Rum 98 Reunion: Engineering the Ultimate Get-Together (Finally)

After years of procrastination, reschedules, and WhatsApp group polls that ended in silence, the Rum 98 Thrissur Engineering mates finally pulled off a get-together.

The perfect Excuse?

Like all great reunions, we needed a reason to meet. This time it was good ol' Rickson, our proudly settled US-based NRI who visits India once in a blue moon — usually unannounced. But this time, the man slipped. He told someone. We found out. And like any great Indian operation, the plotting began.

Roll call begins:

Mathew and Venki, our globe-trotting mariners, just happen to dock their ships the same week. Coincidence!

Vinod - our Thrissur anchor. Always ready said yes before we even finished the sentence. Loyalty!

Sumesh aka Chaalu, our self-made, always-last-minute-canceller entrepreneur, said “I'm in.” Shocker!

Harish even braved the Bangalore traffic and KSTRC horrors to grace the event. Respect!

Destination: Beach, Booze n Bros (No Babes 😉)

Now, for the venue: We wanted class. Exclusivity. Peace. Pool. Near a beach. Basically, all things an engineering hostel never had. Somewhere to site around and talk like we were still 21! So we booked a homestay near Cherai Beach.

By evening, the squad landed in style—cars, bags, balding heads and advancing waistlines (except Harish, annoyingly untouched by age and still weirdly fit). We greeted, cursed each other for the long gap.

We took a short walk to feel healthy (and justify the evening ahead), then settled into what this trip was truly about: boozing and bonding.

🍻 The “Bachelor” Bash

And thus began the Night of Gossips and Glory. Bottles from foreign lands lined up—whiskey, rum, and ambition. But the reality hit hard: six of us, one bottle, still unfinished. Old age? Nah. Just… strategic drinking (we tell ourselves). Still we kept the spirits high 😊

Conversations. Gossips. spiraled from the infamous couples of our era (with just the right amount of envy) to imaginary ex-girlfriends we never had to gloriously inflated career achievements, family dramas, life stresses. Basically, standard reunion protocol.

Rickson, now fully Kerala-nostalgic, ordered every seafood dish he’d missed—kalanji fry, prawns, crabs, karimeens etc.

The homestay’s yummy biriyani showed up fashionably late—so we honored it with next-day brunch.

As for the pool? It remained untouched—because we were too busy boozing and gossip was just too spicy.

The Next Morning

A few groggy souls took a token walk along the beach (to pretend we were healthy) while the rest hovered near the kitchen. Just as it started drizzling we cozied up with hot chai at a local tea shop overlooking the sea and dispensed unsolicited life advice to each other like the wise old men (young at heart 😊) we were. After healthy home cooked breakfast, it was time for hugs, selfies, and solemn vows:

“Next time, we meet without needing an NRI.”

Part 2 - From Rum to Responsibility – The Kumarakom Detox