For the last 30 years I have heard stories about Pilani, not once but every time my husband met another Pilanian. I've seen his face light up at the mention of Pilani. Same stories repeated again and again and again, till their wives had most of them memorized. I was curious to know what attracts thousands of Pilanians to this remote University town, 200kms south of Delhi.

Around 75 Pilanians from all over the world were headed towards Pilani for the coral jubilee celebration of the 70-75 batch from Oct 24th to 27th. The mood of the weekend started with the initial meeting at the bus stop in Delhi. For my husband, the anticipation and excitement was no different than a child going back to school to meet his friends after a long summer holiday. The experience was surreal… seeing all those ‘old’ faces in different form and sizes and trying to match the name to the appearance.... some seeing each other after their graduation, some having met only one or two times in the last 35 years. The bus ride from Delhi to Pilani was another experience... where all the wives were pushed to the front and the hooting, shouting, and laughter filled the back of the bus with all those grown up men re-living the 'good old days' How true, however old you may get there is always a child within!

We got a hearty welcome by the students at the VFast Guest House. Sunday lunch was at the RPA mess. I’m sure every wife must have heard about the bread pakoras, peeli dal, kali dal, mirch ki, bina mirch ki, aloo chips, kasata ice cream, that big bowl of fruit cream, and aloo parathas every Sunday. We got a taste of most of these delicacies over a period of 3 days and wondered why we have been challenged for the last so many years not to compete with those preparations. However I may wonder, I decided not to try.

A visit to one of the hostel rooms was also an experience. Not one of them complained about the basic amenities in their hostels. They still had a lot of enthusiasm in their voice when they talked about the wooden cot without a mattress, a wooden chair without a cushion, a large size tin trunk perched on a ledge to store their stuff when they left for vacation, no water fountains, no TV, just a radio and caroms for entertainment, playing cricket in the hallway, enjoying maalish on the window parapets in the winters. Not much has changed since then except that every room has an internet connection and the windows have been covered with grill. I wonder if the same Pilanians are as accepting and appreciative of their surroundings as they were 35 years back.

CP was as I had expected - a small street with a lone barber and stationary shop, the Volga restaurant, and the crispy dosas. Just outside the campus beside the bus stand was the famous Nutan where they used to go for chai and milkshakes in the night. This was the Las Vegas of these Pilanians for 5 years. If you think of it, it doesn’t take too much too make a man happy. We took several informal walks around the campus and sat on the lawns, recalling the little anecdotes like the campus strikes they organized, the classes they bunked, the daring bets they made, inside jokes, walks to Mira Bhawan, photography competitions, music programs, etc. Everything was so fresh in their minds.

Walk to the Shivganga was very pleasant and refreshing. In the middle of a desert, a scintillating fountain flowing under the bridge with a Shiva statue and a guesthouse in the center. Made of white marble with myriads of pigeons on the pinnacle, the Birla Mandir is indeed a landmark of Pilani. The state-of-the-art lecture theatres, museum, and the library were worth a visit. The interest to go to the CEERI was not to hear about the research and innovations, but to visit the auditorium where a movie was screened every week. Those were the days!

The music nite on the 25th brought back many “Yadein”. The packed audi resounded with songs like “Koi lauta de mere beetein huai din…” It was not only the alumni who went down the ‘trip to memory lane’, but even the old Professors remembered the favorite songs sung by their old students - “Hari hari vasundhra…” sung by Azhar Kazmi, “Ae kaatibe taqdeer…” by Dinesh Sharma, and “Ek shab ke musafir…” by Dinesh Maheshwari. The informal music sittings till dawn... as if being transported to the same era where they were 35 years ago, making music together, dedicating songs to special people...

Alumni’s initiatives of honoring their old professor and caring to give back to BITS through a Trust were commendable.

Pilani is a small town with very basic amenities, but even after 35 years, my husband has an ache to come home... home to Pilani. I figured out why… to see those familiar surroundings where he 'grew up', to see the one place that ‘shaped’ who he is, the place that gave him an ‘extended family’, and be a part of the magic of this small town away from all the glitz of any city. Each one of those 75 Pilanians are so successful today in their respective lives and all of them started their careers from BITS... and yet after 35 years nothing has changed, they still seem to be family for each other.

Archana