KOCHI:It was not just another alumni meet. As the students of the 1993 batch of Kendriya Vidyalaya Kadavanthra met at Casino Hotel in Willingdon Island, it turned out to be a congregation of professionals, many of them top honchos of multinational firms. An air of excitement and nostalgia prevailed at the venue as around 40 former students of the school got together to celebrate their friendship a quarter of a century after they bid adieu to their alma mater.
There were IT professionals, doctors, engineers, academicians, scientists and banking professionals among them. They took leave from their professional engagements, switched off their mobile phones and took a stroll down the memory lane, returning to the fond memories of their school days.
“It is a great feeling to be among our childhood friends. We grew up in an age when television was a luxury. Mobile phones were not in the wildest of dreams. We used to catch fish using umbrella, practice archery with umbrella crossbow and play football on the streets. The new generation kids won’t understand the nostalgia,” said Salil Ravindran, Chief Financial Officer, Marlabs, a global IT firm.
“We met on the sidelines of the golden jubilee celebrations of KV Kadavanthra two years ago. Ours was the biggest batch at KV Kadavanthra with 78 batch mates. Many of us were members of a Yahoo Mail group. Through the group and personal contacts, we started tracing our batch mates.
Some of us met accidentally at airports. Still, we couldn’t contact some of our friends. We work at different destinations including the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and the Middle East. We planned the meet considering the vacation period of our friends working abroad. They have shown rare enthusiasm. Some of them have flown in from the UK and the US just to attend the meet,” said Boney Kuriakose, senior scientist at Agri Genome Labs.
“It’s not just a meeting to refresh our childhood memories. We want to give back to our alma mater and lend a helping hand to the next generation of students. We will help the students build their career and guide them,” said Preethi, a Hudco employee, who is also president of KV Alumni Association.
“We are planning to provide training in advanced technology for students. We will support educational causes and organise mentoring programmes for the students,” said Chandni, another student.The batch mates returned with a rare memento, a gift made by the children at Mitram, a school for differently-abled at Arakunnam.