Mellow memories exchanged at WCC alumna reunion

Chennai: “We long for the times when the hardest decision to make was which colour of nail polish to wear, or the biggest crisis was to take a bath in cold water in the night to beat the morning crowd in the bathrooms,” says an alu­m­nus.

The rather cold Sat­­u­­rday morning at Wo­men's Christian College was warm as class frie­n­ds and batchmates, cutti­ng across decades, met for a reunion. “She got married, the others have kids, I miss WCC," were a few comments that went around the campus, that was abuzz with ex-students of the college, right from the 1940s, arriving for the reunion, or rather, 'homecoming', as they put it.

“My son has his exams going on. People dissuaded me, they said it is just a reunion. I said it matters to me, and here I am, with all my family," says Chan­dra Priya of the 2002 batch, who had flown in from Bangalore on Satu­r­d­ay.

She adds, "Nothing has changed, not the buil­di­ngs nor the atmosphe­re. It seems like back to sc­hool, but it made us stand apart from the rest of the colleges.” Susanne Abrah­am from the 1954 batch of botany, says, “Life se­e­ms to be centred aro­und the chapel. The college has grown.”

Among the alumnae was 99-year-old Miss Anna Jacob, who says with a genial smile, "I was in the 1946 batch and will be completing my 100th year next month."

Flossi Raj, another no­n­a­­genarian alumna, who came from Burma to Che­n­nai in 1942, says, “I joi­n­ed WCC in 1943 with history and economics. It was my first exposure to outside life.”

The college, which is presently 98 years old, is gearing up for its centenary celebrations. Many among the gathered ladies have had three generations of their family study at the college.