KULAURA, Moulvibazar — Former students from various HSC batches took the stage to share memories of their college days. Many in the audience sat in rapt attention. Others stood on the lawn or chatted in circles. Some took selfies.
This is how former students spent the day Saturday at the reunion held at Kulaura Government College, a historic educational institution in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar. The Kulaura Government College Alumni Association organized the event. The college was founded in 1969. This was the first reunion since its founding.
The event opened with the hoisting of the national flag on the sunny college campus Saturday morning. Organizing committee convener and college principal Muhammad Alauddin Khan welcomed attendees, presided over by Soumyaprodip Bhattacharya, convener of the reunion preparatory committee and former principal of the college. The event began with a moment of silence in memory of the institution’s deceased teachers and students, with prayers for the peace of their souls. Reminiscences from former students followed. Retired teachers of the institution were honored in the afternoon. The event was hosted by Sufiyan Ahmad, member-secretary of the organizing committee.
Khandakar Lutfur Rahman, a student of the college’s 1972 HSC batch, said when Kulaura College was founded, the surrounding upazilas of Barlekha, Juri and Rajnagar had no college. Students from these areas studied at Kulaura College. There was no good transportation back then. They commuted by bus, train or on foot. At the time, the college had between 700 and 800 students. “There were no mobile phones or social media in our day. The college was our only point of contact with classmates. Along with studies, the college had political and cultural activities. Cultural activity has now declined. Politics has also become an intolerant environment. It was not like that before,” he said.
Rahat Ara Begum passed her HSC from the institution in 1987. She is now headmistress of Lashkarpur Government Primary School in Kulaura’s pourwa area. She sat alongside her classmate and cousin Rubina Begum in a front-row chair. “I met a few boys from our batch and their friends,” Rahat Ara said. “None of the women from our batch came. Some are abroad and others are busy with families. But we miss them.”
Hasan Iqbal Newaz, who passed his HSC in 1979 and went on to retire from a private organization rather than continue at college, said: “I came back after almost 40 years. I met two classmates and chatted. We ate lunch together. So many memories came flooding back. It feels as though I have returned to the old days.”
Alumni Association convener and college principal Muhammad Alauddin Khan said: “The main purpose of this organization is to build a bond between current students and former students. The hope is that initiatives like this continue.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report