Friday, July 6, 2012

First day at IIT hostel

Yes, like every other IITian I also had a lot of inhibitions, expectations and an imaginary picture of what IIT and its hostels would look like. But having seen a good part of IIT-B in the counselling sessions and with a few online pics it wasn't too much of a surprise also. IIT Delhi looked much more homely and neat than IIT Bombay, more like a place inside city than the latter. However apart from the structure and the campus there was different atmosphere to the one I had imagined. The first was the air, it felt like the one I experienced in my childhood in the streets of old Delhi. The air was old and had a stillness about it even though it was July. The hostel building was even older with everything having a "sarkari" feel. And even though we were lucky to be assigned the new part of the hostel the feeling I got was common home was so much better. This is not the place I would live for the next 4 years as a reward for passing the toughest exam of engineering in the country. And inside I knew that was going to happen. Nothing too big about it but it overwhelms you in those moments. Next was observing the seniors. The image I had in my mind of the seniors was the ones who I had seen clearing JEE from Bhopal and it was very small number till then. The image of seniors was they would be people like me some a bit smarter and a larger chunk the studious, nerd kind ofs. But little did I realize it was the other way around. IITians were smarter, better looking and were just "normal" people. Some quiet, some chirpy, some good looking, some not so, some cocky, some arrogant, some polite, some not bothered. The feeling was mutual among all the freshers. In the first week, I remember discussing with many how their seniors were so much more smart, talented and brilliant than they expected. It was depressing in one sense because every IIT fresher is on a "high" getting into IIT and expects the future life to be less challenging than past. And that's when the feeling of being the one you look down upon dawns on you. One of our seniors said in the initial few meetings of the batch that he can get a better guy in the institute in any field that we choose we think we are best at be it any sport, cultural activity or any subject. And it was true. Unless you are one of those national players etc etc which 99% are not, there's always a senior in the first year who does stuff better than you. The reason being IIT gives you so much opportunities to hone your skills in your areas of interest that people become better and better at it while their stay at IIT. Its a place in a sense which helps you grow as a person too. Its not something to brag about but culture at IIT helps in developing personalities also. So yes, coming back to that first day - its a day of a lot of feelings going on inside and its a day which gives you a lot to think about. My day was one of realization and coming to terms with reality which was quite different from imagination. And also one of those which makes me think how unaware I was. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I would like to know more about your experiences at IIT.

I mean all - sad, happy, neutral.

Laptop