Farewell to 46th batch seniors and Retreat
Farewell parties of MIT, hosted by juniors to the final year seniors used to be very fun-filled and sentimental at the same time. Quite a strange combination.
Normally the Farewell party is organised on a grand scale since it involves students of three years to share the work and costs. In return, the final year students host the Retreat, where the outgoing batch wishes the others to continue the grand traditions of the department and college. We used to go to some exotic places in three buses for both the events.
The Farewell given to 46th batch seniors at Mamalla Resorts on the way to Mamallapuram, in my first year is the best and most unforgettable to me, for several reasons.
1. It was the first time I was participating in such a "farewell."
2. 46th batch seniors are the best.
3. I joined Filbert Pradeep, my classmate, to dance for the remix song Roop Tera Mastana to provide some cultural entertainment. (I guess for many people who attended, this third reason would have made the farewell very forgettable. But I would like to believe that it was a good performance by both of us. Anyway, our dance performance came after the girls had left. So the damage, if any, was minimal.)
The standard ritual in the farewell consists of asking each senior to come to the stage and asking them questions regarding some of the embarrassing moments during their life at MIT. It would be fun to watch each senior squirming and occasionally defending himself/herself with some strange logic, or vehemently denying the "allegations." One may go as far to call it some kind of Reverse Ragging. We would set up an investigating team to go to the final year students and ask them about each other's embarrassments. Here we used to play one against the other, saying that "Senior X has told lot of stuff on you like..." which would infuriate Senior Y, who would then hold fort on the dealings of Senior X to our heart's content. Thus we would collect fascinating material about each of the seniors. An edited version of this would be used to ask questions. (These things used to be fun only until it boomeranged on us during our final year. Well, that's another story for a later day.)
The girls of my class conducted a game for the final year seniors and the winner was crowned as Mr. IT. It was the first time our girls took such an initiative and it was very appreciable.
The entire series of each senior will present a farewell gift to the senior and take a series photograph with him/her. Many seniors got senti while talking to us, especially about their friendship with other final year students. It was a testimony to how great the 46th batch was.
The 46th batch seniors then hosted a Retreat few weeks later at Kishkintha amusement park near Tambaram. We were taken for a ride by them. er.. no no.. I meant they took us on different rides like Rudra Kaveri, etc. The evening of Retreat is most exciting as it typically involves dividing us (juniors) into four groups to compete in various funny rounds. I remember my efforts in one particular round called "Proposing." Here, one person from each group was invited to propose to an imaginary boyfriend or grilfriend. I enacted a mono-act in which after I propose in a poetic way, my imaginary GF would show her slipper to me, whereupon I would comment "I understand what you mean by showing one slipper. Like how one slipper is useless without the other, you are meaning to say that I am useless without you.." thereby winning over her heart, This was very much appreciated by everyone present.
After such fun, we would also have some serious business to finish, which is the investiture ceremony of the office bearers in the next year. The newly elected Student Chairman, Secretary, Tresurer and Joint Secretary of our department association would be called and handed over the duties. More importantly, the new Placement Representatives would be invited and the outgoing PRs would hand over important documents related to placement.
Farewell and Retreat are among the most emotional events during our life in MIT.
(Posted on 22-Dec-2003)
Normally the Farewell party is organised on a grand scale since it involves students of three years to share the work and costs. In return, the final year students host the Retreat, where the outgoing batch wishes the others to continue the grand traditions of the department and college. We used to go to some exotic places in three buses for both the events.
The Farewell given to 46th batch seniors at Mamalla Resorts on the way to Mamallapuram, in my first year is the best and most unforgettable to me, for several reasons.
1. It was the first time I was participating in such a "farewell."
2. 46th batch seniors are the best.
3. I joined Filbert Pradeep, my classmate, to dance for the remix song Roop Tera Mastana to provide some cultural entertainment. (I guess for many people who attended, this third reason would have made the farewell very forgettable. But I would like to believe that it was a good performance by both of us. Anyway, our dance performance came after the girls had left. So the damage, if any, was minimal.)
The standard ritual in the farewell consists of asking each senior to come to the stage and asking them questions regarding some of the embarrassing moments during their life at MIT. It would be fun to watch each senior squirming and occasionally defending himself/herself with some strange logic, or vehemently denying the "allegations." One may go as far to call it some kind of Reverse Ragging. We would set up an investigating team to go to the final year students and ask them about each other's embarrassments. Here we used to play one against the other, saying that "Senior X has told lot of stuff on you like..." which would infuriate Senior Y, who would then hold fort on the dealings of Senior X to our heart's content. Thus we would collect fascinating material about each of the seniors. An edited version of this would be used to ask questions. (These things used to be fun only until it boomeranged on us during our final year. Well, that's another story for a later day.)
The girls of my class conducted a game for the final year seniors and the winner was crowned as Mr. IT. It was the first time our girls took such an initiative and it was very appreciable.
The entire series of each senior will present a farewell gift to the senior and take a series photograph with him/her. Many seniors got senti while talking to us, especially about their friendship with other final year students. It was a testimony to how great the 46th batch was.
The 46th batch seniors then hosted a Retreat few weeks later at Kishkintha amusement park near Tambaram. We were taken for a ride by them. er.. no no.. I meant they took us on different rides like Rudra Kaveri, etc. The evening of Retreat is most exciting as it typically involves dividing us (juniors) into four groups to compete in various funny rounds. I remember my efforts in one particular round called "Proposing." Here, one person from each group was invited to propose to an imaginary boyfriend or grilfriend. I enacted a mono-act in which after I propose in a poetic way, my imaginary GF would show her slipper to me, whereupon I would comment "I understand what you mean by showing one slipper. Like how one slipper is useless without the other, you are meaning to say that I am useless without you.." thereby winning over her heart, This was very much appreciated by everyone present.
After such fun, we would also have some serious business to finish, which is the investiture ceremony of the office bearers in the next year. The newly elected Student Chairman, Secretary, Tresurer and Joint Secretary of our department association would be called and handed over the duties. More importantly, the new Placement Representatives would be invited and the outgoing PRs would hand over important documents related to placement.
Farewell and Retreat are among the most emotional events during our life in MIT.
(Posted on 22-Dec-2003)
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