As We Leave…#16

Prajual Maheshwari is a final year undergraduate in the Economics 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. 

“Striving for Success without hard work is like trying to harvest when haven’t planted” ― David Bly

It is yet another academic year’s end for IITK, but I still can’t believe that my journey as a student of IITK has finished. It has been a long journey (6 yrs = 2 yrs of coaching and 4 yrs of graduation) and now I stand here at the beginning of a new one.  I still remember my arrival at the Hall 2 gate and glancing over “Bakati” as I walked over it (didn’t have any idea about it at that time). The first time I met my “Baapu”. Let me stop being nostalgic otherwise, there can be a whole list of these first-timer memories.

My journey at IITK started with a pretty common goal of branch change. Obviously, the target was CSE but I somehow managed to get into Economics. When you work hard for a goal you will end up missing on something else, that’s quite natural. It is very important to understand that you can’t do it all. So, In my opinion, always check your priorities and then get to work with all you have got.

As everyone believes that Economics is the most easygoing department of IITK majorly driven by two reasons, first being our relatively chill acads and second being non-lab courses during the 3rd and 4th year. I also agree with these popular opinions. The first reason is mostly pushed by the set of people who have done only one introductory course ECO101A which is offered by a relatively friendly professor. These people extrapolate this sedate experience to the entire department. Campus community on large doesn’t distinguish between a BS and a Btech degree but when some of my friends point this out by saying, “तूने IIT ज्वॉइन की, लेकिन तू इंजीनियर नहीं है!” then I counter them with, “तूने इंजीनियरिंग करके भी क्या कर लिया?”

The Kick-Off Days

I don’t know why it happened to me, I came last to my triple sharing room in hall 2 and by CS grace I was sharing it with my two Andhra room-mates. They used to talk to each other in Telugu simply ignoring me as if I don’t exist and the worst part was that the entire Andhra community used to assemble in my room and discuss their jokes (and I always felt that they were talking about me). They are still my accidental friends. Anyways things got settled in the first couple of days. I was soon mingled with my wingies (obviously equations have changed quite a bit from there). In my opinion, this process becomes so easy because we all share a lot in common unknowingly.

When acads started to kick-off, I was like it would not be too difficult based on the popular myth, “IIT हो गया तो लाइफ चिल है” but soon I realized that it is not the case and I once pointed this to my bapu who certainly changed the mindset. He said, “तू IIT आकर नहीं पढ़ना चाहता, ये तो वहीं बात हो गई की music के इंस्टीट्यूट में एडमिशन लेकर, तुझे गाना नहीं सीखना”. This simple argument made an impact and I was able to convince myself that I will have to study in order to do good here. 

That one Friend

One thing I have experienced and observed is you will always have that one friend who will be there to support you in every walk of life, he/she will be there to listen to you whatever shit you are talking and if there is someone to listen to you, I believe most of the problems are themselves solved. That friend knows all going on inside you and this friend can genuinely give you an unbiased opinion. If you have not found such a buddy than believe me your life at IITK will be much more stressful. In my case, it is my IITK brother Shashank Shekhar.

Apart from this all-time friend, I had some other friends like the ones who are ready for a night-out during exams, a 4 AM chai at DOAA, and some for regular bulla sessions. Then come our room-mates and wingies. The regular blast I used to have in our wing (some really random shit or some pranks) and then laughing over it for hours was really something I loved. 

Transformation is a journey, not a destination

I believe that these 4 years have transformed me into an extrovert, which I really appreciate because in my opinion if you want to achieve something, you should know how to let your audience know about it otherwise, no one knows what is going within you. This extrovert personality helped me connect easily with mates and others.

The shift in mindset is pretty much apparent from the variation in the concerns we have during our IITK stay. I still remember, my first-year thoughts were mostly about going to this club’s session, or to that club’s workshop, that changed to which prof to approach for projects and how. What will be the best thing possible for second-year summer that will also help in third-year interns? Later on, placement profiles and their preparation came up as questions during the third-year. And it doesn’t end here during the 7th semester, questions regarding going for CAT, GMAT or GRE for further studies occupied my mind. 

