St. Stephen’s College’s alumni association organised a reunion at Tollygunge Club and it was a gala affair with sumptuous food and free flow of wine on August 26. The reunion aimed at bringing together ex-Stephanians, ranging from the batch of 1955 to the batch of 2020.
The event marked the presence of some of the most distinguished Stephanians, including Sanjay Mitra, former chief secretary, government of West Bengal; Sumit Bose, former finance secretary, government of India; Surya Kumar Roy, former LIC chairman; former cricketer Ashok Gandotra and a host of other corporate and government bigwigs, both working and retired.
The reunion also marked the launch of a journal titled Stephania Unplugged, more of a souvenir filled with articles written by Stephanians across the decades on their fond memories attached to the institution. The pages of the book reflect stories and memories from historic corridors through the eyes of the students in their formative years. Among the notable contributors to the book are Shashi Tharoor, Kabir Bedi, Barkha Dutt, Konkona Sen Sharma, Amitav Ghosh, Arun Lal and Anjum Chopra, among others.
Speaking to t2, Arijit Ghose, secretary, alumni association, said: “We are really happy that the Calcutta alumni of St. Stephen’s Delhi have become such a vibrant group. Over 70 Stephanians have made it to the reunion. The most satisfying part of the reunion was perhaps the launch of our coffee-table book Stephania Unplugged, which has reminiscences from over 70 Stephanians across decades. We have plans for more frequent meetings, covering a diverse range of activities in future.”
The oldest member of the association, Arun Kumar Sen, batch of 1955 (Masters in Economics), said: “It feels like I am still in college, with all the old Stephanians here. It’s a big brotherhood”.
Prakriti and Ashok Gandotra. Ashok Gandotra, who did his BA and MA in economics from the college in 1969 and 1971 respectively, said: “The reunion is so much nostalgia. It brings you closer to so many senior and junior Stephanians alike. It’s a great feeling to be part of such a prestigious institution.”
Satish Dhall, president of the alumni association, a student from the history batch of 1964, said: “Our alumni chapter is extremely active and this time we have the biggest gathering in a decade. It is good to see young and old, gentlemen and ladies and spouses of the alumni present and enjoying themselves. This time we are also launching a first-ofits-kind coffeetable book called Stephania Unplugged with contributions from around 70 alumni members from all over India.”
Sumita Banerjea, MA, batch of 1981, said: “It’s a very warm feeling to meet people from so many batches and share a common feeling intrinsic to all of us. St. Stephen’s College is a precious experience we all hold on to.”
(L-R) Bishwajit Bhattacharyya, former additional solicitor general of India, who did both his graduation (batch of 1971) and postgraduation (batch of 1973) in physics from St. Stephen’s College, said: “The Calcutta chapter of St. Stephen’s College is super inspiring and has a special place in my heart. It brings out the ultimate joy of life. It’s like your inner soul manifests its divinity. I came to Calcutta from Delhi only this afternoon just to be part of this reunion and rejuvenate myself. I am going back tomorrow morning.”
Sumit Bose, history batch of 1976, said: “It feels wonderful to see so many familiar faces. Many of them have them flown down from Delhi.”
(L-R) Prashant Tivary, Kannita Biswa, Arijit Ghose and Sanjay Mitra
(L-R) Harmeet Singh, 1989 batch of history, said: “I have come from Guwahati. We would like to connect the Guwahati chapter with the Calcutta chapter. Stephen’s is like family to me and it spans across five generations in my family. My son has gone to this college and his great-greatgrandfather did too. So today seems like I am spending time with my own family.”
Surya Kumar Roy, batch of 1978 (English), said: “We had our first get-together in February this year. This is the second in the series. It gives us an amazing opportunity to reconnect with people from our college, many of whom are much senior to us, and many juniors too.”
(Clockwise from left) Sanjay Gehlot, Ravinder Mallik, Surajit Roy and Vandana Mahabir ; College sweethearts-turned-couple Parry and Seema Paramshiv who met on the campus in 1987; Soumya Mukherjee and Rupa Sidhu, Lata Ghose and Arti Lall.
