VGSoM Alumni Meet 2009

VGSOM was successful in organizing two regional alumni meets in 2009 to stay connected with its alumni in Mumbai and Kolkata.

Following is a brief dossier describing the evenings. For those who attended the meet, this is a refreshing recollection, while for those who couldn’t make it…well...this is what you guys missed!

VGSOM Alumni meet – Mumbai, 2009

It was finally the 29th of August 2009 urging to be set as a memorable day. The place was Golden Swan club, a nice little cosy place to have an event like the Alumni meet of VGSOM for this year.

It was six in the evening when our first guest poured in, being welcomed jubilantly by us. As time trickled away, slowly and steadily the crowd, the VGSOM crowd, started coming in, all with friends of theirs. “Hey! Has someone from this batch come?” was the usual round of questions that was hailed at us. That was the registration desk at their service.

Enter the banquet hall and its already filled to its full capacity. Our esteemed Prof. Gautam Sinha was already spreading his charisma among his past shishyas. It was apt to have him kick-start the event with one of his mesmerizing and spell binding speech. It was VGSOM revisited for all when GS, as we very fondly call him, called out to them with his catchy one-liners that he has for one and all whether it be the past pupils or the present ones. The torch was then handed over to Prof. C.S. Mishra. He being new to the college supported the notion that teachers have an enriching experience teaching at VGSOM. It was well received by the proud alumni that their alma mater still holds out that vibrant energy and gusto in it to enlighten everyone in its umbrella.

The next in line were our very own Alumni. The moment they were handed over the mike to recall their nostalgic memories, we could hear the far resounding cry: “When I visited BC Roy……..”, “When so and so became ill we took him to BC Roy……..”

It was only the VGSOM spirit that made us laugh away the pain and sadness in all the memories of past. Was it the end of sharing the old days? No way. (As if the rolling on our stomachs, laughing away was not enough, the classrooms and escapades with professors rolled in next.) The classrooms stories and escapades with professors followed in next which got everyone rolling with laughter. Oh! It was an evening full of laughter. Anyone peeking in could have said: “Are they the same executives managing companies?” But yes they are. It only showed the present torch bearers of VGSOM, how important it is to have that “fun” part in our lives to lead the “serious” part of business.

This small write-up will not suffice the many incidents that were shared that evening, but saying this: “We are still laughing at it in our leisure”, will sum up all.

It was drinks and music which filled the air to take the place of laughter. The voice was equal to if not more than a disc. It was the talk between people, or was it the past memories which rendered itself loud: to be heard to be shared. The intensity of past engulfed all in its fold to finally announce the arrival of the time where we could satisfy our palette. It was dinner time! But yes no one could hold back the past memories speaking aloud, not even the lip smacking food served out. The filling up of Graffiti was just a way to say “Best of Luck”: Safe voyage across the ages.

As the phrase goes, “The light should spread and fade away the darkness”. This was the parting unsaid message that went across, each one being a part of the promise to spread the light, the light that their Alma Mater: VGSOM had given them and the Alumni meet had renewed. It was an adieu to come back, come back to their very own, for light, for guidance, for energy and most of all to give back what they had received.

VGSOM Alumni meet – Kolkata, 2009

The day, 5th September 2009, started on a very dark note. Lord Indra, at his playful best, had decided to shower his blessings on the city of Kolkata. It was pouring heavily the whole day and things were going from bad to worse by evening with no signs of respite. We were scared. Will the meet happen? Will the alumni turn up in good number? Will Sadhu Sir make it to the meet? These were a few questions that were haunting us.

Here we learnt our first lesson. No rain can overcome the power of love and connection between the two inseparables. Did the alumni turn up? Of course, they did and that too in decent numbers. Now even Indra couldn’t stop us from having a good time.

Meet started at around 6:30 PM. Among the first few to walk in were Mr. Soumitra Poddar, IBM and Mr. Biswarup Ghosh, Steris both from the first batch of 1995. They were joined by Abhishek Sahay and Subhashis De from 2000 batch. Among the veterans were Anil Punia from 2006 batch; Hemant Rawat, Anurag Mohan, Shubhadeep Sarkar and Anand Kumar from 2007 batch. Shubhadeep also holds the distinction of attending the meet in both cities. Fresh blood was represented by the gang of seniors from 2009 batch apart from 2010 and 2011 batch students.

The day coincided with Teacher’s Day and what better way to celebrate it than being with our beloved Sadhu Sir. He was presented a memento by the alumni from the first batch on behalf of all VGSoM students, present and old.

A couple of videos were shown capturing the life at VGSoM. These were moments of emotions when everyone got a glimpse of their alma mater, the campus that once used to be their home. Some of them were rejoiced, on seeing themselves or their batch mates in the old pictures. Suddenly memories were stirred and everyone had a story to tell of his/her own. The video worked like an ice-breaker. Words started flowing readily, and there were stories to be told, jokes to be shared, and memories to be re-lived.

Everybody shared his/her personal experiences about college, campus life, professional life and learning after once stepping in corporate world. People talked about how much they miss the fun they had in IIT Campus, mixed hostels they stayed in, how they just managed to pass in exams after either sleeping whole night or burning the midnight oil on the last day before exam. Conversations spanned varied topics from the current market scenario to the on campus romances. Drinks started flowing in and acted as the catalyst for more discussions.

Dinner was served during the course of time but it seemed no one was keen to eat. They needed more time with their friends, with their past. Food can wait.

Finally amidst the moment of nostalgia and the ticking clock, the alumnus departed after cherishing the experience of meeting after a long time and also leaving us with thoughts to ponder. They changed our outlook, molded our thoughts and made us realize how much we are going to miss these days in college.

We realized that we will all go our separate ways, but will never really part.