The morning of July 26,1995 was a typical hot, sweaty and sultry Varanasi summer morning. But in Institute of Technology BHU, there was hope, anticipation and apprehension in the air. 23 boys and 1 girl with hope and euphoria in their hearts and fear in their eyes that immediately reached for the floor on meeting a senoirs', yet peeping with curiosity to the surroundings, trying to familiarise that this place is going to be their abode for 4 years were seated in the Department of Computer Engg.

Compsci 1999 -- the last batch before the dreaded Y2K had arrived.

The JEE-95 what we came through was one of the most difficult and most offbeat, so the crop was supposed to be intelligent (our 1st year grades don't suggest) and certainly offbeat as you will find out before you are thru with this. The fast four year transform we underwent here changed us from the raw teenagers to mature individuals (did it ?) with secure careers and gave us a starting niche. It has provided us with interaction with various cultures prevailing in India and forced to change our views about them in particular.

During this period of our life when most of us have unbounded energy and enthu, there have been highs and lows. Right from the first year to this date famous quotes have been bombarded and incidents engineered that have provided us with gaiety and laughter that added colour to our mundane routine and drudgery. Be it piling cycles outside someone's room or asking a tailor to come and clip his hair or landing up a goat in someone's room or the jhinchhak party predicting the girls' views about themselves, we have never been short on natural comics.

We were joined by 9 branch changers in our 'esteemed' dept. headed by not ABCD but YPS. We have had our fair share of good teachers who are few in number, bad almost and certain dangerous ones. Some chaps in the class can attest to the last type but they all had one common property -- the were best random number generators. Whether their killer shots (read the so called jokes) or their liking for a particular word of English literature or their punishments, they in most cases taught us the 2 golden rules of industry. They were full on energy enough to go on and on without varying their expression and monotone with exception of some who could tire pretty quickly. Their wisdom(?) and influ had their own effect on shaping us.

The city of Varanasi the land of saand and sanyasi; of ghaats and temples will always be cherished in our memories. Although it was not upto the standards of a metro as some were accustomed to, the time spent walking on ghats watching centuries flow by was a rewarding experience. The lovely temples where we spent time (not always praying ) were soul satisfying. Though not offering us the western cuisines, it however gave us the taste of delights ranging from mishrambu in drinks to 'kheerkadam' in sweets. In some aspects I will always miss it.

The Institute ,although some get an inferiority complex by some comparisons, brought us all together and gave us a secure career by any standards. The Univ. added its own flavour inspite of having some brothers providing a bit of greenery to the desert. Be it the moments spent in Lankating or idlying at the mandir or holding a heated discussion in the hostel mess at 8 p.m., they will always be treasured.

So what else is left ? It is the great guys; the chaps who made the 'lobby' The guys who picked you up when you were down, gave you company when you felt lonely, who tickled the funny bone in you sometimes by pulling your leg. They never made you feel homesick always enduring the rough weather with you, giving a feeling of being a fraternity of brothers. It is they who elicited these memorable moments and gave the stories as they might seem that follow in the souvenir. This souvenir is a tribute to each one of them ,who made these years the best of our lives ,the last nineties(1995-99).

For the fond memories and the great time we've had, only one thing comes to

mind ---

EVERY BREATH I TAKE

EVERY MOVE I MAKE

EVERY SINGLE DAY

EVERY TIME I PRAY

I'LL BE MISSING YOU.