A group of former students of Fazl Ali College paid a visit to their alma mater on Tuesday, including the sons of a former principal of the college who grew up in the college campus. The alumni who visited the college included Subodh Singh and Dr Sanjay Singh, who are the sons of Dr Jaydish Singh, former Principal FAC.
Subodh Singh is in Mokokchung as an Election Observer while Dr Sanjay Singh is a retired Director of Cultural Affairs, Jharkhand. The other alumni who visited the college today included Arup J Borgohain s/o K Borgohain, and Tonmoy Borkakoty, Regional Director of Tata Tea and son of JK Borkakoty, former Vice Principal FAC.
Subodh Singh invited his brother and some of his friends from the neighboring state of Assam to pay a surprise visit to their old home. Though their visit was a surprise, they were warmly welcomed by the college authority and members of the Fazl Ali College Students Union. They were also taken around the campus, visiting all the departments and interacting with some of the teachers.
They were impressed with the infrastructure that had been developed and the facilities available at the college and congratulated the college for becoming a NAAC accredited Grade A college.
They then took a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about their time spent at the college. They recollected how they took their “ketis” (catapult slings) and went hunting for “alutemtem” and “pentsü”, and how boys who didn’t participate in their daily antics would be labeled “laphi”, showing their Ao vocabulary.
Dr Sanjay Singh also invited the students of Fazl Ali College to a tour of Jharkhand for an opportunity to experience the society, culture and economy of other tribal communities. Their visit ended with a photo shoot alongside the incumbent Vice Principal LS Vinod Kumar and executives from the students’ body.
According to Asensor Jamir, Secretary of Social Services, FACSU, visits like this by alumni are “truly a gift” for the students of today. “Them coming back to the place they called home, and all the love and respect they have for the college is really an eye opener,” he said.
“Personally, it ignites a deep sense of respect and love for our college, and gives students like me a sense of responsibility to give back to the place so many have called home. It’s times like these, when the present gets to meet the past that as humans, we truly learn to appreciate the value of life,” he added.
