GRAD' to be streamed!

Next to weddings, graduation ceremonies are one of the most important moments in life that our parents, family members and loved ones do not want to miss. But, sometimes due to time constraints and the distance, it’s tough to make it, especially with international colleges. Gone are the days when you missed your daughter or your son’s special moment, now thanks to live streaming everyone in the family can be a part of it. Nowadays, all the school and colleges have live streaming for families who cannot make it to these ceremonies. We talk to a few who share their joy at being privy to such ceremonies.

Nikita Miriam, who studied in London at the Imperial Business College and was joined by her mother for her graduation, wanted all her family to see it as well, she says, “The graduation ceremony was live telecast for our friends and families to see. Since most of my other friend’s parents couldn’t make it, it was a great idea to have it live streamed on YouTube. We could also watch our whole ceremony again on YouTube since we were too excited during the ceremony, which helped us not to miss out on important stuff. The Royal Albert Hall is really huge and our parents were seated right on top which made it difficult to see each student graduate so the live televisions helped to get a closer look.”

Universities abroad are not the only ones who have started this. Soroshi Michelle, an art illustrator who graduated from Manipal University in Karnataka also had a live streaming. She says, “My parents couldn’t make it for my graduation ceremony but there was a live screening on the website and they viewed it from home. My parents were in India but I know of some of my classmates with families in the Gulf and South Africa who viewed it as well. It was great because it covered the main event and the commencement speech which was given by Pratibha Patil, who was the president at that time and our chief guest. There was no buffering time required. My parents saw me on the screen many times as the camera moved around quite a bit.”

Some relatives eagerly wait for their family members graduation ceremony in the city. An aunt of a graduate from a University in the states who logged in says, “We can’t be there in person as the US is so far away and we are planning a trip later in the year. So this was best. We had also logged on when his sister had graduated and it was wonderful to see her walk down the aisle to collect her certificate and how everyone cheered and threw their caps in the air.”