As We Leave #34: IITK – A dream, well lived

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In the 34th edition of As We Leave, Nandini Bhattad, a Y22 student from the Department of Statistics and Data Science, writes about her four years at IITK – from finding her footing in SDS and navigating the chaos of campus life to collecting stories across halls, clubs, fests, late-night walks, and friendships that made IITK feel like home.

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.

As I sit back in my home town writing this AWL, I feel home-sick. And one might think how is that possible? Well, it is because there can be more than one place we call home. When I stepped on campus for the first time on the 27th of October, 2022 I had no expectations. I did not have a pre-drawn picture about how my campus life would look nor did I have a goal of making a particular kind or a particular number of friends. All I can remember is some excitement about who would be my roommate and an eagerness to start classes. The first person I talked to was my amma Zainab, who eventually introduced me to Almas, who would go on to be my roommate throughout my college life. I remember my mom gasping at the size of H4 E-209 and asking Zainab, “iss mai 2 log rukenge?” I did not feel much at the moment, just a little sad that my roommate won’t be my little sister anymore. However, I found not only almas, but 4 more roomies, who added life to that small H4 home we created. One more vivid memory I have is desperately trying to find more people in my already miniscule branch. And I clearly remember yelling “finally koi tho SDS ka mil gaya” at Ishi as soon as she entered the wing. The rest is well known history from then. On the third day of living at H4, I remember hosting a pizza party, where we meticulously placed the pizza on the chair and arranged it between our beds so that it was equal distance from everyone! This was one of the first instances of me hosting a party that would go on to me being the forever host of all the parties that college life had in store. I have always loved having people over, and rightly so I converted my 4th year room to an actual party hub (more on this later!). Later, I also did not care much about keeping food off my bed and no chair was required later to act as a stool 🙂

The saddest thing about the first semester was not having any of my friends in the same ESC slot as me. As the first few days on campus unfurled, I was continuing with my personality of being a nerd. I used to run to my room immediately after classes and not interact much. I used to talk to a lot of my school friends and family members. This was how most of my days went for the first 2-3 weeks. Then I made some friends, who for the better or worse influenced a lot of my first semester. For the better because I met one of my best friends through them, for the worse because it showed in my grades. It’s safe to say I was distracted. The focused, sincere Nandini had turned into one who wouldn’t open her books one day until the exam. Here I would give a shout out to Ishi for teaching me PHY115. Hands down, the best decision I made in my first semester was auditioning for anchoring and poetry slam for freshers night. It was definitely intimidating to advertise for leaky condoms in front of Sethia and Pandya the first time I stepped into LitSoc, but worth it. Then came the second semester where I was determined to work upon my grades. I also slowly got a hang of how things go about in college. I have very few memories of the second semester. I remember Hardik, Ishi and I attending Quantum Physics together. I also remember attending the first fests at college, reaching the pronite at 7pm and waiting like fools for the concert to begin. All 5 of us – Almas, Ishi, Nandita, Vasundhara and me getting ready in E209 is a core memory. I owe Almas for teaching me very basic things like doing my own makeup and tying my own hair. Eventually, my calls to friends and family also decreased. I started liking campus, finding my lost nerdy self back and settling for the fact that this is who I am. But I also realised it can be balanced with other things.

The second year is when I realised my full potential to dance on the party floor!! I took up A LOT of PORs. I was ELS and DebSoc secretary, I was a company coordinator, I was a CGM at Vox and an academic mentor. The deepest regret I had was not having any POR in the SnT council. I had tried for ICG, being one of the few members to do all the 4 tasks. However, due to some utterly bad luck and some things I cannot write here I wasn’t selected. I remember myself soaking my pillow wet crying about it. I badly and anyhow wanted to get into consulting. But as fate had it I couldn’t. This however did not diminish my desire to still hold a SnT POR. So I applied for some random SnT council secy thing (classic me). I remember walking into the H12 council room, having the most awkward interview of my life and still somehow getting selected. I was still determined about ICG. So I was on cloud 9 when interviews for the Fanatics were announced. I carried my laptop bag for the interview when I was at a restaurant with Ishi. I literally asked to shut down the live music there so that I could attend the call! I got selected, felt happier than ever and did not end up getting any projects, realizing that was just a scam! ( apologies to any ICG member reading this). The SnT and the Vox POR was eventually where I did “fraud” and rightfully so I was not ratified. But I did not mind much. The second year was actually my most active year. I remember being on video call with my mom telling her how I had back to back events or club meets. I felt good. I somehow felt like I had covered up for my distractions in first year. This year was also an introduction to my branch. I met Dootika mam for the first time, asked her for a project and also got rejected by her. I also did Real Analysis. Proving 1>0 was definitely the highlight of my third semester. I also had my first night out studying for its end semester. Ishi and I slept on the RM couch for 45 minutes each that night, which turned into a core and dreadful memory. Somehow, I passed that course. By this time, IITK had taught me that you cannot always be the best or top of everything. And it did take a lot of my time adjusting to this fact. One more vivid incident I remember is having my first ever course project meet in front of Dominos at OAT. I randomly met Mayur, who I knew just as a co-secretary till then. There he sat having pizza, which when he offered I had to deny as he had topped it with a concerning amount of ketchup. Somehow the topic of Rendezvous came up and I convinced him to go to IIT Delhi. This was my first college trip and from then Ishi, Mayur and I have been an inseparable trio. We had the time of our lives on that trip, sang our hearts out in an immensely crowded metro, saw Mayur imitate “Bhaya” of South Delhi girls and also made close friends with Talin, Niliena and Gauravi.

