25 June 2025, Graduation ceremony, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.

You never forget the air of a moment that changed you.

The specific way it filled your lungs, electric and new, marking a before and an after. For me, that air was in a gymnasium in China, thick with anticipation and the weight of a dream realized. I did not simply graduate that day; I was crowned. This is the story of earning my doctoral degree, and as you read, you’ll understand why this was a coronation.

Graduating as a medical doctor, knowing the tears and sacrifices of your own parents and grandparents to reach that stage, and last but not least, your own grit and integrity leading to a profession so rewarding, so pure that the journey itself teaches you the meaning of life, is absolutely magical.

No doubt, the investment is huge, not only monetarily, and often you have to put your personal desires at stake to achieve something that’s above all of us.

Let’s talk about the day we graduated. Our pre-graduation group photo was scheduled for 7:10 am, and somehow our university is situated at the end of the entire city in Puhelu.

We students, on the other hand, live at the other end of the city; I, for instance, live in Mazhong Garden. The nearest place for all of us is Shengjing Hospital at Nanhu, from where a bus is scheduled to leave at 6:00 am sharp. Do you understand what that means?

It means we woke up at 4:00 am, got ready in all glam by 5:00 am, and took a cab to Nanhu exactly at 5:15 am to catch the bus, which, if missed, would mean you’d have to go to CMU yourself. That itself is a long journey with the uncertainty of whether you’ll make it to the groupie on time.

Today was a big day, so we all were wearing traditional attire; it was quite surreal for me because you’ll never spot me in a kurti ever, but I intend to change that now. My attire included a dark blue kurti and white palazzo pants. Jewelry included a light blue pearl on a golden base heart-shaped thin necklace, three rings of different styles all with blue pearls, a white flower clip, and silver earrings and a silver bracelet to finish it all up. A little mascara at the side of each eye (which ended up fading).

My friends, though, wore saris, so they woke up at 3:00 am, as per Aleena and Nandana. ‘Cause, man, ask any woman wearing a sari; it’s a tricky job, especially when you’re amateurs.

Me, Jaseena, Harshitha and her roomate carpooled to Nanhu all women looking beautiful as ever.

Fast forward to our bus trip, I made a small vlog taking intros of my classmates for memory cuz this was the d-day and most of us will be choosing different streams/different countries to pursue our masters, hopefully we don’t loose touch.

The vlog was fun and somehow I ended up documenting the entire day in my mobile, I wish someone could edit it and make a beautiful vlog of it by using my videos, as we medicos hardly have time and skill to do that.

We wore our beautiful graduation gowns which seemed more out of a Harry Potter movie, black gowns and caps with red laces representing our university’s color red and the gowns had beautiful handiwork/designs and butterfly buttons. So yeah, the group photo which is a piece of art in itself was taken infront of the library along with all the important faculty of the university including the director of our program Gong laoshi and ofcourse the dean. Fast forward me and Jaseena did some modelling in the limited time.

Once done we had to reach the gymnasium sharp by 11:10 am where our commencement would take place. The gymnasium was too far from the place where we took the groupie considering I had worn high heels, girlies reading the blog can understand the pain, man I gave up and I walked barefoot in scorching heat with the roads burning like coals the entire day and sported many leg bruises another morning.

But somehow I call it serendipitous walking barefoot in the place where I received my medical school education, ’cause in Indian culture an education center has the same reverence as a temple, so yeah I consider it a good luck sign.

In India, people pledge to walk barefoot to their place of worship if something they have prayed about to God is fulfilled. I think my walking barefoot the entire day was a tiny thank you to Lord Krishna for everything He bestows upon me: my beautiful family and lovely friends.

Let’s move into the gymnasium where our commencement happened; there were many other streams or degrees that were awarded that day, so our batch’s turn was about 3-4 hours later. Though my vlogging was still on during this time as well.

Something special I would like to mention is that I was glowing the entire day; there was this spark in me that refused to fade, and even my friends and their family members—from Easwari’s mom to Pragathi’s mom—literally everyone noticed and complimented me for that.

Quoting a dear friend Lavanya “You’re glowing today! I saw you walking around everywhere, taking pictures and making videos, and somehow I cannot take my eyes off you.”. This was the highest compliment of the day, and somehow I resonated with that and replied in the affirmative “It’s my day, I should glow and look my best; it’s our day.”

I will never forget that feeling of how special I felt that day. I don’t know what my friends felt, but this is my side of the story.

So yeah, after waiting for a long time while being seated with Mahathi, our batch was finally called. We descended the stairs and made a queue to the stadium. Since my family wasn’t there, I asked Easwari’s mom, Pragathi’s mom, one of our juniors, Abhi, and Zainab’s photographer to take a video and picture while I got awarded the degree by the dean.

While we were getting ready to go on stage, I handed my phone to Nishadh since I didn’t have pockets; he also helped me straighten my graduation stole, which turned out to have a sticker to attach it to the gown. Our batchmate Akhila especially designed those stoles with our names engraved as doctors, our batch 2019, and the university mentioned.

Next I helped Mohit with his stole like Nishadh did for me. Oh great news Zainab had hired a photographer. So in the meantime while we were about to be called he clicked our pictures.

Something incredibly personal I recall is that it was the 25th day of the month, the year was 2025, and somehow my name was called in the 25th place while receiving the degree.

The grand moment we were all waiting for was here. My heart raced, breaths held, praying at the back of my mind not to pull a JLaw while climbing the stage. Yet, somewhere deep down, my father’s booming voice echoed, saying never to think a negative thought—most of the time they never come true, and we just uselessly release negative toxins.

So I pushed them back, repeating with Mohit, Zainab, Muzna, and Nishadh our mental script: enter the stage, shake hands with the dean, lower our heads for the tassel, receive the degree, and move on with pride, just as the live demonstration had shown minutes before.

Before my name was announced, I stood a step below the main stage, looking out at a sea of proud faces. I saw parents, photographers, teachers, and friends all cheering wildly, and my dear friend Lavanya, tirelessly capturing every moment and boosting everyone’s morale with her infectious energy.

My eyes fell upon the stage itself—a vibrant red, mirroring our university’s emblem. Above it, bold letters proclaimed: CHINA MEDICAL UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT 2025. A smile touched my lips. Red. It felt like a sign. I’ve always belonged to Team Red… it’s my lucky charm… It represents my ever-so-fiery spirit and passion, and seeing it here felt like a welcome embrace.

As I finally crossed onto that red stage, the air itself seemed to crystallize. The applause wasn’t just for me, but for the weight of the moment. A sudden, happy impulse made me lift a hand and offer a small, quick wave to the roaring audience—a tiny acknowledgment of the love and support that had carried me here.

Then, I took a deep breath to calm my mind, believing that this was my day—a beautiful one—and walking was something I’d mastered since childhood. So, pushing every last doubt away, I stepped forward into the sound, towards the dean in her red gown, ready to receive my future.

Even without my parents there, the gymnasium hummed with a surreal,
almost mythic energy—less like a graduation and more like a grand
coronation.

A crown of responsibility settled silently on my brow, and in
that instant, the world shifted. The celebration blurred into reverence,
and I felt the gravity of a new self taking throne—not in a stadium of
spectators, but within the quiet chambers of my own resolve.

To be continued……

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The day isn’t over and the climax yet to come . I’ll keep updating whenever I get time…….

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