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Meanwhile the comatose air in Gym had been replaced by a buzz of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 Secys
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 68s 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 evenings 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 plays theme was a con mans 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 65s 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 Im 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.