Patna: The assistant director of Patna Doordarshan, Ratna Purkayastha, a 1980-batch student of Magadh Mahila College, could not stop smiling when asked about her most memorable college incident.

It was when professor Ruby Roy of the history department punished her and two friends by making them stand outside the classroom for seven consecutive days. Her fault? She and her friends had skipped class to go to the nearby Patna Market, a popular hangout in those days.

"All three of us had skipped Ruby madam's class. And she was known to be a strict disciplinarian," Ratna said. "We took a rickshaw to go to Patna Market. Ruby madam not only scolded us in front of the whole class, she made us stand outside the classroom for seven days during her period. From that day, we decided never to repeat the mistake.

"That time, Prof Mala Ghosh used to be our head of department (history). She was as strict as Ruby madam. Students used to refer to both teachers as 'Hitler'. We had assumed college would give us a lot of freedom, but these two ladies never made us feel we were in college. That time, students didn't like them, but when I look back, I understand the importance of punctuality and discipline. It is because of them that I have a reputable position in society."

Jayashri Mishra was a teacher in the history department whom students used to bother a lot. "Bullying would be an apt word. She was very soft-spoken and we found solace in her," Ratna said. She was one of several alumni who participated in an alumni meet organised by Magadh Mahila College on its campus on Saturday.

Octogenarian Lakshmi Srivastava of the 1957 batch, said she can never forget Ramola Nandi, who was her principal. "I had secured fourth position in psychology under Patna University. I was a bright student. I applied for a transfer certificate as I wanted to take admission into Patna College to pursue psychology honours, but she didn't want me to go there," Lakshmi said.

"I still remember that she sent a slip through a dai (lady peon) to my class, with 'immediate' written on it. Madam used to call us for urgent meetings through such codes. I got scared when I got the slip. When I went to her chamber, she requested me not to go away from this college and asked me to bring my father along next day. She told my father the same thing and also arranged honours classes for me and nine other students at Patna College. We attended rest of the lectures at Magadh Mahila College but for honours class we went to Patna College. Madam had also arranged for a bus to take us there and drop us home. She was that concerned about meritorious students," said Lakshmi.

Octogenarian Suman Prabha Prasad of 1957 batch "still remembers how Ramola Nandi madam had praised me for winning the intra-college table tennis tournament. The next day there were headlines saying Shashi Prabha Dhar helped Magadh Mahila win table tennis," Suman said.

Magadh Mahila principal Shashi Sharma said the alumni were keen to do something for their alma mater. Some have donated some money, she said.