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Saturday, Jan 09, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Campuses are set to buzz with trips down memory lane

Liffy Thomas

The organisers are busy with ground work much ahead of schedule

“We are expecting 500 old students, of which 15 per cent are coming from abroad”

CHENNAI: This weekend and in the weeks to come campuses of educational institutions are going to buzz with old students looking around for their batch mates with bulging waistlines, grey hair, rimmed spectacles or just a trademark they were tagged for.

Call it mere coincidence or the best season to gather as much classmates, there is at least half-a-dozen alumni get-togethers or reunions planned this time of the year. IIT-Madras recently held its first Alumni Day, while alma mater of Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Egmore and St. Michael’s Matriculation Higher Secondary School will get-together on January 9.

It is busy days for organisers as their ground work starts months in advance. Reminders through emails, SMS alert and messages on social networking sites are doing the rounds.

The success of a meet is based on various factors including the number of old students it could bring, the amount of resources that could be mobilised for community projects and the range of fun events organised for the members and their families. “Crocker, for instance, has become the official game at most Don Bosco reunions, which brings in a lot of nostalgia and always works with people across age groups,” says Ashwin Rajagopalan, president of Don Bosco Past Pupils Association Egmore (DBPPA). This time, however, DBPPA is reinventing. In ‘Wisdom Keys’ four of their accomplished past pupils will share the secrets of their success at a gathering in Hotel Taj Mount Road.

The students of the 1960 batch of P.S. High School will be meeting after 50 years on January 31.

“Fifteen of our batch mates have passed away. So, we are making a souvenir with a little bit about them to be given to the 100-odd classmates who are expected to attend,” says K.S. Jayaraman, secretary, P.S. High School Golden Jubilee Reunion.

Talking about the preparation that began in May, Mr. Jayaraman says that “locating classmates is a Himalayan task.

I was residing in Bangalore when we started preparation. I used to come to the city every month to gather addresses and plan.

As all of us were originally from Mylapore, we even went to some houses to collect details,” says the 66-year-old.

For SSN Alumni Association the reunion on January 10 at the college premises is special as it is for the first time that a group of young working professional are organising an informal function where founder-chairman of the institution, Shiv Nadar, would also be attending.

“We are expecting over 500 old students, of which 15 per cent are coming from abroad,” says Shyamal Rao, working with Morgan Stanley.

Similarly, Good Shepherd Convent Alumni Association is meeting on January 26. Also, for St. Michael’s Academy the informal association is meeting after a gap of two year.

“We just want this to happen to plan more activities,” says R. Clement Roy, an old student.

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