The occasion was the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1973 graduates of Engineering College, Hyderabad. It was a sizeable gathering of around hundred, including some octogenarian teachers. Thanks to the efforts of some of our classmates, who with the help of Facebook, Whatsapp and other tools could establish contact with most of our batch mates and organized this meet. However some class mates remained untraceable. Most of us were meeting after five decades and had difficulty in recognizing each other. We were in our early twenties when we parted and now we are in our seventies. Our once shining black hair, had given way to thin grey hair or bald pates, the flat stomachs to paunch bellies, sprightly walks to plods and uninhibited laughter to smiles. Vagaries of time had left indelible impact on all of us.
We walked through the corridors of our college, nostalgically recollecting old memories, mischievous acts, interaction with our teachers etc. We visited our labs, recalled the funny incidents, heated arguments, jovial moments with class mates and teachers. We spent time chatting about our career, struggles, our families and retired lives. The scholarly and studious ones had retired as scientists and high ranking officials, the backbenchers had turned entrepreneurs and surprisingly mischievous ones had turned spiritual. It was heartening to know that many of our batch mates have made a mark in their chosen fields of work. The transformation was amazing.
When we had graduated, unemployment was at its peak. I was on cloud nine when I had landed in a job within a few months after coming out of college. I thought that I had a big lead over others, having got a job without much loss of time. I was under the notion that some students may find it hard to make a career because of their poor grades. I realized as to how short sighted I was in assuming that I had achieved something which others did not, and career was all about getting a job. It was presumptuous on my part to think that I have achieved my career goal, when I had only just begun. I had a smooth life in public sector but experienced an uncertain period when I switched over to private sector. However I managed to survive this turbulence and satisfactorily ended my career in the Middle East.
The big take away from this meet was that the world is large playing field big enough to accommodate all sorts of people brilliant and dull, industrious and also laid backs. One can find his own way to excel in life with luck and hard work. It does not matter how and when one starts his career but what matters is how one finishes.
Looking back I could summarize my college days in the following words: It was a period of ignorance but also of enlightenment, it was a time of innocence but also of awakening, it was full of dreams but also of hard realities. On the whole it was an experience to cherish and remember.
