JOIN USPravin Godkhindi and his band provided the perfect close to the year-long diamond jubilee celebrations of Manipal Institute of Technology at the Quadrangle.
The audience included over a thousand alumni in attendance. The flautist's scintillating performance to provide a fairy-tale ending to the celebrations will be remembered by everyone present.
Godkhindi had the audience spell-bound for two hours. At the end of it, there were many in the audience who were willing to sit through more of the amazing performance. The performance of Godkhindi's 16-year-old son, Shadaj, was mesmerising too. The father-son jugalbandi, first with the flute and then with Shadaj on the drums, was absolutely engrossing. Shadaj is a third generation musician and has even performed with his grandfather, late Pt Venkatesh Godkhindi.
Nostalgia
Godkhindi performed on this very stage in 1991, when he had come with his college team for a competition. He recalled the day when he was here and went back with a consolation prize. The maestro has come a long way and has been all over the world to perform.
Dr G K Prabhu, Pro Vice Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and director of MIT, said, "It was an important year for MIT. We planned the valedictory to coincide with the alumni meetings so that it has a befitting end. I am extremely happy to say that over 1,500 alumni have come to the meet this year including the first batch of students and 200 alumni from the US alone."
The concluding day of the diamond jubilee celebrations also had the inauguration of a ladies' hostel on the campus. The first girl student of MIT, Suguni Kamath, inaugurated it. She graduated from MIT in 1971 in Civil Engineering. She joined as a lecturer in the Department and worked till 1976. The five-storey hostel can accommodate 476 students in 238 A/C rooms.