Coimbatore: The Government Arts College here, established in 1852, conducted an alumni meet on Sunday. Students from several batches got together and shared their memories about the good old days.Chief judicial magistrate of Tirupur court S Jagadeesan, who was a student during 1983-1986, was given the Best Old Student Award. The district court near the college inspired him to take up law, he said. “I wanted to study Botany, but could only get a seat in Political Science. I used to visit the nearby court to watch the proceedings. That ignited an interest in me to take up law,” Jagadeesan said.V Subramaniam, a Mathematics student of the 1968-1972 batch, had worked in several administrative positions before retiring as a deputy collector. The students of the college were the first ones to participate in protests for any social cause, he said. “The college students played an active part in the anti-Hindi agitations of 1968. Also in 1971, there was a big farmers’ agitation after the government increased one paise in electricity charge. It was called Kattavandi Porattam, as farmers brought their bullock carts along with bulls and left them on the prominent roads of the city, bringing it to a standstill. We students also took out a procession in support of the farmers.”Some of them talked about their involvement in protests in support of the Sri Lankan cause.The rebellious spirit seems to continue, as last week, the students of the college had staged a protest, condemning the sorry state of hostel rooms and toilets.

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