By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh: Not an astrological reason but only a casual pledge made 18 years ago by a batch of mechanical engineering students of the Punjab Engineering College (PEC) here saw them re-uniting Friday.
Dressed in white T-shirts with ‘Re-union 11.11.11’ printed on them, as the 1993 batch of students gathered in Chandigarh’s Sector 11 near house number 11 at 11 minutes past 11 a.m., the entire sequence of their reunion read – 11.11.11.11.11.11.11.
Visibly excited that over 35 of them were able to come for the reunion, including people from faraway Singapore, Dubai, Canada and places across India, the engineers made all the right noises as they marched from their meeting point to the PEC campus, 500 metres away.
Shoppers and passers-by at the busy Sector 11 market, which is bang in front of the meeting point of the batch, were curiously amused at the unique reunion taking place. Some personnel of the Chandigarh police could also be seen at the venue as they gathered.
“The idea was proposed in a very lighter vein and I am happy that it has actually materialised today. We have so many old stories to share about Sector 11,” Gurgaon-based Pankaj Gupta told IANS.
Sumit Singla, another alumnus of PEC, said: “It is a big day for us as we have fulfilled our old dream. Though we were all connected with each other through telephone and e-mails, it is a thrilling feeling to meet each other in real. The special date of 11.11.11 has added extra flavour to the day.”
The batch has also decided to undertake another unique initiative. They have set up a ‘PEC-MECH’ scholarship worth Rs.111,111 (Rs.One lakh eleven thousand one hundred and one).
This amount will be given annually to a deserving and needy student from the mechanical engineering stream, batch members said.
Authorities at PEC, now re-christened PEC University of Technology, had geared up to host the batch of students who came for the unique reunion. PEC is the alma mater of late NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla.
The sprawling PEC campus is located in Chandigarh’s Sector 12. It offers degree courses in various engineering streams. Originally started in 1921 in Lahore (now in Pakistan) as the Mugalpura Engineering College, PEC came to its present 146-acre campus here in December 1953 near the Shivalik foothills.