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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.
In the 87th edition of As We leave 2026, Devansh Bansal, a Y22 from Department of Earth Sciences looks back at his IITK time with nostalgia and takes us through his rollercoaster ride of a journey, accompanied by great friendships, trips and side quests along the way.
New Beginnings
Came to this college as a curious kid who hadn’t seen much of life outside my home and institute. I still remember it like it was yesterday, the day my parents were leaving for home after dropping me at Hall 13 gate, crying my heart out and begging for them to take me back home(in retrospect, obviously one of the worst decisions one could’ve made). Well, not going back might just have been the best decision of my life, because what I experienced here at college, the goods, the bads, ended up teaching me about life and shaping my personality more than the 18 years before that ever could.
Old Friendships
A good friend I had known from my institute also ended up choosing IITK, so obviously a large chunk of my initial days were spent with him. I used to visit his wing and play cards with his wingies till late night for months. Through him, I also ended up meeting a crazy group of people, slowly filtered out over time to become ‘Kaam ka Group’. The first half of first sem came and went, as night outs became a daily occurrence, and academics were sidelined for said night outs. Then came a bad news from way back home, my grandmother had sadly passed away. Huge thanks to all of my friends for taking care of me that night. It stayed with me for months, but I tried to put on a smile in front of people so as to not feel like a burden.
Damage Control
Second semester came, and with it, a long sequence of events. At the time, they felt like they were some of the worst things to happen. But, looking from a more positive perspective, made leaving a terrible person, easier. With everything going on, came a constant feeling of anxiety. I took it upon myself to deal with it alone(obviously a bad decision). So, huge parts of my day were spent trying to distract myself and with that, I rekindled my passion for football, watching every Liverpool and Atletico Madrid game. Healing wasn’t really a huge dramatic process; for me, it was like watching Liverpool grind out and a scrape a late 1-0 win: far from beautiful, but just enough to get by. During this time, I kind of drifted apart from my group, and started hanging out regularly with Remanth, who, unknowingly was helping me deal with the storm of emotions inside me, and I will always remain grateful for that friendship.
Field Trips
As part of my department, we had 3 courses where we would go for a field trip with professors to a location and stay there for a few days. These were some of the craziest days I spent with my friends from Earth Sciences: Remanth(just the first trip), Akhilesh, Amisha, Shardul, and Vidit. These field visits would’ve been incomplete without this bunch of people. Gaining no amount of knowledge during these trips, we gained something better, memories, good times and some insane gossips(iykyk). That day when the professor left Shardul, Akhilesh and me at the hotel and we went to the site on an E-Rickshaw and made an entrance with our speaker is for sure my best memory from our trips.
Fresh Starts
One of the best decisions I made around the 5th semester was getting actively back together with my old group and going to that 4 day long road trip to Rishikesh and Mussoorie. This trip, somehow(even I don’t know how) became one of the key points in my college life because it would end up helping me get one step closer to finally getting rid of the anxious feelings. That summer, the realisation hit that among all my personal BS, intern season was upon us. So, I started actively prepping for that by doing DSA and Aptitude problems every day. Although they would prove to be not as effective, as I didn’t end up getting any interviews(except one, late into phase 2, which I flunked btw). Although unsuccessful, it taught me one thing: I still had it in me to work hard and do something.
Legendary Sixth Sem
Along came the 6th semester, filled with all night gaming and movie sessions with Ankit and Gupil. Of course, how could I forget our 3 people mini trip to Delhi for the Ed Sheeran concert with Riddhima and Gupil. Also the semester where I told most of my friend group everything that had happened in my life that I hadn’t told anyone at the time, a huge relief and a burden off my mind. Along the same time, also got close with Vivek, with whom I used to watch football and bet on random games with him. To end this semester on a high, I went to a standup comedy show(Kullu) with Riddhima and Vivek, where they ended up abusing the opening act and offending Kullu to the point where he threatened to kick us out if we don’t shut up. Between all this, this semester also somehow ended up being my most academically efficient one.
Placement Blues
The end of a fun sem hit, and I realised I didn’t have an internship yet. Through referrals, I was able to finally get an interview at EY, where I got an unpaid internship, which I funnily thought was gonna be on the location but ended up being remote(another blessing in disguise as I started my placement prep early on). The end of internship season came, and with it the news that I got a room in hall 5 for my last year. Deeply saddened, I pushed hard for a room at hall 9, but to no avail. This also ended up being a blessing in disguise because Sujal also came to hall 5 as a way to not feel lonely there. Random walks with him during placement season and hearing his rants are some of the fondest memories here. Anyways, I started my placement prep with DSA and was practically a roommate to Gupil at Hall 1(huge thanks for not kicking me out everyday ). During this period I also found some new friendships in the form of group ‘BePAGAARZ’. Anyways, down comes day 1, with my only shortlist being for a day 5 company. My friends ran around all day with my resume, actively trying to do anything in their power, trying to get me an interview anywhere. This is when I realised, as long as I have them, I will never walk alone. By the end of day 3, I was all out of energy and on the verge of tears, which was when I called my brother in law and talked to him for an hour or so, with him motivating me to keep going and telling me how he could relate largely to my placement story, ending up doing well on his own down the line. Woke up on the 4th of December with some newfound hope, getting shortlisted for the aptitude round for futures first, which I performed well at and finally got an interview. I knew this was one thing I could not mess up and went in with a confident face, and ended up getting the offer a few hours later; one of the happiest moments of my college life, with almost all of my day 1s close to me(except Vaibhav, who was off sleeping).
The Wedding
One day after getting the offer, my focus shifted from placements to my sister’s upcoming wedding in February. That December went by in a jiffy, with handling the wedding preparations and going shopping every single day. Then came February, the time of the wedding. Some of my best times were spent at the little events hosted for the wedding, laughing and dancing with all my family members. On the day of the wedding, the realisation of growing up hit me and I cried my heart out during the ‘vidaai’, one the most bittersweet moments in a brother’s life, knowing that you have to, but not wanting to let go.
Side Quests
The last semester came with the realisation that I only have a few months left with these people. So, along came random plans to go out and do something new every day. Staying up till late night(or early morning), playing catan became a constant. Other activities included cooking at hall6, watching the whole scary movie franchise, making reels, rooftop hopping with Vanshika and Vedanshi, shooting the hss video with Aditya V, among so much more. After the endsems ended, these side quests became more frequent, starting with an adventurous blur of a night with Vivek. During the last 15 days, we must’ve went for late night pickleball games at least 6-7 times. Stopping near the gate every time we went out to do something became a habit. Also, watching Michael revived my love for MJ and his songs became the unofficial soundtrack to my final semester.
“Billie Jean mera ni lover, oh bass ik kudi jedi kehndi si main hi aa o(auu)”.
The Season of Goodbyes
Welp, the days every one of us had been dreading were upon us. But before that, one last college event, Abhinandan, and the night after, signing each other’s yearbooks and capturing our last moments as a group, before Vedanshi, and eventually everyone leaves. The decision to stay back for the Kanye concert(which got cancelled anyways) backfired as I had to see all my friends leave, each goodbye hitting harder every time someone left. Eventually, the day came for me to leave. A pretty normal day to be honest, just ordered in a last meal with my friends who were still there, did some last minute chores and left like nothing had happened, because at this point I thought I had become numb. But reality hits, I broke down during my train home, reminiscing the good times and how I went from hating college life and wanting to just complete my degree after the 3rd sem to someone who left with a heavy heart full of memories.
“Some places never really leave you; they just become the standard against which every future memory is measured.”
Written by: Devansh Bansal
Edited by: Rohan Sawlani, Riddhi Shingte
