HYDERABAD: AGM faculty of the State Bank of India Vijayalakshmi M walked into her Alma Mater St Francis College for Women after 26 years and was excited to be present at the alumni meet held in the college on Saturday. While trying to spot her classmate, she recollected one of the most memorable periods in her life as a student in the college. She passed out of the college in 1985 and even though she did meet her friends few times after graduation, this was the first time she came back to the college. It was her college, yet she felt strange as many things had changed. “The PG building wasn’t there when I studied. There was a huge rock which was our hangout place. The Necklace Road did not exist and the Husain Sagar’s boundaries stretched till the railway track on the opposite lane. We used to hangout there as well,” she recollected. Vijayalakshmi spared time to attend the alumni meet on Saturday as she has been posted as the vice-president, syndication, in the Newyork office of SBI and she will be leaving to the US in five days. She wanted to catch up with her college friends before leaving to NewYork.Grace Solomon and her friends Uma Rao, Anuradha and Ranjana passed out from the college in 1988. “We have remained intact. As mischievous as ever,” they say, all excited, having caught up with each other. What mischief were they up to as students? The question triggers a string of memories and all the four chip in to recollect. “When we studied here, the gates used to be closed during college hours, unlike now,” says Solomon which reminds Uma Rao how they used to sneak out of the college right under the watchman’s nose. “It was funny. We used to carefully sketch a plan to sneak out of the college and execute it after class,” laughs Ranjana, while her friend Anuradha recalls their outings to the Flyover Bakery in Begumpet. “The bakery still exists!’” she exclaims. FaceBook is a blessing upon them, they feel, as they were able to get in touch with many of their classmates with whom they hadn’t spoken with for nearly two decades. While that is the case of senior alumni, the ones who recently passed out were also excited to relive a few hours of their college days. A fashion show where alumni right from the 1970’s batch to the last academic year, participated was the most attractive feature of the evening. Principal of the college Dr Sr Alphonsa Vattoly spoke about the college’s achievements and asked the alumni to contribute for the growth of the institution.
Comments
0 comment