IITK101: Course Overview

To our dearest juniors of Y20,

We hope each one of you is keeping well in these uncertain and cruel times. It is a fair assumption that you must be desperately waiting to come to the land of your dreams. But the day you finally do take the sharp turn from GT road to pass the level crossing, the boldly written “Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur” on the wall along its entrance might just steal your heart at once. That moment will make you recall the painstaking journey you took up 2 years back, every sweat you shed preparing, and the memory of each day that you challenged and sacrificed to achieve what you deserve. Congratulations mate! You are an IITian, from this day on. We can’t wait to see your bright shining faces and welcome you to the glorious legacy and vibrant community of IITK.

It is truly ineffable and heartbreaking not to meet you in person, but until then, let us still provide you with a sneak peek, or an IITK 101 to get you on board for the most fascinating, incredible, and in all likelihood, the best years of your life. This is the perfect time for you to explore and experiment. We guarantee that you will be marvelled by the length of diversity in your options. Allow yourself to branch out, meet people beyond your classrooms and make the most of this platform you have achieved. Always remember, the prerequisite for anything is ‘enthu’ alone! We don’t want to give away everything to preserve for you the thrill of first-hand experiences, but we don’t want to keep you in the dark either. Hopefully, this following series of articles will answer all of your questions and succeed in giving you an impression of how life at IITK looks like. The purpose of this series is to keep your fad of college life still ablaze and to make you realise that college life is so much more than just academics and lectures. We aim to acquaint you with the functioning of the institute and the values we uphold as its students. Above all, we want you to feel proud of being a lifetime member of the memoirs of IITK.

What’s coming up next?

Exploring your majestic campus (contrasting starkly with the outside city of Kanpur), which you would brag about as your second home, must be the first on your checklist. Naturally, the list of hangout spots and must-visit places would help you navigate through the 1000 acres of campus grounds. And we better get you used to the IITK lingo as well through this one. Keep an eye for the next article on campus life.

As a student, academics would hold great value and importance in your life and the freedom offered to you by the institute in choosing your electives should be wisely used. Familiarity with the general rules and procedures of structure in place would decidedly be of great benefit. We got that sorted for you in yet another upcoming article in this series.

At least we all can hope that normality finds its way back to our lives and after whining about the exhausting course work, frequent quizzes, unbearable midsems, and ruthless endsems, we can all return to our hostels to let go of it all. Complain about that stressful course or crib about the horrible mess food, chill with our wingies, share a pizza, celebrate birthdays with midnight parties and dance crazy to random songs, only to finally fall asleep on our grumpy old beds. Through its hardships, hostel life will teach you lessons that no amount of classroom teaching ever can. Until you get to start with yours, feel free to take some lessons from our experiences in another article.

Throughout your journey, there will be several guiding bodies helping you find your footing, raise the bar and shine. The SnT council will take you beyond the 4 walled academics and help polish your innovative skills. The GnS council will teach you the important lessons of fitness, sportsmanship and teamwork while you play away from the worries in your lives. The MnC council caters to your artistic hobbies and building your second family in IITK. AnC council would provide you with a helping hand as you find your way into the vast academic world. But how will you participate or contribute? Find the answer in detailed articles coming up. 

In an otherwise restless semester, the annual festivals namely Antaragni, Techkriti and Udghosh provide us with a much needed moment to relax. With the campus all lit up and populated with guests, the overall vibe resonates highly with our spirit. Those 4 days filled with glamorous events, pro-nites and night-outs are arguably the most fun and memorable ones. Encapsulating the experience of a fest in an article is nearly impossible, but we shall try our best to give you a brief and exhilarating summary in another upcoming article.

Ultimately, the point is simply to tell you that something awesome awaits you! This pandemic has, of course, dampened the excitement of being a fresher. The campus which would have been abuzz with introductory activities to welcome you now wears a deserted look. The canteens and hostels which would have witnessed innumerable bulla sessions now long for your presence. But, there is an end to this tunnel and we hope that we come out stronger than ever before. If you ever feel stuck, remember that your bapu/amma is just one call away. Your batch has received the most unconventional orientation, but nonetheless, we don’t want you to miss out on any more ingredients that make your college life memorable. At last, welcome to IITK!

Credits: Dhruv Chhabra (Writer), Snehil Saluja (Poster), Ankur Banga (Editor)