The Alumni Who Never Came: A Day of Anticipation at Government College, Hisar
Classmates gather for diamond jubilee celebration, but Chief Justice Surya Kant’s helicopter flies past their hopes
By Dr. Raj Bahadur Yadav
I was on cloud nine when I received an invitation from the Old Students’ Association, Government College, Hisar (now renamed Guru Gorakhnath Ji Government College) to attend the Alumni Meet-2025, Diamond Jubilee Celebration (1950-2025) scheduled for January 10 this year. I felt elated to learn from local newspapers that my old classmate and close friend, Justice Surya Kant, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, had personally selected his close classmates and some very senior teachers for this privileged occasion. I felt flattered to read my name alongside some eminent persons in Haryana like nonagenarian retired college teacher Prof. Gugan Ram Godara, Choudhary Ajay Singh Chautala, an ex-Minister Prof. Chhattarpal Singh Kundu, and Chaudhary Bansi Lal University (CBLU), Bhiwani Vice-Chancellor Prof. Deepti Dharmani.
My wife advised me, “Now you are going to meet your great classmate, Justice Surya Kant. I hope you will welcome him in some presentable dress.” I nodded my head in complete compliance. “Yes, yes, why not!” My son and daughter went to the famous Chaar Marla Market of Fatehabad town to buy a good blazer for me. I was persuaded to buy a pair of new shoes for the great day. When I was informed on the phone by the Principal’s office that I was lucky to have been issued a VIP pass with the word “Proximity” printed in red, I was required to bring a passport-size photo to affix on it.
It was a very foggy and cold morning on January 10. Along with my old classmates Jasbir Singh Bhayana and Gurdip Singh “Amritsaria” (earlier members of the famous Bhangra Dance team of our college), I reached Government College exactly at 9 a.m. and completed the due process of registration in time. Soon, we were formally welcomed by staff members and student volunteers by putting a tilak (sacred mark) in red on our foreheads and showering flower petals on us. With the red VIP passes dangling from our necks, we were greeting our old classmates with great enthusiasm. We seemed to have become real VIPs like our top bureaucrats and big leaders for a few hours because of our old ties with Justice Kant!
After some time, we were escorted to the Food Court where tea, coffee, and snacks were being served. No doubt, the breakfast was delicious, yet my eyes and those of many of my classmates were desperately looking for only Justice Kant.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933), an American author and poet, aptly says, “Time is too long for those who wait.” Some of my classmates stood at the main gate of the college, eagerly waiting for Justice Kant to arrive. Principal Dr. Vivek Saini was kind enough to assure us, “Don’t worry, Sir! As soon as Justice Kant arrives, we will request him to meet you first of all in the open college lawn where we have placed chairs and sofas for you to sit comfortably under the sunshine and meet him face-to-face gracefully.” We also learned that our old classroom No. 4 was specially decorated for sharing our experiences and memories with Justice Kant. In the same room, Prof. M.M. Sharma, Madam Shanti Malik, and Prof. Ved Guliani taught us, where Justice Kant met us daily, cracked jokes with us, and touched the feet of his teachers who shaped him into a great orator.
Around 2:00 p.m., we were asked to take our lunch as Justice Kant was likely to reach the college at 2:30 p.m. The lunch was quite sumptuous and we ate our fill. After lunch, I saw some TV anchors moving around, requesting us to give a few bytes on Justice Kant, recalling the good old days we spent with him.
One more hour passed. Now, we started making desperate queries: “Has Justice Kant arrived?” Around 4:30 p.m., we saw a helicopter hovering over our college building. Many of us shouted, looking up at the sky, “Justice Kant aa gaye, aa gaye!” (Justice Kant has come! Justice Kant has come!). There were pleasant drum beats, plunging me into a reverie. “As soon as I meet him, I will hand over the editorial he authored forty-five years ago for the college magazine, ‘Bhor Ka Tara’ (Morning Star). If I am urged to speak a few words in his honor, I would say politely, ‘Now, you are expected to become the voice of the poor and weak of this big ancient country and protect the basic tenets of the Indian Constitution also! Sir, in your hands lies the destiny of our ancient beloved nation!'”
But very soon, we came to know that it was just a rumor. The Honorable CJI had cancelled his “historical tryst” with us due to his very tight schedule. My heart sank when I learned that Justice Kant’s chopper had flown towards Guwahati as he had some urgent task to attend there. Then I saw a very aged Prof. Gugan Ram walking towards the main gate with a stick in his hands, sensing that now it was not possible for him to meet and felicitate his old student, Justice Kant! I saw many of my classmates leaving the venue in mild disappointment. I also put back the photostat copies of Justice Kant’s editorial into my bag. At around 5:30 p.m., we also left the college premises for home, hoping to see our great classmate and friend, Justice Kant, on some other day in the future.
