Tarun Kanodia is a graduating Y19 in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. In this piece, he reflects on his journey at IITK that shaped him into who he is today. He talks of the close friendships he formed while on campus and the importance of working towards what you want.
Disclaimer:- The views presented below are the author’s own and are not in any manner representative of the views of Vox Populi as a body or IIT Kanpur in general. This is an informal account of the author’s experiences at IIT-K.
After procrastinating for the n-th time, I finally sat down to write this article. It’s still hard to believe that the four-year journey is coming to an end. From giving the first ever online JEE to spending 2 years of college online to facing placements alongside impending recession, our batch has seen it all.
“Everything I Have I Owe To This College… This Stupid, Wonderful, Boring, Amazing College.”
The above quote is a derivative of Jim’s quote from The Office, and I think it aptly captures my journey. What I have with me now is much more than I could ask for, and I owe it all to this institute. As I was reading some past AWLs, I realized that most of them had a constant theme where the writer seemed to have a lot of positive experiences, and the negative ones taught them a valuable lesson. However in my case, for a significant portion of my college life, I was stressed. This could partly be due to the online nature, and partly due to the fact that most of the time we kept chasing a ‘high’ that lasted ‘low’. Now as I write this article, I realise that when we see our college life through ‘Graduation Goggles’ (HIMYM fans, wya), our brain tends to make us forget all the bad experiences, and we only remember the good ones. This article will be a summary of my journey, for my batchmates to reminisce and juniors to learn (if there are any lessons to be taken :p).
I still remember the day I first stepped in Hall-13, as if it was just yesterday. I hadn’t lived in a hostel before, as my hometown is Kanpur too. So the initial days here were quite a challenge for me. As if living on the topmost floor in a triple sharing room in the scorching heat of July wasn’t enough, even the fan in our room did not work properly! Thanks to my roomies (Amartya S. Das and Arya Bhatta), who made this transition a bit easier. As time passed, my wingies began to interact well with each other, and I am grateful that our wing still holds a special bond to this very day.
The first semester began, and just like everyone else, I too was bowled over by academics. I was quite intimidated by seeing people asking doubts in MTH101 tutorial sessions, while I failed to even comprehend what was being taught. Seeing other people participating in various clubs, events did give me a big FOMO, as I was focusing only on academics initially. Looking back at it, I realise it was mostly due to the competitiveness that JEE preparation had instilled in me. In hindsight all that overthinking seems silly, because now I can look at the bigger picture. Whatever I did/didn’t do in the first year doesn’t really affect where I am now. So if you are a first year reading this, my advice would be to choose a particular activity that you genuinely like, and get involved in it. Even if you don’t (due to some reason), do not stress over it, you’ll end up just fine :). There’s one philosophy that I learnt in my first year and found particularly useful for rest of my stay at IITK: When you’re going through hell, just keep going. This is applicable to almost any bad situation that you might find yourself stuck in. Also, having friends going through the same shit as you helps you get it done, compared to when you’re stuck alone. Whenever you find yourself worrying too much about something, just go out of your room and sit with your friends, soon you’ll forget the most pressing of your troubles (for the time being at least). After midsems, I became a volunteer in Antaragni Security Team along with my “bhais”, just because my “dada” was the security officer at that time. Our SG (Soham Ghosal) had told us that it wouldn’t be as fun as we were making it out to be, and we did find that out soon enough XD. The first semester flew by quite fast.
As we all know, in the second semester we were struck by COVID-19. The “one-week” mid sem break was extended indefinitely. To be honest, I don’t recall much of the online part of college life because it felt like we were stuck in an endless cycle of sleeping and watching lectures. Multiple assignments, continuous evaluation and high averages became a constant in everyone’s life. During the summer break, I hadn’t done anything productive either, and most of the time was spent chatting, calling, or playing “Among Us” with friends. When I found out that our wing SGs got internship offers, I realised that I too would have to participate in the internship season at the end of my second year. Following Soham’s advice, I started practising coding. The third semester introduced us to some CSE courses, including ESO207, which has been a part of my academic journey since then :p. I have taken this course in the third semester, helped my friends get an A ( जिनके अपने सपने पूरे नहीं होते न … वह दूसरों के सपने पूरे करते है 😛) in this course in the fifth semester, and even became a tutor of this course in the seventh semester (more on that later).
