1943 batch alumnus Kuldeep Kaur recalls the days when girls were rarely sent to school From alumni of pre-independence batches to the recent ones,the Panjab University alumni meet witnessed alumnus from far off places reminiscing memories of their good old student days. Despite health restrains,Kuldeep Kaur,86 year old alumnus of 1943 batch made her presence at the meet. Being the oldest alumnus at the meet,she was honoured by the chief guest N N Vohra,Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Retired as a professor from Panjabi University,Patiala in the year 1985,Kuldeep did her matriculation in girls school in Lyallpur district,Lahore. There were only 15 girls in my class. At that time girls were rarely sent to schools. But in a family of daughters,my father being a school headmaster always encouraged us to study. It was only because of him,that I could very well read and write Hindi,Punjabi and Urdu before I joined school, said Kuldeep. Giving a message to girls to fight all odds and pursue studies,she added,I got engaged when I was in Class VIII and married when I was doing my graduation. Still,I completed my graduation and post graduation. Presently,residing in phase XI Mohali,she has been principal of higher secondary school in Ludhiana. Sain Dass Sobti,85 year old alumnus of 1946 batch was honoured by his son Prof R C Sobti ,also an alumnus of same University and currently the Vice-Chancellor. It feels very proud to be honoured by my own son as the Vice-Chancellor of the university, said the senior Sobti. Interestingly,the Vice-Chancellors late grandfather was also an alumnus of PAnjab University who graduated from Lahore in 1906. A resident of Taran Taran,Sain Dass Sobti joined Hindu College,Amritsar in 1942. Following the legacy,the fourth generation,Prof R C Sobtis daughter is undergoing her graduation in dental from the Dr H S Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital,Panjab University. From the recent alumnus who was honoured during the meet was the popular bollywood young lyricist,Irshad Kamil from jab we met and love aj kal fame. The sports ground on the campus is one place where I feel like coming back again and again. I keep visiting the campus quite often which helps me in rejuvenating myself. Recently,we were shooting for one of the movies here and I felt very nostalgic and missed those old student days, said Kamil who came from Mumbai for the meet. Not only the campus,he keeps visiting his hostel room in boys hostel number five,where he was a resident of room number 1 A pass out from the Hindi Department in 1996,Kamil did his PhD in Hindi poetry. Also,tried his hands in journalism with a vernacular newspaper,he started his career with scripting tele serials. He got his first break from the movie Chameli and then there was no turning back. This year he won Filmfare,Screen and Mirchi awards for his songs from these movies. He has written songs for movies including jab we met,love aj kal,once upon a time in Mumbai,rajneeti,de dana dan,ajab prem ki gajab kahani and action replay.
