Smit Chaudhary is a final year undergraduate in the Physics department. Let’s have a look at his journey at IIT Kanpur and live the nostalgia and reminiscence with him.
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.
As I sit to write this, I don’t know whom to address this to? Are you here just for a story of just another IITK undergrad or a junior seeking advice? You are more likely to find good career advice from many other people writing their accounts. What I am writing is going to be devoid of advice applicable in the conventional sphere, and what little I offer, I can’t attest to its utility. With the long preface out of the way, stick around for more if you wish.
I am graduating with a Physics degree, but I joined as a Civil Engineering undergraduate and honestly, there is no convincing argument I can put forth to explain why Civil and not Physics in the first place? But I somehow chose Civil. Again, for no particular rational reasons, I joined the Dramatics club. I was also a part of the Antaragni Nukkad team for which the practice lasted long hours. I did not pay much heed to my academics. The inevitable happened, my academics suffered. Because I was constantly away for dramatics practice, I had very little interaction with my wing mates. And initially, I felt out of place in my own wing. There were also some incidents where my wing mates’ behavior was far from appropriate and that further fueled a mutual feeling of resentment.
With a bad semester past me, I should have focused on getting my academics back on track but there was inexplicable pressure to participate in the Galaxy Nukkad now. I bowed to the pressure, but I fared relatively better than the first semester. I had made my mind that this was my last involvement with the Dramatics club, and maybe the last non-academic involvement. I wasn’t suffering but wasn’t flourishing either. I was very low on confidence. I used to reject myself before someone else could do that for me. I did not go for the SG interview because I didn’t see why someone would want me to be one. I was not going to apply to get my branch changed to Physics only because I “knew” I wouldn’t get it anyway. I remember being at the benches near the HC and it took a friend (Shreya) quite a lot of convincing to even have me apply for a branch change. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the application is just a few clicks. No SOPs, no recommendations. And that is how, miraculously (to me then), I became a Physics undergraduate. Over the semester and the following summer, I spent some quality time with my wing mates. Your usual wing activities such as playing CS till sunrise, random bulla sessions, and playing Mafia all night. All of this is just another iteration of bad decisions and the value of a good support system around you (even if the entire system is just one person at times).
With most of the initial hiccups past me and a string of bad decisions, I finally took one of the most rewarding decisions at IITK. I joined Vox. Prior to this, my only interaction with seniors had been with those in the HEC and the Dramatics Club, the first day in Vox was honestly a bit disorienting. The atmosphere was welcoming and respectful. I had no clear plan then and even hindsight is not 20/20 but it was one of the reasons I stuck around. The following year, I took up more responsibility and became an editor. At Vox, I had the chance to work with and learn from many seniors, juniors, and batch mates. Some of them I developed a close kinship with as well. Vox guarantees to be that for almost everyone. Or at least I hope it does. But I got more out of Vox than just that. By observing the system up close, I could see the glaring faults.
Over the past two years (and beyond?) we have witnessed objectionable overreach by the institute authority. There is quite a lot of infighting among students (which, to an extent, can be healthy). And the student community (The UGs at least) are not organized. Admittedly, I too had not done much before it affected people I particularly care about. The student population is dynamic, that is, in 4-5 years, almost all students (particularly the UGs) are replaced and that is both the best and the worst thing about bringing about a change. The things that we want to get rid off could go extinct if just the new batches do the right thing. But it also makes it very easy for the negative to become the norm. The ubiquitous CCTV cameras being the case in point.
There is no way for students to systematically organize and make their collective voices heard. I understand that many, if not most people are here to have fun, learn, get a job, and earn a good life. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I think we can be more vigilant while ensuring all that. Be aware about what is happening, stand up for the right things, be informed, and inform others about what is going on. This reminds me of when about 2 years back, when I was interviewing a certain senior named Ayush Mukherjee for an ‘As we leave..’ just like the one I am writing right now, he said “Even if you have to be a mute spectator, at least be a spectator.” And I would want to reiterate just that. There is no point in blaming anyone except admitting and trying to fill the vacuum that exists in the student body. Maybe the Gymkhana, maybe Vox, maybe Nirvaak or a new body altogether or some combination thereof needs to fill this vacuum. IITK needs to be a place where the system is fair by design and does not rely on the benevolence of those with far-reaching power.
Having ridden the high-horse of being informed and aware, there is so much more to IITK than I knew or currently know. For a long time, ‘campus community’ for me was synonymous to the students, and that too, mainly the UGs (and that too just the boys?). What expanded that for me was a year at Prayas. I could see how people lived so close to me geographically and so far away metaphorically. All of this just points out how there are so many avenues to be better as a community. We live in an overtly and unapologetically sexist campus. A little less overtly casteist campus. In any way, you use your privilege here to address these issues, goes a long way in making it better for those left behind.
My life here and the observations therein have not been all grim (as I might have made them sound). I have had my share of fun. On a personal level, a lot of things simply fell into place lately. I don’t know how much of that had to do with my efforts and how much of it was just the right circumstances. I was your average joe as a student. Doing well in some courses and struggling in others. But the summer after my 3rd year and the 7th semester proved to be surprisingly fruitful. I gained some research experience in the field I am interested in, could even have (albeit a bit shabby) publications. Got through a harrowingly stressful time of grad school applications and then got into a decent enough university.
At IITK, I also developed great friendships that I hope will last a long time. The camaraderie that I share will stay with me forever. My friends in my wing, with whom I have spent many hours trying to one-up each other, support one another and even try to cook a few things. Have had many discussions and arguments with them where I am your friendly neighborhood paragraph writing brainwashed liberal/leftist. My friends in my department, especially Nachiket Karve who has helped me in numerous courses and is a great friend and an even better human. I have also had Shreya’s unwavering support and those occasional reality checks. I am truly grateful for all that, and the way I have grown over my 4 years here. And I think in return, there are ways we can help make the community better. I am not trying to be a fashionable non-conformist here, just trying to leverage my howsoever unique experience to provide a perspective and (hopefully) make a point.
Goodbye IITK. I hope when I look back on my 4 years here, I see a lot many good things I glossed over turn out to be valuable life lessons, and all of which I fret over, become irrelevant.
Written by:- Smit Chaudhary
