Old times sake: Old boys relive their engineering days at VRCE

NAGPUR: Jogging their memory, two elderly men recalled how difficult engineering courses used to be when they enrolled for the three-year BE in mechanical Branch at VRCE in the 1960s while sitting next to each other at the VNIT Alumni Association office on Friday.
PM Shah (76) and MM Thakker, both residents of Gujarat, are among the several most senior alumni of VNIT who reached Nagpur for the grand diamond jubilee celebrations of their alma mater. Over the next couple of days, they would be hanging out on the sprawling campus and reuniting with old friends who are converging for the grand event.
For 77-year-old Thakker, a resident of Ahmedabad, this is his first outing at the campus after he graduated in 1970. Shah (76), a resident of Vapi, had come during the Golden Jubilee celebration and on three other occasions while passing through the state on business trips.
Before moving to Vapi, Shah used to live in Kalol town in Mehsana district, around 30 kms from Ahmedabad. “We met and became lifelong friends at VRCE. We used to enjoy train journey in sleeper class and therefore travelled in the same type of coach today too,” said Shah.
The duo had completed their admission formalities in Government Polytechnic College at Sadar where the VRCE had its makeshift campus before moving to the present one.
“The campus has transformed just like the city of Nagpur. We didn’t have facilities like those available now. We were in developing stage and not like advanced countries so we had to bear with the system,” said Thakker.
Shah said the teaching pattern too has undergone drastic change while it was a tedious job to crack engineering exams then. “But I am happy we have so many PhD holders in each department today,” said Shah, who is from the 1971 batch.
During their time, just the principal and one faculty were PhD holders. Thakker, a passout of 1970 batch, said they also had to ‘sacrifice’ one-year when the BE course and schooling system was reformed. “It was made a four-year course. Our batch got an integrated course,” Shah said.
After their BE, both worked for some time before setting up their own businesses in Gujarat. Rupnaryan Chaudhary, a software sales consultant who is from 1985 batch, feels a sense of pride and homecoming. “It was VRCE and it is VNIT. Over the years, we have had tremendous growth of the institute. VNIT is well recognised at national and international level,” he said.
Chaudhary’s parents had shifted from Imphal in Manipur and had long association with Nagpur. “Back then, we used to have a lot of fun and masti at hostel compared to much more studious and professional academic mood. People used to make lot of mischiefs. Saroj Talkies was our favourite hangout,” he said.
Dilip Kamdar, founder of Naivedhyam Group of Restuarants and Banquets, said every batch from the institute has produced outstanding students. “We had the privilege of meeting and studying with students from across the country,” said Kamdar, who is also founder of the alumni association. He added that one gets to hear so many legends about VRCE by just standing next to our seniors.