I got to experience my very first reunion recently. It was to quote the name itself a 'Mega Alumni Meet' for all batches of my B school. So there were folks all the way back from batch 1,2,3,4 to the recently graduated folks from batches 14,15,16. The crowd wasn't so large as to suit the name 'Mega' but a fair number of people turned up from my batch and my junior batch. It was more like a reunion for these two batches.
Nostalgia definitely set as i walked into the college. The two years came rolling back into my mind. While we were there we cribbed and cursed and abused and complained and today we reminisce and laugh. The reunion brought me back in touch with those I called batch mates then and had minimal interaction with in college; on that day we shared a drink, shared updates on work and personal life. Everyone is on a different road, some married, some married with kids, some engaged, some shifted careers ... Who knew where we were heading two years now; who knows now ??? My college is not one of the top 10 - I am not that brainy. We did not have the best food, and facilities and probably even faculty; but we made it work. A walk through the hostel got us giggling about the cranky case warden and her eccentricities ( she doesn't work there anymore, praise the Lord), the horror that was the common bathrooms, the nights spent chatting away on the terrace. Our profs made for good stories too, each one with his own crazy qualities and those million classroom stories. As we walked the hall ways and past by the classes, we recalled how we shuddered at that insufferable method of sitting by roll no but that's how we became friends.
Our super juniors should be applauded for all the trouble they took to put this together. It is never easy coordinating any event with 100+ people. Our visit started with a welcome(back) speech by our President. As much as we thought, he was still the very same. I distinctly someone in the crowd remark "so do u guys know the GDP of India now ?? ". Context for all the non XIMEites - our President was obsessed with facts and figures and always asked 'ajeeb' questions - GDP of Finland, total no of engineering graduates in K'taka in a year etc. But he of course came to the agenda straight and mentioned placements. Placements, a gloomy topic in all B schools - how to better it, how to increase it, how was it last year etc. So the elder children of the college (read alumni) were asked to help the younger children (read the current batch). Was it weird that he was so forthright about it .. No.. i guess its what experience does to you.. You always need t reach out to those currently in the field for assistance.. Joy that he finally realized that.
The rest of the day was fun. One of the highlights was drinking beer openly in the Presidents' backyard ( the lil garden behind the office). How thrilled we were that we were toasting to ourselves and laughing about the secret drinking stories from college times. The visit would n't be complete without a visit to our old rooms (a different one for the two years we were there). The residents were of course different but the feeling was the same. Books strewn all over the bed, table and floor, people lounging around in their PJs; laptops, chargers and USBs on the semi clean to unclean table. Cleanliness is an entity never invited to a hostel room and it continues the same way. As i walked into my rooms; err my former rooms, the familiarity came rushing back - "ohh my bed was there", " arree my table had so many more things", " oh god do u remember how dirty our room was " ... we ensured we visited each of our former rooms, irrespective of whether the current residents were there. We actually did enter an empty room and take pics too :) As the day dawned to an end, some of us also went to our fav eating joints around college ( dog bakery, hot n cool). It was necessary to go and pay our respects. After all, they provided us with what our canteen could not provide - FOOD !!!
It was now time to head back - some to Chennai, some to Hyderabad and some, back to various parts of Bangalore. We bid farewell, knowing not when we shall meet next but happy that this day was an extra memory given by XIME we will always carry along.
Nostalgia definitely set as i walked into the college. The two years came rolling back into my mind. While we were there we cribbed and cursed and abused and complained and today we reminisce and laugh. The reunion brought me back in touch with those I called batch mates then and had minimal interaction with in college; on that day we shared a drink, shared updates on work and personal life. Everyone is on a different road, some married, some married with kids, some engaged, some shifted careers ... Who knew where we were heading two years now; who knows now ??? My college is not one of the top 10 - I am not that brainy. We did not have the best food, and facilities and probably even faculty; but we made it work. A walk through the hostel got us giggling about the cranky case warden and her eccentricities ( she doesn't work there anymore, praise the Lord), the horror that was the common bathrooms, the nights spent chatting away on the terrace. Our profs made for good stories too, each one with his own crazy qualities and those million classroom stories. As we walked the hall ways and past by the classes, we recalled how we shuddered at that insufferable method of sitting by roll no but that's how we became friends.
Our super juniors should be applauded for all the trouble they took to put this together. It is never easy coordinating any event with 100+ people. Our visit started with a welcome(back) speech by our President. As much as we thought, he was still the very same. I distinctly someone in the crowd remark "so do u guys know the GDP of India now ?? ". Context for all the non XIMEites - our President was obsessed with facts and figures and always asked 'ajeeb' questions - GDP of Finland, total no of engineering graduates in K'taka in a year etc. But he of course came to the agenda straight and mentioned placements. Placements, a gloomy topic in all B schools - how to better it, how to increase it, how was it last year etc. So the elder children of the college (read alumni) were asked to help the younger children (read the current batch). Was it weird that he was so forthright about it .. No.. i guess its what experience does to you.. You always need t reach out to those currently in the field for assistance.. Joy that he finally realized that.
The rest of the day was fun. One of the highlights was drinking beer openly in the Presidents' backyard ( the lil garden behind the office). How thrilled we were that we were toasting to ourselves and laughing about the secret drinking stories from college times. The visit would n't be complete without a visit to our old rooms (a different one for the two years we were there). The residents were of course different but the feeling was the same. Books strewn all over the bed, table and floor, people lounging around in their PJs; laptops, chargers and USBs on the semi clean to unclean table. Cleanliness is an entity never invited to a hostel room and it continues the same way. As i walked into my rooms; err my former rooms, the familiarity came rushing back - "ohh my bed was there", " arree my table had so many more things", " oh god do u remember how dirty our room was " ... we ensured we visited each of our former rooms, irrespective of whether the current residents were there. We actually did enter an empty room and take pics too :) As the day dawned to an end, some of us also went to our fav eating joints around college ( dog bakery, hot n cool). It was necessary to go and pay our respects. After all, they provided us with what our canteen could not provide - FOOD !!!
It was now time to head back - some to Chennai, some to Hyderabad and some, back to various parts of Bangalore. We bid farewell, knowing not when we shall meet next but happy that this day was an extra memory given by XIME we will always carry along.
