Dubai: The evening was pleasant, the atmosphere was surreal, the air was thin, the energy was high, the venue was world class, the arrangements were funtastic – this was the evening which set a precedence in the history of Shree Dharmasthala College of Engineering and Technology Global Meet held on Friday November 6 at Rixos the Palm Dubai.
Months of preparation and tons of team work by the committed alumni fellow members from Middle East, culminated in the unfolding of a successful SDMCET alumni meet, held for the first time outside India. Around 300 participants from nearly 10 countries took part in the event which made it a truly international event and an eventful night to remember. This was a family event which was packed with fun-filled activities for each and every member to take part; and be a part of the meet.
The highlight of the event was also the presence of around 30 faculty members of SDMCET Dharwad, who specially flew down all the way from India to attend this meet.
The event was graced by Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr Veerendra Heggade, the chief guest for the event along Dr Shrikanth B Vanakudre, the principal of SDMCET, who was the guest of honour. The event was also brightened by the presence of Surendra Kumar, Dr Yashovarma, Shreyas Kumar and Shobakar Ballal who accompanied Dr Veerendra Heggade all the way from India. Suresh Raddar, former professor of SDMCET and currently working in UAE was also present on the dais as a special guest of the day.
The excitement of SDM alumni was evident, as they started arriving at the location much earlier than the registration process started. The registration team and the souvenir team handled the crowd successfully by providing them with badges and souvenir kits.
The event began at 4 pm with the national anthems of UAE and India. There was a traditional lighting of the camp by the dignitaries along with the alumni from SDMCET first batch of 1979. The presence of various dignitaries such as Dr B R Shetty, Pravin Shetty, Gunasheel Shetty, Premnath Shetty, and Lawrence Mendonca added extra colors to the event.
Reshma Alva the alumnus of 1996 batch provided an apt welcome speech to the event. Each of the faculty members were recognized and honored for their efforts in nurturing the SDMCET alumnus by the committee members. The SDM Global Meet Souvenir magazine was officially released during this event by Dr B R Shetty. The souvenir team accompanied the dignitaries during the book releasing ceremony.
The event witnessed the speeches of Prof Vanakudre, Prof Suresh Raddar and Prof Vasudhev Parvate who raised to the occasion and wholeheartedly supported the mega event. Dr B R Shetty spoke a few words during this occasion and wished good luck for the success of the event and the future of SDM alumni.
Dr Veerendra Heggade delivered an excellent speech and provided his immense support and blessings for the Global Alumni Meet.
As the proceedings unfurled, the videos of SDMCET and the meeting moments – official video of the meeting preparations were released to the alumni.
The showstopper came in the form of Pravin Godkhindi, an alumnus of SDMCET, who performed an hour of non-stop extraordinary fusion of flute recital. The whole atmosphere was electrified and the audience were left spellbound by the sheer magic of his entire team.
A final vote of thanks by Satish Kumar Bantwal which was followed by loads of performances by Russian performers equally left the audience wanting for more.
The icing of cake came when the dance floor was thrown open to the audience, and alumni from 1979-2015 participated with sheer enthusiasm and spirit, which brought back the memories of college days and created a rock show environment.
A sumptuous dinner and the bar added extra spice to the event, and the entire event culminated at around 11.30 pm.
During the course of the event, it was announced that the next Global SDMCET Alumni Meet would be held in Mangaluru in the year 2016.
