Beloved Karunyans,
I am Mr. Baskaran Ayiathurai from the 1992-1996 batch. I graduated in Mechanical Engineering and have since worked in the oil and natural gas sector in the Middle East. It gives me great pleasure and joy to connect with you all through The Missing Link alumni magazine. My family and I live in Dubai, and I am blessed with my wife, Vimala Baskaran, and my two children, Selvan Pranav Duraisingam and Selvi Deekshita Lakshmi, who attend school here in Dubai.
The United Arab Emirates, also known as the oasis of the Middle East, is a union of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, Umm Al Quwain, and Ras Al Khaimah. The UAE is also a second home to millions of Indian immigrants who work here.
The UAE boasts the sixth-largest reserve of oil and the seventh-largest reserve of natural gas in the world. This abundance has attracted engineers from around the globe to live and work here. Consequently, a significant number of Karunyans have found employment in various sectors in the UAE.
The Alumni Chapter of the UAE was established in 2015. Since then, regular get-togethers and charity programs have been conducted in each of the emirates. It was the desire and vision of our beloved founder and chancellor of Karunya University, Dr. Paul Dhinakaran, that alumni living in the various emirates should come together and network with each other.
Post-COVID, we started planning for a grand UAE reunion in Dubai. A committee was formed in each emirate to reach out to every alumnus living in their respective emirates to determine their availability for the reunion. A consensus was reached, and it was decided that the reunion would be held in 2024 in Dubai. The very thought of Karunyans coming together filled our hearts with great joy.
Unlike other alumni meets, it was decided that this reunion would also include alumni families and children. Our spouses have heard so many candid Karunya stories that they feel as if they’ve lived and studied there themselves—haha! Though we all graduated at different times and left Karunya, one thing is certain: no one can take Karunya out of us. We are, and will always be, Karunyans!
The event organizing committee, headed by Mr. David Saul Singh, made spectacular plans for the meetup. A luxury yacht was booked for the grand reunion. We were to gather at the Dubai Marina on May 11, 2024. The organizing committees in each emirate worked hard to ensure that every alumnus was contacted and informed about the event. In the end, 100% of the slots were filled, with a total of 275 participants registered for the reunion. Alumni and their families from across 33 batches signed up for this grand event.
On May 11, it was a joyous day as my classmates and I, who live in the UAE, made it to the Dubai Marina. It was an incredible opportunity to meet my seniors and juniors. Although time has passed, and we may not look like our youthful selves, we were young in spirit, and before long, we were reminiscing about our Karunya days. It was also fantastic to meet my football teammates from various batches. A sense of calmness, satisfaction, and gratitude filled our hearts as we joyfully introduced our families to one another. God has been good to us.
The organizers greeted us with a Hawaiian-style welcome—complete with garlands and pleasantries. We all boarded the luxury yacht and set sail into the Arabian Sea. The program began with an explanation of the purpose of the reunion. All the office bearers of the UAE Alumni Association were felicitated, and the sponsors were honored. Many testimonies of God’s wonderful work in this land far from home were shared among us. Plans and proposals to strengthen this network further were discussed. At the end of a glorious time together, we thanked God for His abundant mercies over the years in our lives.
The evening concluded with a beautiful banquet, set against the backdrop of Dubai’s vibrant nightlife. Finally, it was time to bid farewell to our fellow Karunyans and their families, with a strong resolve to meet every year in one of the emirates.
We would like to thank the President of the Karunya International Alumni Association, Mr. Prabahar Devaraj [ECE 1987 – 1991], the management of Karunya University, and Mrs. Daphy Inbasekar, Head of Alumni Affairs at Karunya University, for their guidance and support.
We can’t wait for the next reunion. 2025… here we come!
As told to Sam Lishi by Baskaran
