Five decades would have elapsed since they graduated from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College in BA (Economics), but this 1968-71 batch managed to roll back the years in no time.
They became school students once again, instantly. Some of them had brought their spouses along, but that was not going to stop them from being childlike once again.
The reunion happened on May 1 at The Mylapore Club. Thirty-nine alumni were in attendance, some with their spouses.
It was the third reunion of the Alumni Association Vivekananda College BA (Economics).
“During a social gathering, one involving a wedding in a classmate’s family, we decided to form an alumni association exclusively for our batch.
A small group of us have been meeting unofficially for the last six years. In 2022, we formalised May 1 as reunion day. Only the venue changes,” says P.T. Murthy, who along with S. Veeramani, initiated an exercise to bring the classmates together.
The batch had 80 students and “We are in our 70s now and it is not easy to gather all our friends together, so we insisted that each of us bring one new person to the meet-up,” says Murthy, a chartered accountant turned developer.
Wednesday’s gathering lived up to the expectations of the organisers as they could attract new classmates. “Of the 39 who took part, 14 came with their families,” says Murthy. Classmates who had settled down in Erode, Bengaluru and Coimbatore made it to the meet.
“One classmate came in a wheelchair, helped by a nurse,” says Murthy, a resident of Saligramam and a member of Lions Club. Classmates that had passed away were remembered.
K.C. Jawahar, a bulbul tarang artiste, entertained the guests along with R. Sekharan of Humour Club International – Triplicane chapter.
The group cut a cake to celebrate the birthday of M.V. Shankar.
K.R. Jambunathan, a resident of Mylapore, remarks the batch was notorious for being vocal about various issues. Jamunathan settles on one event: “Once when the exam fee was hiked, we went on a strike and ensured it was rolled back.”
