A recollection time of memories!

Anna and I had an occasion to attend a wedding festivity during this week. The parents of the bridegroom who were alumni of CMC Vellore, had the delight of some of their class mates coming for the occasion from different parts of India and overseas. 

This batch of medical students performed a musical for the governing body of the CMC in 1985, where all the sixty students were involved. Those who were not able to sing managed the light and sound arrangements. It was hilarious to hear the class mates recall happy memories of that occasion and other events during their college life. The director of CMC Dr L.B.M.Joseph while introducing the batch of students to the governing council said, that 'Music brought the students together into a harmony.  So they sing in one voice'! 

While listening to their story time, Anna and I felt close to them because of the years of trustful relationship they have retained from the time of their undergraduate days at CMC. For Anna who was an alumnus of CMC, it was a refreshing experience because she too has had similar cordial relationships with her class mates during the last fifty years. 

This is one unique aspect of student life at CMC Vellore. As all students stay in the college campus in the Men's and Women's hostels, the sense of family bonding sets in which lasts into later years. 

The decision to make the undergraduate training to be a residential experience was an intentional decision of its founder Dr Ida Scudder. For her the student life is a 'learning and formative' experience ! Dr Scudder envisioned that they were not just students but 'doctors in training' for whom finding their vocation was important. The foster parenting system was one nurturing process that was a formal structure  that the institution built into developing a faculty-student relationship towards offering a formative experience to students. 

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It was an encouraging evening, when I felt that this batch of students have memories which they treasure and celeb suprate! They stay connected and supportive !

We returned encouraged and refreshed after the wedding. The married couple also had their training and formation at CMCV. So they too will also celebrate their tradition and experiences of student years as the alumni of CMCV !

The motto of CMC, 'Not to be ministered unto but to minister' is reflected in the lives of its alumni ! 

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)