Chief minister Nitish Kumar arrives at the meet at National Institute of Technology in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Feb. 6: Chief minister Nitish Kumar had a gala time with his college friends today. Instead of taking the place of the chief guest on stage, he preferred to sit with his buddies in the front row, catching up with them and their families.

For his friends, it was a rare opportunity. “You don’t get to interact with the chief minister from so close often even if you once shared tea with him in the college canteen,” said one among the privileged ones.

But then, it was not an ordinary occasion. National Institute of Technology (NIT) — the erstwhile Bihar Engineering College — was celebrating the golden jubilee alumni meet for its 1961-batch, as well as the silver jubilee for its 1985-batch.

Nitish, a 1974 batch member, was the chief guest of the event. The organisers requested him several times to sit on the stage. But he was in no mood to boss around. Instead, Nitish tried to reconnect with his college friends and sat with them.

Bhim Singh, the rural works department minister in Nitish’s cabinet, also graced the occasion.

“It was great returning to my alma mater. I am meeting some of my college friends after 32 years,” N.P. Singh, a member of the 1961-batch, told The Telegraph.

Singh, a former employee of Bokaro Steel, added: “I am glad this event was organised. My friends and I could relive the college days. All of us have changed a lot and it took us sometime to recognise each other. But we had an awesome time.”

A number of events, including a friendly cricket match between the professors and engineers, were organised. Some of the alumni, who have created a niche for them, were felicitated.

U.C. Rai, the director of the institute, said: “The institute has achieved a lot. Almost 80 per cent of our students got placed this year. Some even got offers from multinational companies.

“But we still have a lot to achieve. We are going to start M Tech programmes in architecture, computers and other streams from the next academic session. We also hope to improve the number of placements,” he added.

The institute that has produced a number of fine technocrats was established in 1886 as a survey training college. In 1900, it became Bihar Engineering School, Patna. In was renamed Bihar Engineering College in 1931 and finally, in 2004, it became the 18th National Institute of Technology of the country.