Celebrating 25 years of Graduation with my batchmates

25 years of Graduation, yes indeed a long journey. Started in 1995 and passed out of college in 1999. Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur, Howrah, West Bengal – the name of the college I attended during my engineering graduation days. Although the college has undergone several name changes and is now popularly known as the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST). Recently we celebrated this great milestone on the premises of my Alma Mater. The memory of the day is still alive. I thought of dedicating a small article to publish on my website for my wonderful batchmates. Date – 28th Dec 2024, is almost like written in our minds and hearts permanently for many years.

The Initial Thoughts

Preparing for a day like this was almost an impossible task for us, the day when we thought of celebrating the event. Negativity was more than positivity. With all of us now super busy in our professional and personal lives, it seemed to be a humongous task to bring all of us together in one day at our college. Friends scattered in different parts of the world, with multiple plans throughout the year, adjusting the family events, and coping with professional commitments, the question was Can we at all reach our target? But yes there is always someone or the other who has that ever-positive attitude to go ahead. And it’s the courtesy of them, that the initial preparation was triggered. Truly and humbly I feel obliged that they are my friends and had that tremendous zeal to proceed with grace.

Our Reunion Group

As the thoughts poured in, the first objective was to connect all our batchmates. Well, WhatsApp is nowadays the most common social media platform for such kinds of initiatives and we too leveraged that. Hence, our WhatsApp reunion group was formed. Though it started slow, it gained momentum after a few months as more and more poured in to join the group. Friends from all the streams and different parts of the world joined the group. We could feel a sudden sense of success, at least we could connect with many which was an unimaginable task. It was a mix of success and disappointments but in the end, the group survived and it is still today. Connecting with many of us even in a virtual mode, was a nostalgia.

The Mini Get Together

All great events need an impulse or an instigation to kick start. And we needed it badly. A mini get-together was the ask and we grabbed the opportunity without any hesitation. A small restaurant but enough to vibrate with our laughs, giggles, and enthusiasm which was at its peak. We could feel the vibes on that day, confidence arose for the awaiting event, and determined to succeed. The “We have to do it” attitude was developed then and there and all of us tuned in to it. Our 25 years of graduation have to be great, with no questions and no doubts, that was the spirit we churned within ourselves that day.

Formation of the Core Committee

The journey towards the event had to commence. The first step being the formation of the Core Committee. Lots of deliberation and lots of influencing eventually resulted in its formation. Well, the platform was the same – WhatsApp. Meetings were held, and various subcommittees were established. We created a trust, the committee had key roles defined and persons assigned. The activities seemed to be never-ending. The best part was the passion with which the majority of the Core Committee members invested their time and effort to achieve the goal, the reunion, and the 25 years of graduation celebrations. The dedication of many needs a big hats-off, and I was amazed at their way of thinking, feelings, and relentless effort. Kudos to the Core Committee. In parallel, we created our own Facebook Page, a platform to showcase our creativity, important updates, audio, and video clips.

The Plan

I would love to now share the major activities we planned. First was a tribute to our friends who had departed from us and we did that by spending a day with the children at Aashiyana Happy Home. We prayed with them, we had food with them, we laughed with them, we spoke with them, we enjoyed with them – innocent, beautiful children spending their life in simplicity and under the mentorship of Mr. David, his wife, and his son.

The next activity was giving back to our alma mater. We planned, sponsored, and created an acoustic room for our college where webinars and virtual classrooms can be held and streamed live. That was a big action plan and was executed after a lot of discussions with our college Director, Dean, and others.

The rest set of the activities were focused on creating the budget, sponsorships, strategies to accumulate the funds, and preparing the list of programs for the day which included a kit bag, memento, yearbook, and a hoodie for each one of us registering for the event. Our plan was to start with breakfast, then a cricket match, then the inauguration of the acoustic room, lunch, an internal cultural program, a program by an external artist – it was Somlata Acharya Chowdhury for us and then last but not least dinner packets.

The Yearbook

Another wonderful creation for us – the Yearbook. Each stream or department you may say, created its own set of pages with photos, write-ups about each other, hobbies, and much more. The book was designed and curated with care and had poems, stories, and articles written by many of us. Indeed something to be treasured as part of our 25 years of graduation celebration.

The Kitbag

A jute bag, an artistic memento, the yearbook, a hoodie, and a framed group photo were for us. The hoodie design was done by one of us and it was truly brilliant. The framed group photo was not planned, but we finally decided to opt for it and now each of us is loving the idea and treasuring it.

The Logo, The Theme Music, The Theme Song

Well, I missed mentioning the name of the event, it was decided to be “BEings@’99 Forever”. We created a superbly designed logo. We recreated melodious theme music with a remix of our college anthem as a musical bonanza with guitar. A theme song was created – lyrics by us, tune by us, and sung by us. Ye,s each of the creativity had a name behind it and those names were from us.

The Decor

The alma mater had to be decorated like never before. After wonderful planning, the design, the posters, selfie stands, the registration booth, LED displays, and many more were finalized. The best part was a star created with the name of each one of us and placed high up throughout the passageway from the gate to the venue. I have the star now at home and love to look at it more often.

The Internal Cultural Program

If you say talent, well we have many in our batch of 99. And so when we are celebrating 25 years of graduation, a few performances are a must by us. And not to forget some of our kids are extremely talented in their respective fields. We did plan an internal cultural program – with performances by some of our kids, solo performances, and then a Srutinatok reliving our hostel ragging period. Dont worry it was not so harsh.

The Cricket Match

Boys and no football or cricket – impossible. Finally, a cricket match was decided. Four teams formed and with lots of excitement and fun, the match was arranged. The match was organized in our Oval ground. Each player was given a memento as an award and then the Player of the Match, Runners trophy, and Winners trophy followed. Overall a mind-blowing experience.

The Grand Finale

Now let me write about the D-day or the Grand Finale of our 25 years of graduation celebration. We were already in the college premises on 27th Dec, tuned into the event. On 28th Dec, the atmosphere seemed to be different, dripped with memories and nostalgia.

The registrations paved the day, breakfast, cricket match, group photo, acoustic room inauguration, lunch, spending moments around the college, hostels and halls, internal cultural program, and performance by Somlata.

And now an excerpt from what I wrote on Facebook about this amazing get-together – the 25 years of graduation celebration

“A day that will remain etched in my memory for life.

From
Gearing up in fact decking up in the morning that too at 7 AM, definitely a big “lyadh” matter for me. But yesterday it was totally different

Passing across the Bridge – always a nostalgic moment
Reaching the registration booth, meeting all – known unknown faces – I loved the interaction it was just fabulous

Thanks to dear Professors for accepting our invitation and being part of our 25 years of celebration

A delectable breakfast, lunch and dinner
Cricket match with us and amongst us

“Giving Back” from Us to Our Alma Mater

Photo clicks with my department mates, Pandyans, and seniors – missed clicks with many but koi nahi mile to sahi

Our internal cultural program – though missed to hear the voices of many
“Somlata and the Aces” – we shook our legs with the songs

And to end the day – We had a little bit of cake cutting too

Relentless hard work by the Core Committee and promised gathering by many
A truly and entirely a “Grand” Reunion to remember and of course not to forget the lovely kit and the Superb Yearbook

Phir Kabhi Aur Ek Baar

Cheers

“Dedicated to the Class of 99”