By Kiran Karnik PGP 1968
Alumni of PGP 1968 batch got together at Kochi from 29 to 31 January 2018 for their Golden Jubilee reunion. Although the Batch had, at the invitation of the Institute, attended the Convocation in March 2017 as the Golden Jubilee batch, they had been desirous of celebrating the actual fiftieth year of their graduation. This they did in Kochi.
21 of the batch-mates travelled to Kochi for the Reunion, four of them from outside India and 17 of them with their spouses. Three of the four Gold Medalists from the Batch were amongst those attending. Four of the 21 were attending a Batch Reunion for the first time. For them it was an opportunity to meet their old buddies for the first time in 50 years. Everyone had many things, from the silly to the staid, to reminisce and talk about. Some were catching up on one year’s developments, some a few years’ and some starting all the way from the days spent on a construction site in Vastrapur that was then the IIMA campus.
In addition to meeting and enjoying each other’s company, participants also got to experience the sights, sounds and tastes of God’s Own Country. They visited various places that reflected the historical glory of Kochi and Kerala, both by land and by sea; they enjoyed an evening entertainment of Singarimelam, a classical ensemble of drums performed in unique Kerala style by a group of lady drummers, itself a refreshing change from the age-old practice of drumming being a strictly male bastion; and they got to taste some authentic Kerala cuisine in the form of an exquisite Sadhya specially arranged for them – attired in traditional Kerala-style sarees and mundus.
There was also an astronomical bonus on 31 January in the form of a rare combination of blue moon, red moon and super moon which the batch was able to watch together while having their valedictory dinner.
It was not all fun and frolic though. There were serious items on the Agenda too. They remembered and paid homage to their dear departed, both class-mates and faculty. There were discussions on a few important subjects, some of which touched on relations between alumni and the Institute. Conclusions may not have been reached on every topic, but the discussions themselves were interesting, intense and often animated. Class participation, that enduring legacy of IIMA, had not been forgotten. On one thing though, there was unanimous and emphatic agreement – that the batch of 1968 will continue to have their reunions every year.
