Samosas - that was the whiff of Anurag Pratap's trip down memory lane of his days at St Michael's High School.

"I have been to many countries and tasted varied delicacies. But nothing beats Suresh ji's (the school canteen cook) samosa," Anurag, country head of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) wing of Capgemini India, gushed at the school's annual alumni meet on Sunday. "I have come to the school for the first time after passing Class X in 1990. It's been 25 years but feels still the same."

Anurag's batchmate and Air India pilot Rupesh Ranjan, who flies mostly to Europe, shared similar memories after playing cricket on the main field: "The school was only for boys in our days. We indulged in a lot of mischief such as like bursting crackers with incense sticks before Diwali or bunking classes. However, the quality education and all-round development ensured our success in life in the end."

The daylong meet started with a cricket match between the 1990 batch and the rest of the alumni, followed by brunch. As they played and ate with each other at the school, the alumni recalled the fun and the discipline that made St Michael's one of the premier institutions in Patna.

"There was a dhaba near Notre Dame Academy, which we used to frequent after school gave over. We had given it a nickname, Holiday Inn," said Kaushlesh Singh from the 1976 batch, an advocate at Patna High Court.

The main event at the alumni meet was an evening get-together, where hundreds of former students chatted and clicked photographs with family members and danced to foot-tapping music.