A donkey braying in class and a teacher trying to mark attendance of students is a prank to relive for years and that's exactly what the old boys of Patna Medical College and Hospital did on Tuesday.

The 1965-batch members of the state's premier health hub met at the Bankipore Club for the reunion and went back in time. And, memories 50 years old could hardly be away when old friends are near.

Red Cross Blood Bank chairman Binay Bahadur Sinha, one of the organisers of the reunion, had truly a golden memory - or should we say prank - to share.

'One of our batchmates once pulled a prank we could not even think of in our wildest dreams. He brought a donkey in the classroom just before class started. Once the teacher came in and saw the donkey, he kept on asking us whose mischief it was. Nobody owned up. The faculty member tried his best to drive away the donkey from class but remained unsuccessful. Finally, the donkey left the room on his own. As long as the donkey was in the class, he kept on braying and our teacher got angry. He had to take attendance with the donkey continuously braying. It was quite a funny sight for us,' chuckled Sinha, as he recalled the prank with his old friends.

His best friend from college, Shiv Shankar Prasad, chipped in too. 'Actually, the donkey was waiting for his turn. Our teacher didn't call out his name during roll call and he got angry. That's why he was making all those noises. If the teacher took the donkey's name, he wouldn't have made such a noise and would have left the classroom quietly,' he joked, sending his old pals into peals of laughter.

Around 55 doctors from the batch had turned up for the reunion. With them were their wives and children. Sinha's wife Shashi Sinha was among the family members present. As her husband relived the story, Shashi looked like this was the first time she was hearing the story.

Shiv Shankar, an ENT specialist now, recalled one more incident from college days.

'Boating was a popular activity for us back in 1965. We would often skip classes and go to Bansi Ghat to boat. There were many couples in our group and the rest went as singles. I was among those who had no girlfriend. We would wait for the girls to come before setting off in our boats,' said Shiv Shankar with a big smile on his face and wife Shashibala next to him.

Dr Sinha didn't divulge the name of the teacher they pulled the donkey prank on as he has passed away but the old students did have some quality time with other faculty members from their time.

He said: 'We got to spend time with some of our old teachers, including Dr Jagannath Prasad and Dr Sharda Sahay. Dr Prasad is now 90-plus. We also missed our dear friend Dr Gopal Prasad Sinha (neurophysician) at the reunion who could not come because of health reasons.'

A.A. Hai, now associated with the Paras HMRI Hospital in Patna, said: 'I still remember how I skipped a class once to watch a heart surgery. My teacher was good enough to not scold me later.'