A diamond jubilee celebration of a college batch itself is a rarity to see, and if those students get to celebrate it with some of their teachers then it is like a cherry on the cake.
D Daniel Sundararaj, 97, perhaps the oldest living professor of Madras Agricultural College, now the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), shed tears of happiness when he met students of the 1953-56 BSc Agriculture batch here on Saturday. Daniel is among the four teachers of that period alive today. One of his contemporaries also joined him for the diamond jubilee celebrations held at Bakthavathsalam Hall at TNAU.
Clad in a crisply ironed white shirt with a badge featuring the batch details pinned to the pocket, and a white dhoti, Daniel couldn't hold back his smiles. With three years short to be a centenarian, Daniel still walks without any help and has a brisk voice, an important quality of a good teacher.
"It is a privilege for us to have our teacher with us as we celebrate the diamond jubilee. In 2006, when we celebrated the golden jubilee of our batch, we had invited sir, but he could not make it," said Vasantharaj David, 82, who, along with professor P Kandasamy, organised the diamond jubilee celebrations.
"We met on January 21, 2006, and it was very special for us, because it was the first reunion after we passed out in 1956. Almost 45 of us made it along with our families," said G V Godandaraman, 83, now dean of postgraduate studies, TNAU.
"Our batch consisted of 96 students, but only 83 passed. When we met in 2006, 32 of them were no more. Another 19 have passed away since then," Godandaraman further said.
There was only one woman in the batch - Savithiri Nagaraj, who passed away two years ago. "After graduation, she worked in the college for a while, but quit job after marriage," said Krishna Marle, 85, a former industrialist based in Bengaluru.
Daniel Sundararaj, a professor of botany, in his felicitations said, "It gives me immense pleasure to be among my students. The university has changed a lot over the years. Today, it is the best agricultural university in the country. It conducts a large number of research projects without compromising on the quality."
The other teacher present at the event was N V Sundararam, who taught pathology. He said, "It was the last batch I taught before joining central government service. While I had the opportunity to interact with the university for research work, it's the first time since then that i am speaking to students of this batch. I am happy and thankful to be here."
Vice-chancellor of TNAU K Ramasamy, was also present at the function. "I am deeply honoured to see senior teachers of TNAU meet their teachers today. It is their foundation that has helped today's teachers take it to this level. We always strive hard, with the consciousness that we should keep up the benchmark set by our seniors," Ramasamy said