Chennai :

From Singapore to Saidapet, alumni of Madras Christian College are gearing up for a reunion of a lifetime. Celebrating 179 years of the institution, students from across generations will come together for the second Global Alumni Reunion on August 6-7.

At 125 years old, the MCC Alumni Association, which is organising the event, is the oldest in the country. Members of the association have been putting the word out for more than three months. “Many alumni have booked tickets from across the world to fly in for this special event,” says C Selvaraj, secretary of the association, and as some students would remember, former head of the Department of Economics.

Besides posting the details on social media where the excitement is abuzz, and sending out e-invites for the reunion, the alumni group has sent out about 1,000 postal letters — so as not to miss out on the elderly who don’t have an e-mail address. With close to 2,000 people expected, on similar lines of the first Global Alumni Reunion held three years ago, even a rather formal principal R W Alexander Jesudasan is unable to keep the nostalgia out of his voice.

“It’s really moving to see our past students (although they may be old now) go back to the rooms where they once stayed on campus… with a sort of child-like excitement,” he recalls. “It’s really a sight to behold.”

With a reputation for showcasing some of the best musicians and bands over the years as well, MCC has planned two performances — one, a trip down memory lane put together by the alumni and the other, by present students for the alumni. Veteran musician Timmy Madhukar, who is coordinating the show, gives us a preview. “We’ve got all the favourite tunes that were blasted in the halls back in the day — Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, a little bit of John Denver…”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express Features / July 18th, 2016