Graduation day

We wore gowns in May heat

and took photos with people

we might not see again

for years.

My father drove four hours

from Ludhiana.

He did not tell me he was proud

but he ironed my shirt

the night before

and I understood.

The campus looked the same.

C Block, the library, the canteen

where the food was bad on Tuesdays.

I stood there thinking:

I learned to code here.

I learned to ask for help here.

I learned that being wrong

is not the same as being failure.

That last one took the longest.

We drove home.

The road went through Mohali

and I watched it

the way you watch something

you know you're leaving.