An article written by Sudas Roy, Alumnus (PGDM Reg. No. 37/1) on the first reunion of the 1st Batch of IIM Calcutta

A group of fifty brave hearts from all over India had the pioneering privilege to walk into the portal of the first IIM in India in circa 1964 in search of that elusive and almost unknown IIM Calcutta diploma called the PGDM. We were a motley group of students-highly heterogeneous in background and social-demographic characteristics-but united in zeal to taste the fruits of management education as purveyed to us by a team of globally renowned faculty and through a formal link with the Sloan School of MIT. By April, 1966, thirty nine of us (or was it forty?) qualified, earned our diplomas in a convocation under a makeshift pandal, received the document from the Chief Minister of the state and went our separate ways.

Since then much water had flown down the river Hoogly. We faced life in our own terms in our chosen or accidental careers, we raised families, and some of us left the shores of the country for good while others became part of the Indian growth story. Most of us lost contact with one another and as ill luck would have it, as many as five of our colleagues left for the heavenly abode over the years.

IIMC in the meantime, was also growing in age with the golden jubilee anniversary beckoning in 2011. Some of us felt a sort of stirring within. How about a reunion of the 1^st batch in its year of golden jubilee that is, 2014 which would complete the 50^th year of our entry into the IIMC PGDM program? Some of the kindred souls met in Kolkata and in Mumbai in 2010-11 and discussed this proposition. (Luckily, at least a handful of classmates had kept alive mutual contacts). When this reunion idea was mooted, all those present, agreed in a Victor Hugo fashion that “the time for this idea has come” and it was no point postponing the reunion till 2014. An unspoken sub text underlining the discussion was that though the life expectancy in India had risen considerably, still earlier we met, the better! Thus, this idea of a November, 2011 reunion was born. It is quite remarkable that for forty five long years, the 1^st Batch collectively went into a hibernation-so to speak, but when it woke up from its long slumber, like young children, its members wanted to meet right away!

Once it was agreed that November26-28, 2011 would be the chosen dates, then started an exciting “search and find” exercise. The immediate challenge was to ferret out the whereabouts and contact details of as many batch mates as possible. We googled and mailed, we face booked and linked in. However, the cyber space was not the most promising meeting ground for the simple reason that those who were more elderly amongst us were not users of the “net” resources. Luckily such members were only a handful. Finally, by October, 2011, we could either establish contact or could obtain contact details of about 30 surviving members of our batch.

Out of these, a smaller group of about 15 members agreed to meet in Kolkata in November, 2011 for the reunion. However, as it so often happens, due to unforeseen and unavoidable reasons, few members dropped out at the eleventh hour and a group of 11 members along with their spouses finally met. In addition, two local members joined us in some of the programs. Batch mates came from near and far. San Fransisco, Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Bangalore, Chennai, Bhubaneshwar and Pune were the places they came from!

This group represented the diversity that marked the 1^st batch originally (a far cry from recent batches which often seem to be the products of a common template). We had in our midst an ex-Governor of a state, two consultants, three full time academics and few part time ones. We had ex-managers of multinational companies as well as public sector companies. We had an entrepreneur who was also a social worker, having adopted a village of 5000 people. We had “Uncle”, the eldest member of the group, who also had the unique distinction of heading a family of four IIMC PGDMs!

One unifying factor that bonded the group was that all members belonged to the group of “Senior Citizens” (as defined by the Income Tax Act and not by the definition of the Indian Railway!). The age group ranged from 66 years to 78 years! Batch mates traveled to Kolkata along with their spouses after going through two heart by-passes or three full hip replacement surgeries! I quote this medical detail only to establish the undying spirit of camaraderie that motivated these members to participate. By the

courtesy of one of the batch mates, we could all billet ourselves for two nights and three days in the sylvan surroundings of the Tolly Club where on November 27, we had our reunion dinner preceded by very interesting presentations by two batch mates on human values and rural development. Before commencing the proceedings, we observed a minute’s silence in memory of the five departed class mates.

That day began with a very pleasant cruise on the Hoogly River with a stopover at the Belur Math. The five-hour cruise gave us ample opportunity to have unmitigated “adda”, bringing ourselves up-to-date on each other, impromptu bouts of mimicry of colleagues and past professors and few songs. A class mate with photographic memory gave verbatim accounts (mostly hilarious) of some of the incidents of our Emerald Bower days! The beautiful setting of the river with ghats on the two banks and framed by the old and the new bridges on the western horizon and the spires of the Belur and Dakhshineswar temples on the eastern side, created an ideal backdrop and a mood enhancer for our fellowship!

The two highlights of our reunion were the receptions and felicitations that we received from the IIMC Alumni Association Kolkata Chapter and from the Director and the Dean and students of IIM Calcutta. On Saturday, 26^th November, in a dinner hosted by the IIMCAA on the terrace of Taj Bengal hotel, we were received with lot of warmth and spirit (!) by the fellow alumni of IIMC. Our cup of joy was full when we met three of our teachers from our student days. Prof. Barun De, the eminent historian, Prof. Kaminii Adhikari, our Organizational Behaviour professor and Dr. Bani Sinha, the Operation Research specialist. We were deeply touched by their presence. It was truly a nostalgic occasion and did I detect some moistened eyes in our midst? To cap it all, Alfred Stephanos(31^st batch) and Kavery Narang (9^th batch), took us back to the sixties and seventies by singing some “golden oldies” which were staples in our younger days. By their touching gestures of felicitating each one of us, the IIMC Alumni Association, under the leadership of Mr. Debashish Gupta, bridged the chasm of 45 long years and made us feel that we had come back home! Thank you, IIMCAA Kolkata Chapter!

On Monday, 28^th November, on the last day of our Reunion, we assembled in the Joka campus in one of the swanky modern class rooms in the New Academic Block. At once, our mind traveled back on a time machine to our makeshift campus at the Emerald Bower, which was long on history but awfully short on amenities and which we called our home for two years. The contrast was dramatic and once again brought home the point that our Alma mater has traveled many a miles since we left it. The Director, Prof. Shekhar Choudhury and the Dean, Prof. Sougata Ray welcomed us with great warmth. Director provided a glimpse of the road traveled so far and a road map for the future. We were again felicitated along with our spouses and presented with lovely mementos. Our batch mates made short presentations on their life’s lessons which they shared with the few bright and eager students present in the room. The visit ended with a round around the campus and a lunch.

From the Tata Hall, we bid “good byes” and “adieus” and thus the curtain was rung down on the first reunion of the 1^st Batch of PGDM of IIM Calcutta.

Before I get carried away by the emotional undercurrent of the parting moments, let me clarify that the two mandatory functions associated with the reunion were carried out with perfection. On the first day, two visits were made to New Market and the Gariahat market for the spouses to indulge in Sari shopping and on the last day “mishti doi” and “rasogollas” were collected in ample quantities by all the departing classmates!

Our next stop in this journey is winter 2014 to mark the golden jubilee of the PGDM 1^st Batch! Insha Allah, we shall be there!