The alumni reunion
By: K S S Pillai
The souvenir published by Krishikar 73, the WhatsApp group of students who had passed out of the agriculture college at Navsari in 1973, took me fifty years back. I had taught them English and was among a few teachers still alive.
The newly started college was run by the government of Gujarat. It was functioning from a rented building with makeshift lecture halls and laboratories. A large number of aged mango trees in the compound had made it picturesque and semi-dark after four in the evening, inviting hordes of mosquitoes to invade the whole area. Staff members used to rush to the canteen run by one Jairam for steaming cups of tea and hot pakodas. Bicycles were the common mode of transport as the average waiting period for a scooter was ten years.
Navsari was a sleepy town made famous by a considerable Parsee population and the birth of people like Jamsetji Tata and Dadabhai Naoroji there. Dandi, the coastal village where Gandhiji held Salt Satyagraha, was about ten kilometres away.
The town has undergone vast changes with modern facilities. It is now the headquarters of Navsari district with several high-rise buildings. The college has become a university with several farming-related colleges and research centres under it on the campus as well as in other distant places.
The admin of the group, a retired bank manager, was in contact with me. He often talked with me over the telephone and visited me now and then. I had sent him a message of blessings for the occasion, which was published with my photograph showing me as a young man.
I was a guest at one of their annual meetings at Navsari a few years ago and knew the condition of most of them. All of them are now above seventy years of age with wrinkles and bald heads. Those with a few strands of grey hair keep them well-oiled and combed. Some have a few other age-related problems.
The group had assembled at Rajpipla, not far from the Statue of Unity, for three days recently for the celebration of the golden jubilee of their becoming graduates. Guests included couples and widowers accompanied by their drivers. One of the students, now a local figure with a large house, had offered to host the function.
The souvenir had several group photographs of students and teachers. It gave information about the students after leaving the college. A few had retired as professors in agricultural colleges after getting higher degrees. Some had retired from the agriculture department, and some from banks as officers. A few had preferred to remain as farmers. One had got a prize for the invention of a paddy threshing machine from waste iron. Some had gone to foreign countries with their children and engaged in occupations that had nothing to do with agriculture. One had joined an agriculture development company in Sharjah. Some had become successful businessmen and one was the owner of a large nursery. There were also some politicians with prominent positions.
A son of the first principal of the college had, after becoming an agriculture graduate, joined the state forest department. He was honoured by the government for donating blood for several years. One had retired as the station director of All India Radio and was still active in literature and acting. Some were good musicians and had their musical instruments. They spent their spare time in bhajans and other types of music.
One section of the souvenir had a list of teachers and students who had died. The death of some teachers and students who had settled in their native places after retirement were sad news to me. One such student was named ‘Mister Yunus Musa’, which reminded me of another one named ‘President’. He had explained that his family name was changed to ‘President’ after one of his grandfathers was elected president of the Gram Sabha.
The souvenir and the WhatsApp group contained many photographs of musical sessions during the three-day meeting. There were also some trips to nearby areas and the inevitable Garba sessions.
I hope there will be more such active groups of past students.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in several national and international publications)
