Retracing the Footsteps
Mohita Nath
Vice President of Administration, Executive Panel 2012-13

At times like this, when you are asked to recount stories from your own life, write about the memories you have lived and treasured, that is when you realize the woes of being an alumni. Because you desperately want to push the rewind button of time and relive those moments, but you can only hope. Well, no one said this was going to be easy. The best you can do, is living vicariously through the joy of your juniors, and watch them trace the steps that you once took.
It all goes back to the day of the Farewell of HSC Batch '12. After the official announcement, the newly formed executive panel of year 2012-13 was practically beaming at each other, secretly making a promise of a great time that was to follow. Actually, everyone but Shorna. She was happily posing for photos when we literally had to beg her to join the team, when she decided to take mercy on us ... Because without her Graphics would have been meaningless. Alina, Nuzhat, Bushra, Parisa, Prianta, Samira, Tahsin, Shorna and I - the team was now officially complete.
It was a good time that VELC gave us. Personally, I would say it was not just good, it was great. When you work in a team, it is not just work. You spend time with your team, you smile with them, you laugh with them and if you are lucky enough, you also cry buckets of happy tears with them and also on their shoulders. And in this scenario, I was very lucky. Prianta, Parisa, Samira, Shorna, Tahsin and Nuzhat – I have known them since forever. But this club gave me wonderful friends like Alina and Bushra too. How else would I have known chasing Bushra across the campus with a camera pointed at her would be so much fun? Just so you know, I never really posted those weird pictures.
One of the main reasons VELC holds incredible sentimental value for us, is because it is the first club we came back to the campus for. Fresh out of VNC, we were only taking the first steps towards university. This festival was the very first taste of real responsibility for all of us. Countless kids came for the competition. We all looked out for them, while keeping the workflow going. The pressure was high, but communicating with school kids was just so much fun. And there was also this reverence in their eyes, like they were also hoping to be like us someday - all grown up, running around in sarees and chatting with teachers. Hoping, like we once did.
As a department, administration was probably the most populated. Leading a group of juniors through the activities and tasks at hand was fun, to say the least. All of us became each other’s adopted family, with me as the mother hen. Neesha, Nibeet, Abira, Isha, Foara, Meem, Rasha, Prioty and all my babies have been constantly by my side throughout this journey. Still now, almost everytime I pass by the streets of Bailey Road, I will definitely hear a cheerful “Hi Apu!” from at least one of them.
Even though the panel members had individual departments assigned, none of us were ever limited to just one. Alina was glued to all the paperwork, Parisa was getting the money and hunting down fuchka mamas from time to time, Samira was fretting about workshops, Prianta was roaming around the streets of Dhanmondi – successfully forgetting about the photoshoot for panel profile. She finally turned up with butterfly clips on top of the head. Bushra was spending sleepless night making question papers, Nuzhat was sniffing all kinds of biriyanis, Tahsin was showing off the money and Shorna practically had a personalized Holi festival going on. I, well, was too busy enjoying all these and more.
It was not just the club room we grew attached to. English Department too had started feeling like home. Sitting there at the same table with my teachers, discussing and working with them for hours and even sharing jokes with them – these are memories that stay. Even now, every time I meet Munmun miss, she still gives me a lovely smile and a big warm hug. Every time I see Luxme miss, I remember following her around like a lost puppy, till she finally helped me fix the pleats of my saree. And Jannat miss was my go-to person for anything and everything. I keep reminiscing about them, and so many more memories. But getting to open the festival, and even more than that - sitting on the stage with Jannat miss, the Principal and the guests of honour during the closing ceremony was an incredible honour. Though the latter was rightfully Alina’s job, in her absence those were my stolen moments of glory.
Beyond all that running around, the proudest moment probably was when Prianta handed us the freshly delivered copies of Radiant, her face shining with pride. It was something we started together that our juniors would carry forward as a legacy. In those pages we were leaving tiny bits of ourselves. The pride, the happiness when I got to declare the successful publication of Radiant was overwhelming. Even now, while writing for the second year of its publication, the pride has not lessened a bit, but increased tenfold.
We were not perfect. Perfection was the last thing we aimed for. But we had expectations to live up to, and we tried our level best to raise the bar. Now our juniors have taken the reign from there and expanded the boundaries. From this point on, VELC can only go further and it sure will. Each and every one of us, who have had the opportunity to be a part of this club in some way throughout its journey, will be with VELC forever in spirit, with the best of wishes from the very bottom of our hearts.