Then came the summers, where some of my friends did an SIP internship. I realized I did not have much to write on my resume then (first year “POR”s are not really PORs), so instead of trying for an internship, I took up two projects, while simultaneously preparing for the upcoming tests. Tests began, and contrary to my expectations, I was not getting shortlisted anywhere. Until a few days prior to day 1, I only had one or two shortlists, in the companies I wasn’t interested in. I remember considering not appearing for Day 1 interviews, as once you get an offer on Day 1 you can’t reject it. Then two days before Day 1, I was giving Amex’s test, when Shubh messaged me about the release of shortists for a number of companies. I left the test midway to check them, and fortunately I was shortlisted in many of them. On the next day, I had GS’s interviews. The interview process was exhausting, as it required us to sit in front of a laptop for the entire day and we could be pulled into a Zoom breakout room for an interview at any moment. After enduring this tiring process, I went to bed early since Day 1 interviews were scheduled for the early morning. I was lucky enough to get an offer from my topmost preference (Quadeye) within half an hour of the start of day 1, which concluded my internship season :). The only major takeaway from this is to keep your calm, because this process is long and tiring. Things will not always pan out the way you want, but you still have to adapt and play along.
During the third year, my routine was similar to the previous semesters – waking up, attending lectures, completing assignments, and sleeping. The only significant change came when we were allowed to return to campus in the sixth semester, which was the best news we had received in a long time. Reuniting with my friends after a prolonged period of separation was a heartwarming experience. We were relocated to Hall-3, which had been closed for the past two years. Although adjusting there presented a new challenge, the joy of living with my wingmates again outweighed any discomfort. This semester was particularly hectic (just ask any CSE student about compilers :p). The only reprieve came in the form of the back-to-back fests – Udghosh, Antaragni, and Techkriti. Eventually, the semester ended, and we went on our internships.
The internship sure was an unforgettable experience, especially since many of my CSE friends were with me. The workload was intense. But the office parties were fun and we had a great time. We also had to do lab component of TA course during that time, which required us to submit a lab report on Mondays. So every Monday, after a tiring day at office, we would assemble in Yatharth’s room to copy take reference from a mass-forwarded lab report. I not only made new friends but also discovered new places in Delhi-NCR, thanks to Ayush Shakya, the travel enthusiast (“bhanderlust” :p) of our group.
Coming back in final year, I was determined to make the most out of this place, to have as much fun as possible. From going to OAT screenings, sneaking into Y22’s orientation with Akansh (ex core team member), spamming memes on instagram stories, playing the most NSFW guesstimates with Ajay, playing mini-militia and football with wingies, I did it all. I also joined the gym along with some of my wingies (Shoutout to Nilay, Alok, Shashank and Sunay – The gymbros). I probably made more new contacts in final year than all other years. As I mentioned before, I became a tutor of the ESO207 course – some juniors might know me from here. It was fun seeing the inner workings of a course and how many mails professors receive regarding the most trivial of things. The only downside was waking up on a Saturday morning for proctoring a quiz/exam. Placement season was approaching, which is really a one-of-a-kind experience here. I also assisted some of my close friends in placements. Sunay’s (the OPC) presence in our wing was a major asset, he helped the entire wing with the “stack” of resumes (inside joke lol). During placements, entire days went by being with friends in hall-12, finding walk-ins, prepping them etc. The times were tough, but we survived.
“No matter how you get there, or where you end up, human beings have this miraculous gift to make that place home.” – Creed Bratton, The Office
In the last few days, I roamed around campus, trying to visit the places I had not yet visited, and relive the moments for the last time. We had various photoshoots, wing outings and the department farewell. Looking back, I can definitely say IITK has provided me with the best set of friends one could ever ask for, and luckily some of them would still be with me after I graduate. As for me, I am happy that I was able to do exciting things alongside some of the smartest and hardworking people in the country. IIT Kanpur is a place that offers a lot of opportunities and choices, but the time we have here is limited. So all I can say is go ahead, explore while you can and be accountable for your choices. If you’ve read this till here, feel free to reach out to me in case you think I can help you in any way 🙂 – All the best for your journey. Adios IITK, my second home ❤️.
Written by: Tarun Kanodia
Edited by: Mahaarajan J, Niliena Celine Biju
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