India, Jan. 10 -- A t 98 years of age, memory does not arrive in a rush. It walks in quietly, takes a seat, and waits to be acknowledged. Satya Pal Sethi, the oldest living alumnus of Delhi's Shri Ram College of Commerce, has learnt not to hurry it either. The college he entered as a young man in the late 1940s has turned 100 this year. He has almost matched it, year for year, step for step. "I still see the college canteen in my dreams," he says, his gaze drifting past the camera. "Bas mere jitne friends the, un sab ki death ho chuki hai. I am perhaps the only one left." He states it without drama, almost clinically. And yet, in that instant, the room fills with a quiet awe. Not of loss alone, but of the gravity of a life that has endured long enough to remember everyone else. SRCC was not yet SRCC when Sethi first walked into it. It was The Commercial College in Daryaganj, housed modestly, purposeful rather than grand. India itself was young and uncertain, newly freed from colonial rule. Commerce was not yet considered an intellectual discipline. It was a practical skill, learnt because India needed not just businessmen but also accountants, administrators, and those who could rebuild systems after the British left. Sethi belonged to the Batch of 1950, among the earliest generations who would quietly shape what SRCC would come to mean. He did not know it then, of course. None of them did. They were simply students, attending lectures, playing hockey, borrowing books, forging friendships, without realising they were also forging an institution's character. Today, as SRCC marks its centenary, that character is being remembered through his life. Founded in 1926 by Sir Shri Ram (industrialist and philanthropist, Lala Shri Ram), SRCC began as a response to a practical need. India required structured commercial education at a time when universities focused largely on liberal arts. The college's early years in Daryaganj were marked by discipline, frugality and ambition. There were no sprawling lawns then, no amphitheatres or iconic facades, merely academics, rigour and an insistence on seriousness. Sethi recalls that the young men (it was not a co-educational college at the time), like students across eras, figured out ways to enjoy college life. "We would bunk classes even then, and when the professors used to take attendance and call out my name, some other friend would say, 'Present, Sir'." He fondly remembers being far more regular at the college canteen. "It was small, but there were good snacks. Tabh toh kuchh paise ka samosa aata thaa; I don't even remember how much it cost, but I could afford it," he laughs, recalling how his father, a prosperous businessman from Civil Lines in North Delhi, was hugely supportive of his education. SRCC's move to North Campus in 1954 brought expansion, both in scale and academically. The college introduced honours programmes, became co-educational in 1957 and gradually emerged as the most sought-after commerce institution in the country. Rankings and cut-offs would come much later. In those years, reputation travelled by word of mouth. "You knew you were being trained properly when people's eyes would show respect at the mention of SRCC," Sethi says, and adds, "The teachers were strict, but they wanted you to do well. Not just pass." He was not only a student. Sethi was also the captain of the Delhi University hockey team, a role that shaped him as deeply as his academics. The team travelled across India, and he proudly represented his college and the university in tournaments at a time when such travel was neither easy nor glamorous. "We went wherever we were sent," he smiles, adding, "By train, mostly overnight journeys. We carried our own kits." He also recalls the legendary rivalry between leading colleges of Delhi University. "At that time too, students from St Stephen's College and Hindu College would always argue about which one was better. So when an SRCC student became the captain of the university hockey team, it was a proud moment for my college," he says. What stands out most in his recollection is not victory or defeat, but the unconditional support he received from his alma mater. Faculty members ensured that student-athletes were not left behind academically. If you missed a lecture because of a match, you were expected, and helped, to catch up. "There were extra classes specially conducted so that there was no deficiency," he recalls, "While they supported sports, it was also clear that you were a student first. Everything else followed." Perhaps the most moving detail Sethi shares is also the simplest. For 70 years without fail, he met two of his closest college friends, Madan G Gupta and Y P Vij, every week. Not occasionally. Not when convenient. Every week. The venue was most often United Coffee House in Connaught Place, another pre-Independence icon for nostalgic Delhiites. "There were weeks when someone was unwell," he says softly, adding, "We still met. Maybe for less time. But we met." The two friends are now deceased, leaving Sethi with fond memories to recall whenever he passes by Connaught Place. In an era of WhatsApp groups and alumni databases, it is easy to forget that loyalty once required physical presence. These friendships were not curated. They lived. Asked what they spoke about when they met, he shrugs: "Everything. And nothing. College. Family. The country." SRCC, in that sense, never really ended for them. Few institutions can claim multi-generational loyalty. Fewer still can point to it living under one roof. Mr Sethi's son, Sunil Sethi, graduated from SRCC in 1975 - exactly 25 years after his father. Decades later, Sunil would go on to become the longest-serving Chairperson of the Fashion Design Council of India, shaping India's textile and fashion industry and its global cultural presence. Yet within the family, his SRCC years remain a quiet badge of honour. "My father never told me to take admission in SRCC," Sunil says and adds, "He never needed to." The legacy did not stop there. SP Sethi's two grandsons, Yajur and Vedant, are also alumni of SRCC, making the Sethis a rare three-generation 'Ramites' family. Yajur credits the college for more than just the degree; he met his life partner, Prapti, in their SRCC batch of 2009. With Vedant graduating in 2013, over 60 years separate the first Sethi graduate from the last. The campus changed. The syllabi evolved. The cut-offs soared. But the college remained the common thread. As the centenary year unfolds, SRCC stands at an intersection of memory and ambition. New students arrive with global dreams. Old alumni return with stories. Somewhere between them sits Sethi, a living bridge between the Commercial College of Daryaganj and the global SRCC of today. The centenary is being marked with ceremonies, publications, reunions and retrospection. Yet one of its most powerful symbols is this man sitting calmly, recalling classrooms that no longer exist, friendships broken only by death and a college that shaped not just careers, but character. Asked what SRCC gave him, Sethi does not answer immediately. "Confidence," he says finally. "And standards." And what would be his takeaway from a nearly 100-year-old life? "You take something," he says, pauses and adds, "You pass it on in better shape."...