The RIMC Old Boys Association was founded in New Delhi in 1949. Maj Gen Hira Lal Atal (Rawlinson - 1923) then Adjutant General, was the founder President and Gen (then Col) G G Bewoor (Kitchener 29-34) was the founder Honorary Secretary. However, the Old Boys activities go as far back as 1928 when an Old Boys week was celebrated at RIMC from 23 to 28 March. The first formal Old Boys Reunion was held in Dehra Dun in 1929. Col JR Hutchison, DSO, from Central India Horse was then the Commandant.

An interesting account of this first Reunion was given by Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh, who was then the Cadet Captain. Hira Lal Atal along with about a dozen other Old Boys attended this function. They were put up in the "new" dormitories near the football pitch (which were later to be Kitchener Section and are now Shivaji Section dormitories). They messed with the cadets and preferred to sit at the seniors table in the dining room with their old sections. It was then that the demand for some favourite items of menu like Scotch eggs were first made. At this first Reunion, cricket, tennis, hockey and squash matches were played between the Old Boys and the cadets, and the cadets won most of the matches. In addition to these matches, the College also held Inter Section boxing matches and staged a PT display. The Old Boys are recalled to have been as boisterous as they are at present-day reunions.

Since then the bonds of the "old school tie" became stronger and Old Boys Reunions were held annually at RIMC till World War II when they were discontinued. After the War the first Reunion was held on 14 August 1947 (Independence eve) at the Maidens Hotel, Delhi. The Old Boys celebrated Independence Day in the Hotel dining room that night. Though it also dawned on them that some of their friends would go to a new country -- Pakistan.

In order to formalize the Rimcollian activities and ensure regular attendance, membership and funds, it was decided in 1950 to formally found the RIMC Old Boys Association.

Hira Lal Atal, who was among the first batch of 37 cadets at RIMC in 1922, and Gopal Bewoor took charge of the Association. The activities of the Association at the time were confined mainly to the Old Boys stationed in Delhi and consisted of an Annual dinner on the Founder's Day -- 13 March. No newsletters were published.

The first written account of the Rimcollian Old Boys Association was published in the Association's first newsletter in March 1953 which also gave an account of the 3rd Annual Reunion. Gopal Bewoor was the President and Virendra Singh was the Honorary Secretary. To assist the latter, I was appointed Assistant Secretary and Editor of the newsletter. At that time there were only 24 Life and about 100 Annual members. In 1952 it was decided to hold the Old Boys Reunion in Dehra Dun to coincide with the Founder's Day. Consequently the Annual Reunion in March 1953 was held at Dehra Dun.

At the time of founding the Association, Old Boys pockets, badges and buttons were not easily available. These were prepared in UK by the firm of tailors "Farrell" at Camberley, at the request of Hira Lal Atal. The blazer badge comprised the RIMC Crest -- the three ostrich feathers -- which was the insignia of the Prince of Wales with the motto "Ich Dien" and the inscription "Old Boy 19..." embroidered below the crest. These badges and buttons were obtained by Old Boys when they went to Sandhurst. Sometime after 1950, it was decided to obtain a further consignment for distribution on payment and during 1950-51 the design for the Old Boys blazer pocket and buttons were re-examined and finalized by the Old Boys Working Committee. The first lot of ties were obtained from UK sometime in 1951-52 through Maj Gen S Harnarain Singh (Kitchener) who was then posted in London as Military Advisor. At this time the Old Boys Association also decided, as a token of affection for their alma mater, to present a trophy to the College. This trophy which is made in silver and now adorns the College Cadets' Mess, was produced by the famous silversmiths, Hamiltons of Calcutta.

The period between 1952 to 1955 was of intense activities. The newsletter was a regular feature and membership of the Association increased considerably. An attempt was also made of associating the Pakistani Old Boys and whenever some news of the Rimcollians from across the border was received, it was published in the newsletter.

The Fourth Annual Reunion was held on 13 March 1954 at the Gymkhana Club, New Delhi. The cadets cricket team alongwith EJ Watson who was then the Principal, came to Delhi. The Old Boys vs Cadets cricket match was played at IAF Station, Safdarjang grounds. Col Naseer Ahmed, who was then Military Advisor Pakistan High Commission in India, attended this meeting. Not only this, it was perhaps for the first time that 12 Pakistani Rimcollians met in Lahore on 20 February 1954 and decided to form a Rimcollian Old Boys Association of Pakistan affiliated to the Rimcollian Old Boys Association in India. Lt Gen (then Maj Gen) Mohammed Yusuf was elected as its founder President.

