CLUB DAY REPORT

Anshuman Mohapatra ’96

 

When the cloud lifted from the New Year hangover, we realised that it was now time to pull up our socks, tighten our belts,… and generally gear up for the forthcoming Club Day. The Cultural Secy set the ball rolling by having several brainstorming sessions. The JG Secy and the Technical Society Secy set off on a hunt to the local Sams houses for recipes and photographs respectively.

 

Meanwhile the comatose air in Gym had been replaced by a buzz of activity for there were only 19 of us in the absence of a firstee batch to get things underway, and we were not going to take things easy. 1994 batch was busy (understatement of the Club Day, no doubt) with their final year projects. It was really brave of them to have tackled the dual rigours of Gym commitments and IRIMEE requirements. The invitation cards had been sent and the confirmations started coming in. More than anything else, the annual repairs bespoke the fact that Club Day was not too far off.

 

Everyone was busy either in the musical practices (in the TT room) or in the play practices (on the stage) or in both, not to mention the JG Secy’s mess team who looked into the nitty-gritty of all matters culinary. During these crunch times, we were fortunate to have had the help of Rajaji Meshram ’92, Shivendra Srivastava ’92, Deepak Sapra ’92 and the probationary batch of ’93.

 

The touch up to Gym continued even in the last week and the resplendent red building stood in all its majestic best with its (by now) picturesque garden in full glory.

 

Before we realised, it was the 13th. The focal batch was the 1949 batch. We were privileged to have with us Mrs. & Mr. Suresh Chandra, Mr. A.K.Tiwari, Mrs. & Mr. P.C.Sen and Mr.C.M.Mani. However, Mr.R.Rajagopalachari, Mr.Z.A.Malik and Mr.S.C.Gupta expressed their sincere regrets on being unable to make it for the occasion. The guest list also included Mr.L.R.Gosain ’40, Mr.L.K.Sinha ’57, Mr.Ashok Kumar ’58, Mr.S.C.Sengupta ’61, Mrs. & Mr. R.N.Aga ’61, Mrs. & Mr.V.Anand ’62, Mrs. & Mr.A.K.Sanwalkar ’64, Mr.J.Ghosh ’65, Mr. S.M.Bhardwaj ’66, Mr.S.K.Suri ’66, Mr.M.Irshad ’67, Mr.S.K.Luthra ’75, Mrs. & Mr. J.K.Saha ’78, Mrs. & Mr.D.L.Choudhary ’81, Mr.Atulya Sinha ’83, Mr.Anirudh Gautam ’83, Mr.Gaurav Agarwal ’90 and Ms.Archana Mittal ’92. This Club Day saw the introduction of the concept of a junior focal batch, the silver jubilee batch. To mark this occasion the 1974 batch was represented by Mr.R.S.Kochak and Mr.Anil Sharma.

 

The 13th was the Annual day, where a seminar, the annual prize distribution and the final year projects of the SCAs- which were admired by all including the MS who had attended the function. In the evening, as is the norm, all roads led to the Director Mr.Pradeep Kumar ’68’s residence for the Old Boys’ dinner.

 

The next morning found the Golf enthusiasts teeing off at the Golf course. After a hearty breakfast, it was time for the JA meeting. Meanwhile the ladies were being entertained at the Ladies Golf being organised near the Lily Pond. The next event to follow was “Paagal Gymkhana”- the fete. All the stalls were managed by us, rather, all of us were managing the stalls. The fete was a roaring success and it was a pleasure to see all Sams swaying (& stamping their feet) to the music. The fete was followed by the traditional rickshaw race and the tug-of-war, where the Simis as always swept the Sams off their feet.

 

Next on the cards was a lunch organised in the quadrangle lawn. The sumptuous recipes were the result of the suggestions of Mrs.Ila Jain ’65 and Mrs.Abha Pradeep Kumar ’68. The lunch was appreciated by all the guests. Post lunch, every retired for a short break from the hectic schedule. It also gave us time to make last-minute preparations for the evening to follow.

 

The evening’s celebrations kicked off with the cutting of the Club Day cake by Mrs.S.Chandra & Mrs.P.C.Sen. the cake carried the design of the front view of dear old Gym as counselled by Mr.Arjun Mundiya ’78. The high tea was followed by a photographic exhibition. The highlight of the exhibition was the photographs donated by Mr.A.K.Tiwari ’49 and Mr.R.S.Kochak ’74. These photographs allowed us to glimpse Gymkhana through the portals of time. Some very fine sketches and paintings contributed by the local Sams were also on display.

 

The climax of the evening was the cultural programme. The comperes were M.K.Roy ’94 and S.Krishna ’96. The theme music proved to be the appetiser for the fare to follow. The first Hindi play was a spoof on “Titanic” and the second Hindi play’s theme was a con man’s marriage bureau plans gone awry. The English song was presented by Ashish Garbyal ’94 in his mellifluous voice and Pranjol Chandra ’96 gave rendition of ‘Suhana Safar Aur Yeh Mausam…’. At this juncture, all 19 of us were on the stage and all the 18 boys faced the arc lights under one guise or the other. Undoubtedly the guest items- a recital by Mrs.R.N.Aga ’61, a ghazal by Mrs.Abha Pradeep Kumar ’68, a group song by Mr.R.S.Kochak ’74, Mr.Anil Sharma ’74, Mr.S.K.Luthra ’75 and Mr.D.L.Choudhary ’81 and a hilarious skit by Mr.Hemant Kumar ’73 & Mr.M.K.Sinha ’88- were the best of the lot.

 

After the cultural show ended, the spotlight moved onto the CWM Mr.Nikhilesh Jain ’65’s place, where as the year before an immensely enjoyable & dance party was organised. As the night progressed into day the guests started saying their good-byes. It was as hard for us as I’m sure it was for them. It was especially touching when several Sams heaped compliments on us, most of that arising out of their sentimental nostalgia. However Mr.L.R.Gosain ’40 stayed back for a couple of days more to give us company. But we shall now wait for the next Club Day when such occasions shall pour forth again.

 

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