Along with all this I also had the constant inner nudge to improve my grades. I tried, tried and tried to get a hang of the academic life here. I realised getting high grades was not necessarily linked with covering the entire syllabus, but covering the essential parts. This was one more thing that I required adjusting to!! On a different note one more insecurity I had was not having a particular “big group” of friends. Don’t get me wrong, I had many close friends with whom I loved hanging out, but there was still that “big group” feeling I wanted. A major highlight of my fourth semester was going on the impromptu Lucknow trip. By god’s grace, Ishi’s parallel universe she runs at home did not come in the way! It was a very fun and memorable day. Probably this was also the day marking the beginning of recordings of my face expressions by my friends which have now turned into a priceless sticker collection. I also started many “rituals”. These include sitting on L20 ground stage and judging people along with Ishi, going to H4 canteen every Thursday with Hardik (owing to the inedible mess food) or going to Mocha after every exam.

Then came the time of my college life where I can unequivocally say that I worked the hardest. It was the intern season. I, like most, was unaware what to do, how to build your resume, what to focus on and so on. My partner through all of this chaos was Hardik. We sat in KD all day long doing Leetcode and Brainstellar throughout the summer of 2024. Also, the consulting craze had still not left me, I even did a social internship (which also included feeding dogs, for context I am scared of dogs), just to do justice to my consulting resume. But I didn’t get a MBB shortlist. I was shattered. But IITK also teaches you very well how to move on! I also did not get any other shortlists initially, while everyone around me did. I remember talking to my mom telling her that I just want a chance to give an interview. I had no expectations for Day 1 or so. I got 2 shortlists just a day before Day 1, and focused on giving my best. At 2am, I got a call from a CoCo that I had an interview for Deutsche Bank at 6am. I went to the SPO office and gave numerous rounds, constantly updating my parents about my own predictions on whether they would give me an offer or not. They finally did, on the condition that I won’t appear for the remaining two shortlists. I agreed to them, because I did not have too many options. But one of the remaining shortlists was indeed my dream company, Goldman Sachs. Till date I hold a “what if” I gave that interview! But in the moment I know I did the right thing, because there is also a “what if” I got rejected by GS. It turns out IITK also teaches you to get over your “what ifs”! Towards the end of the second year I was a part of conducting the first offline PD at IITK which was a blast! I was simultaneously applying to be a coordinator at ELS. I was selected to be one along with my dream team – Ishi, Mayur and Sidhant.

ELS was a major part of my third year. I enjoyed every bit of managing events, meeting lovely secretaries, core team meets, visiting the DOSA office as if it was a park and what not! I even spent a humongous amount of money on treats! We had the best time during the Inter IIT cultural meet at IIT Patna and came back with a podium finish! Ishi and me gossiping with all our cutie secys till 4am in the night in that one room in IIT Patna is a core memory. ELS gave me a new family on campus. It also induced my vlogging era, because my phone is filled with videos of us 4 cycling back to our halls after secy meets (Ishi and me forcing Sidhant and Mayur to drop us first as an act of “chivalry”). I have had some of the most fun parties in LitSoc and some of the most patience testing moments waiting for the sole key outside Litsoc. Another core memory of my third year is alternating between CCD and the library with Hardik and Deham. I must say that they have got commendable convincing skills, because they have managed to convert every single “no” to CCD to a “yes”. I am constantly amazed by both of them in their ability to do so much bakchodi and still manage to get good grades. I will miss the Starbucks and Subway treats that I used to conjure out of their disputes of which one among them will pay (I love how I was not even considered to be the one paying!) Avani, my sister also visited me towards the end of my third year. I showed her the life I had created here, introduced her to my friends and also had Mayur spill way too many things to her. I explored a lot of Kanpur for the first time with her. It’s funny how Kanpur and IIT Kanpur are two completely different places! I spent the summer of 2025 in Mumbai doing my internship. I met some amazing co-interns, with whom I did a lot of beach outings and bar hoppings. But throughout my internship I missed being in class and doing courses. This was the time I started considering higher studies.

