Network Past Issues

                                           Reliving Milaap 2008
                                          Sharda Prasad Gautam
Milaap 2008 marked another milestone in building strong bonds between the alma mater, IRMA, and the alumni, the IRMANs. It is likely that 26 and 27 January will be long remembered by all those who were back on campus for the grand reunion.More than 110 alumni and their family members attended Milaap 2008. It was organised together with Pachees saal baad (twenty-five years after) of the second batch and Bees saal baad (twenty years after) of the seventh batch.
The event began with inaugural addresses by the Director of the Institute, Prof. Vivek Bhandari, and the Alumni Association President, Mr. Satyendra Arya. This was followed by an interesting panel discussion on “The Changing Facets of Rural Development” by our distinguished alumni. The panelists included Ms. Neelima Khetan, CEO, Seva Mandir, Mr. Sanjeev Asthana, CEO, Reliance Retail, Mr. Ravi Shankar, SGM, NDDB, and Mr. Rajesh Kapoor, CEO, Cohesive Foundation. The panel discussion was followed by a question and answer session between the PRM participants and the alumni.
Milaap 2008 coincided with closure of the annual cultural fest – Jaatra. The participants were thrilled by the afternoon session of Milaap and the alumni were made nostalgic about their own celebrations during Jaatra. Indeed, the events of Jaatra on 26 January witnessed a few of our alumni acting as judges. Simultaneously, fun events were held in front of the mess lawns for the kids of our beloved alumni.
An incident that moved me deeply was a conversation I overheard between two kids in one of the fun stalls. The stall hosted an event in which glasses were arranged in a pyramidal form, with the objective being to hit the target with a ball and scatter all the glasses. The younger kid, who was about seven or eight years old, had tried his luck at the stall two or three times, but had failed to dislodge the glasses in the lower layer of the pyramid. The same thing happened with the older kid, who seemed to be about twelve years old. The two sat together, disappointed by the turn of events. “Bhaiya, you know they stick the lower layer with glue so it never falls,” the younger kid said. The older kid thought for a while and then said, “Yaar that might be true. But my father told me that in IRMA people never cheat. IRMANs are very responsible.”
Awesome! The statement touched me. If an elderly person says this, one may presume that he might be pretending. But when a child says such words, we can be sure that they come from an innocent heart.
Discussions went on during lunch and dinner. Someone would suddenly recall a former batch mate who had often been the butt of some joke or prank. People called each other by their nicknames. All sorts of fun-filled activities, which probably so-called seniority and age had prevented the alumni from indulging in, were on in full swing in the ETDC lawns.
The evening of 26 January probably was intended to give the audience a break from the intellectual panel discussion and to get everyone on campus into a relaxed mood of fun and enjoyment. As part of Cultural Night, various cultural programmes were presented by members of the current batch. Wonderful performances were also presented by alumni from the first five batches.
Whether it was intellectual thought-sharing during the panel discussion, or stage performances by students from the current batch, or a basketball match (where an alumnus fractured his hand, but I’m pretty sure the pain of the fracture was nowhere near compared to the enjoyment he must have derived by reliving the past), it seemed as if the greater fraternity of IRMA had got together for a really good time.
A workshop on “IRMA 2025”, held on the second day, was a marvelous brainstorming session during which many important issues were discussed and debated. It was graced by Prof. Tushar Shah, Prof. M. J. Arul, Prof. Uma Jain, and many other faculty members. The session was facilitated by Prof. Tushar Shah, Prof. K V Raju, and Prof. Madhavi Mehta.
In the words of an alumnus, Mr. Meher Gadekar: The highlight of Milaap 2008, according to me, was the seminar on IRMA 2025. Tushar, Raju, and Madhavi got it off to a good start. All the presentations were very good, indicating that the groups really gave all that they had to offer. Prof. Alagh’s address was the icing on the cake. He displayed candour, courage, and character when he likened his role to that of an umpire, while it would have been so easy for him to bat. Most of the misgivings one had about IRMA and where it was headed disappeared after hearing Dr. Alagh’s address. The high point (nay, the pinnacle!) was the screening of the short film made by PRM 26. The entire audience was on its feet, clapping to the beat of the wonderful song. I’m sure quite a few eyes shed tears of joy, pride, and fulfilment.
As the adage goes, painful moments seem to last longer while good moments vanish in the twinkling of an eye. This exciting get-together finally came to an end with a valedictory function, but left everyone looking forward to another grand reunion—Milaap 2009.
P.S.: For those who missed this grand function, please see some of the videos of the campus posted by Mr. Varun Singh on our alumni web page http://irmans.org/milaap-08-photo-diary-day-1