Disclaimer: Vox Populi, IIT Kanpur, is the exclusive owner of the information on this website. No part of this content may be duplicated, paraphrased, or interpreted in any other way without written consent from Vox Populi. If you want to reproduce any of the content on this page, please contact our chief editors directly or reach out to us by email at voxpopuli@iitk.ac.in.
In this 32nd edition of As We Leave, Khush Khandelwal, a Y21 graduate from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, looks back on a journey of unexpected adventures, fresh beginnings, and scattered learnings that slowly came together to fill the scrapbook of his years at IIT Kanpur.
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 IITK.
How do you even begin to say goodbye to a place that became your home, your witness for the last few years? The place that saw you most lost and most alive. The place that saw you grow, stayed up with you through endless End Sem nights, spotted you wandering the campus through thick fog, followed you to endless rooftops, and giggled along as you chased deadlines, all while encapsulating these moments into a cherished memory of friends, laughter, and countless unforgettable experiences?
1/4: Learning to Belong
Life is a scrapbook, and to carve a new chapter, you need to turn the page and bid adieu to the previous one. This chapter started online with the looming fear of graduating with just a .pdf degree. Almost immediately I got introduced to the family system here which gives you your first glimpse of what it means to be at IITK and becomes your compass to the campus life.
And once the campus opened up offline, there was no looking back. There is a strange feeling that you get as you enter the campus gate for the first time. It fills you with bittersweet happiness, a surge of zeal, and a satisfaction that you’ve finally reached what you’ve been yearning for over the past few years.
What followed was a constant back-and-forth of trying to find myself, piercing through the veil of doubt and finding what I truly stood for. Some highlights being a wing-wide, half-naked walk to Hall 13 canteen after a drenched GPL, screaming our throats out at the hall across the block, making new friends who stuck around till the last semester, mapping every inch of the campus, and the never-ending bullas that tied it all together.
2/4: Eff Around, Find Out
The second year started with lots of experimentation. From unknowingly sitting for the Editor interview at Vox in the beginning of the year to falling in love with the nuances of journalistic writing (for those unaware of the context – I sat for the position in my second year while it is usually meant for third year). From trying ML for the first time in ICG secy interviews to eventually falling for it. A brief stint in a competition led to my first college trip. And then there were moments like casually heading to Z Square and, almost impromptu, deciding to go all the way to Lucknow with low cash and a dying phone battery. I also joined VISiON to try my hands at vision-based bots. It was a year of trying things and letting them surprise me.
The year also brought along exciting projects and night-long submission grinds for InterIIT Tech and Takneek that nearly boggled my eyes out. I still remember scoring negative on a surprise test the next morning while I was up all night making a Takneek PS submission. Even today, the thick fog of January and February takes me back to those InterIIT days. It reminds me of walking from Hall 5 to the PClub room with my teammate (and wingie), replaying the pressure of high-stakes deadlines and the nerve-wracking final submission. These experiences didn’t just help me grow. They gave me lifelong friends, seniors I can always turn to, and memories I’ll cherish forever.
By the end of second year, internship season was around the corner and it brought with it doubts about what I wanted to do in my career. Uncertainty also clouded decisions about where to invest my time next year and I nearly got pulled into the “PoR” rat race. Thankfully, some amazing seniors helped me see that it’s okay to choose passion over pressure.
(3-ε, 3)/4: Margin of Growth
The summer after second year holds a special place in my heart. It began with becoming an Editor at Vox, grinding InterviewBit, practicing mock GDs, and finally landing that internship at ITC.
But getting there was not without its own taste of smoothness. While companies started rolling out their shortlists, I sat tightly, hoping the next company would take a chance on me. As Day 1 approached, only two companies had me in the pipeline. By the eve of internship season, it was down to just ITC. That was my only shot.
I was nervous before the GD, but told myself that I had put in the work and it went well. What caught all of us off-guard was that the technical round was scheduled just an hour later. At 9 PM, I cycled from my hall to the tutorial block, whispering concepts to myself, some of them forced into my head by a friend who refused to give up on me.
As candidates were called in, my anxiety grew. I was one of the last ones interviewed, and couldn’t help but wonder: Was I just a formality? Will they even consider me now? It was not until 3 AM that my name was called for the interview. But I held it together, walked in, and had a grounded conversation. I walked out not knowing what would happen, but feeling content that I had shown up fully.
At around 4 AM, I was told that I had made it to the final round. I didn’t sleep. I just sat with my thoughts, revisited some concepts, and hoped it would count. It almost melts your heart to hear those words from SPO, “Would you like to lock your offer?”
This was my margin of growth. Sometimes, you just have to trust the process, hold your nerve, and run the race till the finish line.
3/4: Becoming
Things slowly started falling into place. I could look forward to working in a domain that felt aligned and blended my love for tech with elements of management. Vox became not just a place to write but a place to belong. A space where we could brainstormed ideas and cover stories that mattered.
This was followed by helping shape the Tech Meet prep camp and working on a product development PS. I stayed back over the winter break for InterIIT preparations and that’s when rumors spread that our wing was haunted.
While the wingie who claimed to have seen the ghost spotted it while heading out for a smoke (make of that what you will), the genuine fear in his eyes and detail to the event was hard to dismiss. What followed was peak college experience. From suggesting it might just be a stray dog to interviewing the SIS guard about a possibly missing child, we tried everything to debunk the sighting. Eventually, though, fear got over us. While the rest of the wing was packed in one room out of fear, I spent my nights in DJAC: the ground zero for pulling off InterIIT submissions.
Travelling from Kanpur to Madras for the Tech Meet came with its own set of hiccups. Our train was cancelled at the last moment, but thanks to the swift action of the SnT, we managed to get flight tickets just in time. Once in Madras, the sudden shift from Kanpur’s biting cold to the warm, humid weather took a toll on me. In the end, our team came together, delivered on the D-day presentation, and made all the effort count.
4/4: The Last Page
Fourth year started with the joy of finally landing a PPO and a strange calm that came with it. Finally, I could find time for cultivating hobbies like learning how to play guitar (that never quite played in tune), reading things with no exam at the end of them, finally executing an ever-postponed trip to Sikkim, spontaneously heading to Banaras on a call, swimming until my shoulders gave up or my breath ran short, and playing night-long cricket matches.
There was also the thrill of finding the perfect team for a case competition. And the fun that followed as we hopped from Delhi to Mumbai for afterparties and Socials (thanks to our squad) all the while scratching our heads for the perfect strategy.
The final days were a blur of photoshoots, farewells, testimonials and what not. But it wasn’t just about saving some clicks in the gallery or saying goodbyes. It was about capturing the moments, a constant reminder of the effortless access we had to friends, freezing time where everything still felt whole.
We always knew the end was near, just never expected how quickly it would arrive. What was once our everyday will quietly shift into weekend calls, and we’ll unknowingly slide down that slippery slope. And for once, it won’t be a fallacy.
College taught me the quiet strength of work and the louder voice of integrity. Some choices tested my resolve, others reaffirmed it and through it all, I lived some of my best days. The campus, in its gentle way, offers a safety net for your failures and a springboard for your comebacks. In the end, it’s not just about what you’ve done or will do. It’s about what you choose to stand for, especially when no one’s watching.
It took me 4 years to fill the scrapbook of this place. But it will take a lifetime and more to unpack the living and breathing memory of this incredible place I can comfortably call a home.
IIT Kanpur, thank you for everything. <3
– Khush Khandelwal
Written by: Khush Khandelwal
Edited by: Suhani Bansal, Sanchit Arora
Designed by: Pragya Puri
