Each One Reach One - Another Perspective on Alumni Reunions

Batchmates, course mates, alumni of any institution the world over, when they meet, get younger!

How?

By recounting the younger days, the teenaged pranks, the crushes, the heartbreaks and the days of carefree masti! Whether you are meeting after 10, 20, 25, 40 or 50 years- the thrill and the joy is the same! Sometimes, even the jokes and the stories are the same. But the fact is the batchmates never get tired, rather they get re-energised.

We all, the batch of 1968-73 from BITS Pilani also got re-energised and recharged our life's batteries recently at Pilani. But we also did something more. Something for the students on campus. Covid dampened our plans a bit. But we could speed up subsequently. Summarised below are five areas and initiatives which we have taken as part of our Golden Jubilee Reunion. Out of these, "Each One Reach One" has a larger impact and can be replicated in any institution.

One Hundred Merit Scholarships

Our batch has mobilised funds for 100 merit scholarships of Rs 1.5 Lakhs each. Since we could not muster enough funds for endowment based scholarship, we have instituted 20 scholarships per year for next five years. It will thus benefit 100 students. Rs 1.5 crores is not a large sum to be raised by a batch. But after 50 years of graduation, majority of the batch mates are on fixed income or pension. Therefore, we are happy to have set a target which could be achieved. Here is the poster of our appeal during fund raising.

The Institute also acknowledged our contribution and made a social media announcement. See the picture below.

The whole idea of sharing this story is to encourage other batches to contribute similar scholarships. If next ten batches pledge 100 scholarships each, we can support 1000 students on campus. And the process can continue batch after batch. In fact, during a recent Reunion of the next batch i.e. 1969-74, we shared the story of our scholarship drive. In a manner of 15 minutes, ten hands went up pledging their support. 1970-75 batch is already on the job. 1972-77 has also agreed to start a drive. So, let's do our bit for the students of our alma-mater! For those who can not donate in one go, they can make recurring donations online by using the 'Bit by Bit for BITS' scheme. Remember, no donation is too small.

During the Reunion, we met the first cohort of recipients of the scholarships. They shared their story with us on stage. Pictures below.

Here is a short video byte by one of the scholarship awardees:

Mentoring Tracks

We also organised parallel tracks for mentoring in following areas for which the students had registered in advance:

1. Startups and Entrepreneurship
2. Manufacturing
3. Aerospace
4. International Business
5. Social Entrepreneurship (covered separately)

See the pictures below.

Social Impact

We also interacted with two organisations which are working for the community around the campus. We offered our services to both.

1. PARC- Pilani Atmanirbhar Resource Centre. Run by an alumni trust just outside the Pilani campus, PARC works in the areas of education, livelihoods, healthcare, women empowerment etc.
2. Nirmaan Student Chapter. Nirmaan was born as a voluntary organisation in Pilani campus in 2006. Thereafter it has grown. It is a registered NGO not only in India but also USA. It works in the areas of education, healthcare, livelihoods, women empowerment, rural transformation by channelising the CSR funds from leading corporates.

For detailed stories of both organisations, you may browse our book 'BITS of Social Impact' which was released recently.

Road Map for BITS

Our batch also had discussions with the Vice Chancellor and team regarding a road map for BITS Pilani for next 16 years when it celebrates its Platinum Jubilee in 2039. The Institute will celebrate its Diamond Jubilee next year in 2024. Our suggestions ranged from more scholarships and project support to the students to establishing an overseas campus in USA. Perhaps BITS can become the first Indian university to award degrees in Boston or California!

Each One Reach One (EORO)

We also proposed that each BITS alumni should connect with at least one student. Even if 10% of the 1,75,000 strong alumni come forward, we can mentor every single student on all the campuses. Apart from mentoring, the EORO connection will enthuse the students to do better and feel empowered and more confident. The EORO initiative has to be driven by the Institute. The benefits of EORO initiative are far reaching. EORO outreach has to happen both ways. Student-to-alumni connect as well as alumni-to-student connect. By a show of hands, most of our batch mates showed willingness for the EORO program. We hope the Institute will take it forward.

We felt humbled by celebrating our GJ beyond the usual merry making. Hope other batches are listening and take a cue for their Reunions. We don't have to wait till the GJ Reunion to give back to our alma-mater. And giving is not restricted to monetary contribution. In fact signing a cheque is the easiest thing to do. But as an alumni if you offer your time, talent and energy as a volunteer, it is more valuable than a cheque.

You may say 'why make a Reunion such a serious affair?' Well, apart from the serious part, we also did the usual merry making on the campus. After all, 50 years is a long time. You can't even recognise the buddies! Pictures below with short captions:

A short video byte will give you a feel of mild Pilani winter in VFAST lawns.

We also paid homage to 25 of our buddies who are no more. May God bless their souls.

We also celebrated our buddy Satvinder S Gujaral's 73rd birthday during the Reunion! Video below:

R Arjun singing 'Papa kahtey hain bada naam karega' :

Feel the fog in the short video below:

Personally for me visiting Vidya Vihar campus is always nostalgia as I did my schooling also in Pilani. Pictured below is our house adjoining the VC's residence where my parents lived from late 1970s to 1993.

We all bid goodbye to the campus and were on the road on 18th Feb.

Before we close, here are some of the stories of our previous Reunions:

40th Year Reunion (Set of three stories of 1968-73 Batch at Pilani campus in 2013)

BITS-68 Conquers Kodaikanal - BITS Reunions happen all over India!

What Is So Great About BITS? - We all love our school or college after graduation. But what is so different about BITS?

What Has Changed in Pilani? And what hasn't? - this story would interest the batches of 60s/70s and 80s from BITS Pilani.

We close with a quote about the importance of fog in our life. It was prompted by the walk in Pilani campus on a foggy morning during our GJ Reunion.

As we said in the beginning, we sign off feeling younger after the GJ Reunion. Definitely. 

The GJ Reunion would not have been possible without the support of BITS. Special thanks are due to Prof Rajeev Sakhuja and the energetic team of Pratham and Shreya of SARC (Student Alumni Relations Cell). God bless you folks.

Thanks for browsing.

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with 1968-73 Batch/ Pilani/ 8th March 2023

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