My Cheese :)

"Smile please", said the photographer. I put up a smile saying cheese till the photographer clicked his camera; the flash that followed blinded me for an instant. The next moment the entire lot burst into a frenzy and jubilation, some hugging each other howling with rants of joy. I heard some deliberately shouting, "F*** Sathyabama"(our university’s name), others threw their ceremonial caps up in the air, much to the delight of the audience numbering in thousands consisting of students waiting for their turn to have their graduation photo taken, and the plentiful parents and relatives who had flocked to savour this occasion. Standing at the last row, I had a panoramic view of the crowd; the tempo was upbeat as we were the first batch. Even the faculty and honourable dignitaries, who were sleeping during the pleonastic presidential address, had smiling faces. It made me feel that everybody was happy, for us.

Looking now at the graduation photo, I savoured my then fake smile. It was not the last one though :)