In August 1997, when we stepped out of college we had a degree in our hands, doubts and fear in our minds, but most importantly we had BIG dreams, ambitions and the courage to take a giant stride into the real world.
It was now time to relish and cherish all those memories, share all those stories of 25 years with our friends, express our heartfelt gratitude to our Professors and sincere gratefulness in some way to our alma mater.
Almost 8 months of preparations culminated on Aug 14th, 2022, Sunday in the picturesque location, Brahmi Wellness Retreat. As part of the preparatory process there were surveys conducted on the type of event, location, photography, transport for the faculty and other nitty-gritties like banners, posters, customized T-shirts, mementos and shawls for the faculty. All these were planned through Zoom calls as the planning committee comprised some overseas alumni as well. Alumni from all the branches – Computer Science, Electronics and Mechanical were reached out and were part of this gala event.
As most of us wanted to spend a good time chatting with friends and our faculty, no intense agenda was planned. A day out in the resort with felicitation for our respected faculty, sharing of some experiences and stories from each branch representative talks from our faculty were planned along with lunch and high tea. A separate Whatsapp group was created to coordinate the commute and other plans.
On D-day, small coordinated groups started arriving at the resort from 10 A.M onwards. Seeing the welcome banner at the resort was an emotional moment, soon the planning committee got into work and organised stuff for registration of all the guests followed by serving the refreshing Jaljeera as a welcome drink.
The stage was set near the swimming pool area with an excellent view of the landscape inside the resort. A huge backdrop with our old iconic building in the background was a testimony to our attachment with our campus of yester years.
The excitement began when our Principal Prof. MVS Sir arrived at the venue and all of us immediately went back to our good old days when he used to emphasize so much on punctuality. The excitement continued with the arrival of Prof. Bindu Ma’am from Coimbatore, Dr. Anuradha Ma’am, Vyjayanthimala Ma’am, Vanamala Ma’am, NVP Sir, Dr. K S Sridhar Sir, B.V.Girish Sir, Dr. KVN Sir, Chethan Sir, Omkar Sir and finally, our joy knew no bounds when Prof. Jawahar Sir arrived at the venue at sharp 12:30, at the start of the event through cake cutting.
Prof. Jawahar Sir, renowned excellent speaker that he is, gave a talk on how PESU has moved on with the changing times in technology, the future readiness and all that with the roots still grounded through contributions to the society from PES. It was inspiring and motivating for all of us as usual. This was followed by enticing and appealing talks from MVS Sir and NVP Sir. After a few of our alumni shared their experiences, it was time for the scrumptious lunch served in a separate banquet hall for our crowd. All of us enjoyed the relishing vegetarian buffet along with our beloved faculty enjoying some hearty laughs and chit chats.
After the mandatory photo shoot, it was now time for the felicitation of our faculty at the stage that was set for this purpose. Each faculty was presented with a crystal memento and honoured with a shawl by the students. As the evening approached, it was time for high tea where a number of beverages were served along with snacks. All the faculty had left by then and the students spent some time on the lawns chatting, gossiping and cherishing those wonderful memories that we had during our college days.
Since the next day was August 15th, some of us met in the RR campus for Independence Day alumni meet and again spent some good time at the campus with a walking tour of the golden jubilee block given by NVP Sir.
All in all these 25 years, silver jubilee reunion and celebrations of B.E Class of ’97 turned out to be one of its kind, and as MVS Sir put it, it is also the 50 years golden jubilee of PES Institution and 75 years of Indian Independence. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity well utilized and cherished for years to come.
