Mangalore: Nostalgia Unlimited for 1987 BCom Batch of Canara College

Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Dec 28: On December 25, 2011 when many were busy celebrating Christmas festival and relishing delicious cakes and kuswar, the 1987 BCom batch of Canara College had a gala time cutting a 10 feet cake to celebrate their coming together after almost 25 years since they had left the college portals.

Though many of them have been residing in Mangalore, except for a few, most of them have not met one another since then. The reunion proved to be the perfect platform to recall and exult in the memories of their college days, considered to be the best days in the lives of students.

The reunion meant it was once again back to college for these boys and girls of yesteryear as they once again went through the rigmarole of sitting in the same class of the college in class number 3 and in the same seats as much as possible, answering attendance and listening to mock lecture. 66 students out of the 80 from this batch could be part of this eventful gathering and those who could not make it for various reasons “missed out a golden opportunity to be a part of this extraordinary moment”, says A Badrinath Kamath who coordinated this reunion, his labour of love of 4 years.

The organizers had created the ambience of 1987 to take the students back to memory lane to those blithe and cheery college days. Needless to say all the 66 students thanked themselves for being a part of this momentous event overcoming hurdles and tribulations in attending it. Students of the batch settled in different parts of the globe including America and from gulf countries attended the re-union.

Idea Fructified after 5 Years

The idea of the reunion of this batch had germinated 5 years back when Badrinath Kamath, now an industrialist based in Bangalore had met his college lecturer P A Gopinath and had casually suggested such a gathering. “Due to many reasons including our own preoccupations we could not convene it immediately and it became a reality only this year”, Badrinath declares. Badrinath, who was also the then Union Council Secretary of the college took the initiative and with able support from batch mates Vaikunt Shenoy, Vijayabharathi Shetty, Kishori Bhat, Ganesh Hegde, Nagesh Nayak, Srikanth Kamath, Vittal Kudva and Subhash Pai shouldered the responsibility of contacting all the batch mates and in arranging this event. They had held 2/3 preliminary meetings to decide on the course of action and the date and December 25 was chosen for the eagerly awaited reunion.

The event began with breakfast, following by hoisting of national flag, singing of college anthem and garlanding the bust of founder Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. Shanthi, Nayana and Rajani R who used to sing the college prayer during those days set the tempo for the day’s event by singing the prayer song. Students assembled in class 3, their original classroom and chose the same spots they used to sit. Prof Satheesh Bhat called the attendance, another event that made them feel they were college students and also gave a mock lecture. Though some lecturers of those days have retired it did not make much difference as retired lecturers and even those from Pre-University College were invited for the get-together and they had obliged.

10-Ft Cake Marks the Event

The most unforgettable event of the day was the cutting of 10-ft cake by all the 66 students to mark this occasion which will surely be etched in their memories for the rest of their lives. A power point presentation was presented based on the old photographs compiled by Subhash Pai flooded the students with past memories. Rajani R, now a homemaker says “we were buzzed about this get-together in June and were waiting with baited breath for the D-Day. After all we were to meet after 25 years and we were thrilled and excited to the core”. The reunited students took the opportunity to felicitate lecturers of pre-university college during the get together.

Having re-lived those memories the ‘students’ had a delicious and sumptuous lunch and disbursed only to meet again in the evening at hotel “Ocean Pearl” along with their families in toe. So the evening mood was completely different from the one experienced in the class room in the forenoon. Well-known singer Srikanth Kamath, also belonging to the same batch, provided a perfect backdrop for the evening gathering with his melodious orchestra to set the mood for a boisterous evening rekindled by the memories of years gone by. This time around the names of the students were called in alphabetical order and the ‘students’ had to come to the stage and introduce the entire family.

Leaving another Imprint through Scholarships

Principal of the college Dr G N Bhat appreciated the students of the 1987 batch for their indelible contributions to the college by setting up a garden, by introducing celebration of Sharada Pooja at College campus and by the active participation of students in national social service wing of the college. The students in turn felicitated lecturers Prof Satish Bhat, Prof Shivanand Bhat, Prof Manohar Shetty, Dr G N Bhat and P A Gopinath for their vital role in mold their career.

The talented children of the 1987 batch took the podium to provide the entertainment element. A solo mouth organ performed by batch mate Nandini Rao’s son was noticeable and was much appreciated.

On the occasion the reunited students of the batch decided to sponsor two scholarships in the name of the 1987 batch to two meritorious and needy students of the college. The classmates who collected the email ids and mobile numbers of their batch mates disbursed after dinner but with a promise to be in touch and to meet again. Badrinath Kamath has thanked all his batch mates for making it an enlivening and memorable event saying “but for the support and enthusiasm shown by my batch mates we could not have achieved anything. It was the team effort that made it a impressive and unforgettable event.

The reunited batch mates were seen collecting email addresses and mobile numbers before departing but with the solemn promise to be in touch and to re-live those college-day memories. Needless to say the promise includes another get-together though the excitement might see diminishing marginal utility.