The 5th Annual Reunion was held on 13 March 1955 in Dehra Dun. By this time the Old Boys Association was on a very sound footing. During this year EJ Watson also left the College. The membership had by now increased to 164. During this period the emphasis had been on enrolling Life Members. As a matter of policy it had been decided that Old Boys would be eligible to become members of the Association only on commissioning or becoming economically independent.

The 1956 Annual Reunion was held at Delhi again and as in 1954 a team of the Cadets came over to Delhi. That year it was perhaps for the first time that a non-Rimcollian was the Chief Guest at a part of the Rimcollian Reunion function -- S Radhakrishan who was then the Vice-President of India -- who gave away the prizes at the cricket match.

The 1957 Reunion was held at Dehra Dun. During this Reunion, at the instance of Hira Lal Atal, it was decided to approve of the Old Boys coat lapel badges. Our Reunion in 1958 was held at Delhi.

There was tremendous pressure by the Government during those days to change the name and crest of the College. ROBA then suggested the present name and emblem which retains the acronym-RIMC and the three peacock feathers (the national bird), because it bears a close resemblance to the original College crest. This was adopted in 1964. However it was decided that the ROBA crest would be retained on all its items.

Unfortunately due to some reason or the other there was no issue of the newsletter from 1958 to 1961 and the next newsletter was issued in February. 1962. Thereafter the newsletters have been issued fairly regularly till 1968. In 1968 it was decided to issue the newsletter biannually and also to give it a facelifc. It was also decided that the Annual Reunion would be held at Dehra Dun from 12-14 March each year.

In January 1971 the Association had 189 Life and 182 Annual members, making a total of 371. In the 80s it was decided that cadets on leaving RIMC would be enrolled as members by the College. Although this had been suggested on many earlier occasions, it had been felt that cadets should only by made members when they became economically independent.

The Golden Jubilee in March '72 was a memorable event. President V V Giri was the Chief Guest and Hira Lal Atal (Rawlinson '23) was the senior most Old Boy present. On this occasion the Old Boys presented the College with a wrought iron gate for its main entrance and called the "Thimayya Gate". The Martyr's Memorial was also presented.

The Diamond Jubilee held in March '82 was another unforgettable landmark. Gen K V Krishna Rao who was the Chief of Staff was the Chief Guest. On behalf of ROBA, Niranjan Singh Gill (Kitchener), who was the eldest Old Boy at the celebrations, presented the College with a silver trophy, a replica of College emblem of peacock feathers. On this occasion the Association also started a Benevolent Fund with a corpus ofRsl.5 lakhs. The interest from this is set aside exclusively for the benefit of retired and serving Class IV staff.

The past 20 years have seen some very meaningful projects taking shape and the association also had the good fortune of having three chiefs - Air Chief Marshal N C Suri, General V N Sharma and Gen S Padmanahan -- lead the ROBA during this period.

With the help of our brothers across the border, the Rimcollians have been able to tread the track of social diplomacy. A Pakistani delegation visited the RIMC in 1990 and red carpet was rolled out by Col SD Mahanti (now Maj Gen), the first Rimcollian commandant of the school.

The Rimcollians reciprocated the visit to Lahore and Islamabad in 1996-to invite our brothers to the platinum jubilee celebrations in 1997. The visit was hailed as path-breaking by the media across the sub-continent.

Having achieved the aim of a large membership, the Rimcollian Association has taken up plans for expansion and modernisation. A trust with a large corpus has been launched and effort has been made to computerise the Rimcollian data and directory, and a fair amount of success achieved in the matter.

For the Platinum Jubilee, with the help of Rimcollian army commander Lt Gen RK Gulati (now Retd), repairs to tune of nearly Rs 2 crore was been taken up at the school. The Rimcollian Association is presented magnificent monument - Hira Lal Atal gate - on the occassion of the Platinum Jubilee.

Another achievement has been the revival of the newsletter. The bi-annual issues of the newsletter have been a great success and able to build-up the Rimcollian network. The newsletters are being read outside the Rimcollian circle; and specially the supplement on Pakistan visit was very favourably reviewed.

After Platinum Jubilee, the editorship of the newsletter was handed over to Sidharth Mishra, an old boy and a professional journalist. It was Colonel Jasbir Khurana, who from the inception to 1998 responsible for conceptualising and publishing The Rimcollian.

On 13 March, 1997 the ROBA decided to honour Maj Gen (retd) Virendra Singh with the honour of Member Emeritous of the association for the yeoman services he provided in building up the organisation.

What started in 1929 as an informal gathering of a few old boys has today grown into a large association with over 1000 members, with headquarters in Delhi coordinating with over twenty regional secretaries stationed all over the country and even overseas. Regulars get-togethers are held in different parts of the world and old school notes exchanged.

"Viva RIMC Viva Rimcollian"