They were each other’s confidants, friends and partners in crime. Now 50 years later, a few want to recreate the magic of those days by reconnecting with their mates. The 1965 batch of Ramakrishna Mission Higher Secondary School, Panagal Park, is gearing up to celebrate its golden jubilee reunion, to be held for the first time in the school, in February and the hunt is still on for students from the batch.
K.V.S. Gopalakrishnan and a few of his classmates, who have managed to stay in touch, wondered why RKMHSS batches seldom had reunions despite being one of the school being one of the oldest. They decided that with their batch, which was turning 50 soon, they would begin the tradition of reunions at the school.
“Since August we have had five meetings and have been able to connect with 80 old students. Eight of them have settled abroad. Our aim is to at least reach the 100 mark,” says Gopalakrishnan. The batch had 300 students in all sections.
The ground work was already done by some 30 students of the B Section, who had stayed in touch all these years. They have an online group called ‘Manava Manigal.’ They spearhead the event now. The group relies on social media to reach out to as many students as possible. “The group has displayed information about the reunion on the site and updates it after each meeting,” he adds.
While reliving childhood memories is the major objective of this event. It is however not the only one. The students are going to honour some of their old teachers on the occasion. “We have been able to reach out to three of our old teachers, who are in their late 80s,” says the team.
Apart from raising funds for infrastructural development in the school, enrichment of educational activities at the school is also on the agenda. “The school was started in 1932. The building itself has not needed any modification. In our days we had motivated teachers who were good at spotting talent in students. We want to bring back that culture. We will ask our batchmates to contribute in terms of becoming resource persons for the school,” they add.
To connect with them, check out manava/manigal@yahoogroups.com/ goldenjubilee2015@googlegroups.com. For more information, contact Gopalakrishnan at 95000 40543/ V.V. Subramanium at 93819 44470/ K.R. Prabhu at 94443 38470.
