Late Evening on 16th August 1960 , I left home alone by an overnight train to Trichur and from there by bus in the morning to Palghat to start a new chapter in my life – to join the first batch at the newly started NSS Engineering College there . While I was excited about the new career opening up in front of me , I was also rather pensive in my thoughts about the challenges ahead for the next five years for me and my parents . When I woke up in the morning in my sleeper berth , I realized that I have good company – three or four youngsters of my age , very naughty with spicy comments about everything under the sun and generally enjoying themselves – and very confident about themselves . I learned their names from the conversation – Madhavan Kutty , Unny , Ravi and Vijay Krishnan .
Later during the day , I met all of them at the college – and we became good friends . Four years later , we parted ways and took up jobs miles apart . While Madhavan Kutty went to the US and I joined the Army , Unny and Ravi joined the Industry . Vijay Krishnan did not qualify for a degree in Engineering .
We had a college reunion for the Batch of 1960 recently at Palghat where 71 out of 100 living batch mates met -42 with their spouses . It was a great experience for those who could make it . Sadly , I realised that Unny and Ravi were not with us in this world – both succumbing to rare diseases early in their work life . the toll for the batch was 23 out of 123 – a really tragic input to all of us.
I dedicate this blog to the memory of those who left us for ever .