The three-day Mega Reunion launched more than 1,000 alumni of the University Visvesvaraya College of Technology into a trip down the memory lane.
Several of them could not recognise their classmates at first look: their eyes searched for familiar faces among the now-unfamiliar visages around them. They have changed — behaviour and even looks — from their college days.
Recognising each other was like reinventing their youthful days together in the institution that had made them professionals. “Everyone looks so different from the last time I saw them,” they told each other.
“I am seeing some of my classmates after 27 years. They are beyond recognition. It is good to see that several of them are successful and in great positions today,” professor HN Sudhindra of the Jain University gushed.
“The college has rooted us firm in life. The lessons it taught — the good and not so good — all of them have helped us in life,” HG Dattatreya, of Mayamruga fame, said.
Dattatreya said several of the characters portrayed in his plays and serials have been shaped based on the people he had met in college.
“Whether the cook at the college hostel, or many others I met here, I have included many of their characteristics in my works,” he said.
One place Dattatreya could not forget in college was the UVCE auditorium. It was there where he had debuted the theatre.
Musician Mano Murthy sounded excited over the Mega Reunion.
“This is the first time that a reunion is organised in such a large scale. I am happy that so many have made it to the gathering. I hope more people will attend the next time,” the electrical engineering student, who passed out in 1974, said.
Actor Ramesh Aravind asked fellow alumni to describe their memory of UVCE in a word or phrase. While some remembered their girlfriends, several others who had passed out in 1987 had fond memories of the cycle stand, where leaked question papers were distributed.
“I remember performing skits, which are part of my most savoured memories. I really enjoyed being with my classmates. It looks like that I am one of the few engineers who has taken a road less travelled. However, nothing I have learnt in college has gone waste. In some way or the other we put it to use,” said Aravind, the mechanical engineer.
The participants were seen purchasing souvenirs such as T-shirts and mugs put up for sale at the venue. The reunion would conclude on Monday.
