happy lah tu ye!" She said, teasingly.
"Aha!" I nodded, and managed a small laughter.
"I am hungry, let us go get something to eat before we go into the hall!" My wife gestured towards the canteen. I glanced back towards Fariz who has already joined his friends making their way to their meeting point. I turned towards the tree where the girl was, she was gone! So was her gown.

That morning, just when I thought nothing could dent my happiness, I was affected and carried a lump in my throat into the convocation hall. The image of the girl, alone, without anyone to share her happy moments with, stuck to me like my own shadow. Sitting in the hall amongst hundreds of parents, all proud and overjoyed, I was momentarily lost in a flash back of the image of the weeping girl under a tree! Perhaps, a flashback of a time and place long ago in the past when I too was on my own!

i was jolted to the reason why I was there when the Emcee announced the arrival of the VC. Everyone rose to their feet. For an instance, I saw a glimpse of Fariz standing on the very front row reserved for the graduates. He turned, and our eyes locked for a brief few seconds. Yes, I was so proud to see him standing there, looking every bit like a man who were going to win matches in his life!

I scanned the hall looking for the girl. Standing with her chin down to her chest, she was there in the third row. I was urging her to look my way. I wanted so much to reach out to her! She didn't. Through out the ceremony, my eyes were shifting between Fariz and that girl. When it was her turn to walked up to the VC to receive her scroll, biting my quivering lips I applauded quietly.

That morning, at the convocation, I was reminded ... that special moments are more special when we can share with people we love. Loneliness is even more lonely when it is felt in the presence of hundreds of happy others!

That morning I felt for the girl. To her, I would like to dedicate this greeting, "Congratulations! If your parents were there, they would have been proud of you, You have done it alone. You can be very proud of yourself! May God Bless You!"

To Fariz, "Congratulation son! Go far, go for the stars! Always look down to where your feet are...~!"