by Bro Aliester D'souza SDB
ALIRAJPUR-JHABUA, OCTOBER 27, 2014: Diwali in all its colour, art and sound is festivity at its best. People celebrate newness with great vim and verve. It is indeed a happy time all over our country 
and Alirajpur is no exception. The Annual Past-Pupil Reunion is something that makes Diwali even more special at Don Bosco, Alirajpur.
Alirajpur is just a small town with little or no opportunities for higher education. The students, after having completed their studies in Don Bosco Academy move to cities like Indore, Baroda, Pune or Mumbai in the pursuit of better career prospects. Meeting and catching up with each other is made possible virtually by the outburst of technology but meeting up in real time – face to face – is only possible on an occasion like Diwali when all come home to their families. Where could there be a better place for school mates to spend time than their alma mater!
Don Bosco Academy hosted its eighth Annual Past-Pupil Reunion on October 22, 2014. The entire planning and arrangement was done by the President and the core-committee of the Bosco United – the past-pupil wing of DBA. The teachers of the school – both past and present – were invited. It was a well animated programme. Throughout the entire programme that began at 5 in the evening and lasted five hours, the gathering of 128, were on their feet with the energ
y they once had years ago when they were students. The programme began with a prayer service and words of welcome given by Fr Ajit Munis, the Vice-Principal.
Later, a small memorial service in honour of four of the students who passed away during these years was animated. Thereafter, games and dance session was also organized. The students also had some time to share their school-day experiences. Time whizzed by leaving everyone clueless as to how the evening melted into night. Supper was yet another golden moment when between the bites and scoops, students shared their memories. At 10:00 pm, after a final dance the students bade farewell to each other and wished each other luck, success and the blessings of God and promised to meet again same time the next year for a 9.0
The Reunion 8.0 was an opportunity for all the teachers and educators at DBA, to see the fruit of their toil as the students shared their academic successes and their job-placements in major cities all over the country. The educators at DBA were happy to see that the good soil at DBA Alirajpur was indeed bearing a harvest thirty, sixty and hundred fold.