Dr Kalbe Sadik sb. with Ayatullah syed Ali Khamnaii r.a

Jab We Met!

It was a weekend, when I normally wake up late. My phone suddenly rung up, and to my pleasant surprise, a familiar voice was on the line. I jumped out of the bed, rubbed my eyes, cleared my throat and with a tinge of excitement greeted my Principal Maam. “Beta, we are organizing an alumni meet towards the end of month, will you be coming,” she asked. I have never said ‘no’ to her, and there was no way I could have turned down her request this time, notwithstanding myrigid and rigorous schedule. “Will try, Maam,” I said.

For the next few days, I tried to fix my schedule accordingly to make sure I don’t miss the historic event and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends, teachers and acquaintances. It was a first ever alumni meet, so naturally everyone seemed excited about it. On the morning of March 30, we left Delhi for Aligarh. The long and delightful drive on the new Yamuna Expressway was in stark contrast to our earlier arduous trips to Aligarh through other routes. We reached Aligarh in the afternoon, and it actually felt like home-coming.

As the car halted at the main gate, gatekeeper Aslam appeared out of nowhere to let us in with a broad grin. We shook hands and parked the car in the corner of new, majestic school building. It was prayer time and the beautiful sound of Azaan reverberated in the entire campus. We immediately rushed to prayer hall and the congregation prayer attended by all the students was reminiscent of the good old days. After the prayers, we were escorted to dining hall for lunch. On the menu was the sumptuous chicken biryani, and the aroma was tempting. The magic in Nafees bhai’s hands, despite age catching up with him, remains intact.

As we made ourselves comfortable on the dining table, we saw Shabab Sir and Haider Sir making their way inside the hall. All of us immediately stood up and greeted them. As they joined us for lunch, it was a déjà vu moment for many of us. Soon, we saw many other teachers and staff members including Qamar Sir, Nadeem Sir and Ikram Sir rushing in. They were followed by Ansar bhai, Ehtisham bhai, Shafat bhai, Zakir bhai, Zeeshan bhai and others. It was lovely to see all of us together under one roof after so many years.

After the lunch, the rip-roaring cricketing action unfolded in the field. It was a nerve-racking clash between traditional rivals, Teachers XI and Old Boys XI. Teachers XI skipper Haider Sir won the toss and elected to bat first. Our skipper Owais, who was fully charged up, took the ball and ran to his bowling mark. The field was well set. I was at point, Zia bhai was keeping the wickets, Asher bhai was at log off and Jasim was at long leg boundary. Thanks to some big hitting by Raza Sir, who was in his elements, Teachers XI posted the decent score of 84 on the board. Watching the match from sidelines was Principal Maam, who cheered and applauded every run and every wicket. Jasim and I came out to open the batting for Old Boys XI. Jasim returned to pavilion on the very first ball, followed by Asher bhai. It was left to me and Zia bhai to build the innings and later other batsmen contributed handsomely to chase the score quite convincingly. Once again, after years, Teachers XI faced defeat at the hands of Old Boys XI and we kept the tradition alive.

After the scintillating game of cricket, we played volleyball and football after ages. For a moment, we forgot that we were grown-ups now, working in different fields and some of us even having kids at home. Time whizzed past and it was prayer time again. After the evening prayers, we changed into formals and rushed to the stunning new auditorium in school building for the main programme of the evening. It was wonderful to see such fantastic infrastructure and facilities in place now, since we had to literally toil a lot in our days. In the new school building, I saw my picture and name on the board of toppers, and it was a moment of unbridled joy and pride.

The evening programme commenced with the recitation of Holy Quran, followed by slideshow of pictures from the past, which turned each one of us nostalgic inside the dim-lit auditorium. Every slide was greeted with thunderous applause. Some of us were called on the stage to speak about our experiences at MUCA and expectations from our younger brothers there. The highlight of the programme for me was an awe-inspiring, eloquent speech by my senior Zia Haider in his inimitable style. Asher bhai, Jasim, Safi, Habib, Owais, Anwar, Shariq, Tasawwur, Kamal and others also spoke about their bitter-sweet MUCA experiences, leaving audience in peals of laughter and tears.

Raza Sir in his marvellous speech, filled with interesting anecdotes, reminisced about the past and how MUCA has evolved over the years from a small seminary into an extraordinary institution of learning. Naheed Maam, the Principal, thanked students and teachers for making the event a memorable affair, and her emotional words almost left many of us in tears. Haider Sir, the man behind the entire show, said the idea of an alumni meet was first proposed by Safi Akbar, my friend and classmate. As a token of love, mementos were distributed among the old boys, who took a solemn pledge to make their alma mater proud.

After the programme, we got an opportunity to meet and interact with our beloved teachers including Zehra Maam, Nahida Maam, Waheeda Maam, Zulfiqar Sir, and Hindi Maam. We exchanged pleasantries, shared smiles, clicked pictures and had dinner together. Finally, after a tiring day, we rushed to the dormitory in new hostel building and slept. Early morning, as the rays of sun pierced through windows, some prankster sprayed cold water over us, reminding us of our own pranks during our days there. We got up, took shower and rushed to dining hall for the breakfast. To our surprise, the Sunday menu was still the same. It was my favourite puri halwa and sabzi and we relished it totally.

After the breakfast, some went to common room for a movie, some rushed to sports room for a game of table tennis, some assembled in the playground for a game of football and some ventured out of the campus for a walk. I went out to meet some old friends in university. Later in the day, most of us left back after two wonderful, unforgettable days.

It was a reunion that brought us all together after so many years, and it was fantastic to see everyone, despite their stringent schedules and other preoccupations, take out time for the alumni meet. We missed many of our friends and teachers who could not make it owing to some unavoidable circumstances.

It’s back to work now, but we shall meet again in the next alumni meet, next year. I hope it’s an even better, bigger and impressive gathering then.

P.S, We are Aligarians for life.

Zafar

Memories. Nostalgia. Dreams. 

A must watch!

Part 1

                                                                        Part 2