As I returned for the final year I was determined to make a lot of memories, have a lot of fun and also figure out what I wanted to do after college. Dootika mam finally agreed to work with me!! And she is the one who motivated (brainwashed) me to do a PhD. So, I applied and finally got accepted into NUS. This was also the placement season for some friends. I saw them laugh, cry and celebrate through it. Then came the best 4 months of my life yet! The final semester!! I had the time of my life. I went on 4 trips, danced my heart out in the last fests and also partied a lot. I also became close friends with some really cool people who I wish I had met earlier. My room C509 was the party hub throughout the semester. At one point I was used to getting up to a room with a sticky floor, empty glasses and a blinkit bag converted to a dustbin! 9 people sitting on my bed eating mangoes sent from my home is a core memory. My room was also the location of multiple movie nights and gossip sessions. It is safe to say that IITK brought out the Monica Geller in me, because just like her, I loved being the host. While we are on the topic of parties I also want to give a shoutout to B2 of Hall 13 and Btop of Hall 1, for some crazy parties I have attended here.

One constant that remained through all my 4 years was the paneer methi malai (more famously known as PMM) at H4 canteen. It has been my order at H4 ever since the day I tried it, and I even joke that I know I would be successful in life, when I can afford to catch a flight to campus when I crave PMM. On a completely different note, now I find it totally normal to sleep in a room with 3 lizards wandering on my head, use a restroom with a flush which empties itself on the floor and eat food in a mess where you can spot cockroaches. All these things might seem disgusting, but I believe even they had a role in my journey. The flush I mentioned just motivated me to give a tip to anyone reading this : KD ground floor washroom is the best (probably the staff there recognize me now). As I look back upon my 4 years, I hold no regrets. Because if things wouldn’t have happened this exact way, maybe something would be different which I wouldn’t want. But I do feel that I could have cared less and not stressed upon little things. A shoutout to Hardik for bearing all my phases of emotional distress both academically and non-academically and being there for every minor inconvenience of mine. IITK taught me many things as I mentioned above. But the one thing that stands out is that it taught me how to dream. It showed me the enormous amount of opportunities in the world waiting to be pursued. It has also given me the capacity to be dancing in Antaragni (shoutout to the Badshah concert) and roaming the campus streets till 4 am and then appear for a quiz or attend an 8 am class the next day. I have also seen and interacted with all kinds of people, meeting beautiful humans along the way, having my fair share of unwanted ones too. If I were to summarise my journey here, I would say that it is a dream, well-lived.

The 2022 Nandini would be mind-blown to meet the current one. I have evolved in thoughts, character and personality. I will miss the Vikram rides, listening to songs at OAT, sneaking food in KD and the library, roaming the campus streets as if they were my own and knowing almost every alternate passerby. I will miss Vasu begging me to do the curly hair routine, Nandita coming to my room asking for khakhra and Ishi spending more time in my room than hers. IITK has seen me fail, seen my happiest moments and changed me in a way I don’t think any place can. I have had the time of my life here and I am so grateful for all the people I got to live these 4 years with. I left my room with my door scribbled with memories, a one-third used bottle of Vim that managed to survive 4 years and a piece of my heart. I also look forward to our 10 year reunion where I will get to read the letter I wrote myself at Abhinandan

IITK is a magical place. You are surrounded all the time by people doing cool and inspiring things, that makes you realise how much there is to achieve. Every interaction here has shaped me (and also taught me what can be ignored). I have also had the same wallpaper on my laptop from my second year to final semester. It said, “What if it all works out?” And I am very glad to inform the 2023 Nandini that it did!! I have also come to realise that a place is a product of the people that inhabit it. And I will say once again, that I met the best ones possible. Many people told me towards the end that the best years of my life are over. I was in denial until now. But as I finish writing this with moist eyes I think (with a p-value > 0.05), indeed they are.