I was once mad to get a project from some professor and once I got it, after some time I lost complete interest in it and now whenever I see that prof. I just try to get clear myself from him. This hide and seek has got its own fun.

Spend Your Time Well

As a regular timepass, I along with my friends walk around the campus during the night (just to chill), sometimes to Mama Mio other times to OAT. But these long overnight walks become much more interesting during Antaragni or Techkriti (I hope u understand why). Sometimes I used to get terrified with the fact that “ये चांदनी सिर्फ़ 4 दिन की है, फिर काली रात है” but still we all live in that moment.

There is no secret sauce to my decent CPI. It is obvious to score well consistently you will have to study. Now as a matter of fact when to study is the question, as most of us just study when the exams or quizzes arrive (it requires some level of brilliance as well) and some of us study regularly (popularly known as “Maggu’s”). Both these methods can lead to high CPI but the later one can have a long-lasting impact on us in terms of academics whereas the former one provides us with some free time during the semester for a chill. It’s up to you to which one to choose.

As a child I was always fascinated with flying objects, so when I first came to IITK, I joined the aeromodelling club and I along with the help of club secy made a flying plan but that was the end of this aeromodelling journey (as making it was more of a labour job than enjoyment). Then as time passed I became a student guide and a company coordinator at SPO. But later on I failed to make it to the 3rd year team of CS and SPO both (they are themselves a story). So, finally, without any POR, I started working for some shitty stuff in Antaragni (Informals head) and techkriti, but after a few days, I got the opportunity to become the coordinator of the Finance Discussion Group. This field interested me and I tried to make an impact on campus with this. Hence I tried to increase the clubs reach and during the final semester even organized a ‘Non-Core Weekend’ (although the footfall was low because of Galaxy). I am really thankful to Sachin Angural, Ishan Jharkharia, Adhavan, Jay Gupta, Shubham Gupta, and Shaurya Jain (a few supporters from Gymkhana as well) for making this happen.

All fingers are not equal

My journey at IITK (and for that matter everyone’s) was full of ups and downs. One such period in my case was the internship and placement season. The preparation period can be the most frustrating of all. There can be scenarios like you had a dream company and it didn’t come for placements or intern for that year (although you can always apply off-campus it is never too easy) or you might screw their exams or even if everything went well they might not shortlist you for some shit reason. It happens but there’s nothing much you can do at that time. If you really like something, work hard for it (or rather smart) and get there eventually. It is just a matter of a bit more struggle, if you can get into an IIT, you can really beat all the odds and get there where you want to be. Remember “you can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust the sails to always reach your destination” ― Jimmy Dean

I have faced some situations where things didn’t go the way I wanted them to and that happens with everyone all the time, You never know what’s there for you in the future. With time I have realized to prepare for the worst, if everything goes well you will be great but if things went wrong, you will feel bad (which is obvious) but maybe not to that extent. Get inspired by your failures and try to work hard to get things you want.

Words of Wisdom

All these words are coming from different seniors and I have found them relevant in my life.

1. You are as good as the average of your 5 best buddies with whom you spent most of your time. Choose them wisely and you will eventually feel the difference.
2. Self Acceptance can be a big challenge but you should accept your failures and try to improve yourself (both technically and non-technically).
3. Academics are obviously important but working for POR’s is equally important and it helps you learn a lot of life skills that are extremely useful in real-life problems.

IITK has provided me with a lot of opportunities in every field. Sometimes having choices is good but it also creates a lot of dilemmas when deciding which one to choose. Thanks to all my seniors and peers for all the Gyan sessions for guiding me through these hard choices. This place surrounds you with such a brilliant group of peers from such a diverse mindset and interaction with them transforms one’s thinking.

This place is always going to be within me. The helpful seniors, peers, and lovely juniors I have met here. The “पागलपंतीi” we all did here will always remain an irresistible part of me – “ये ही बातें तो बाद में याद आती है!”. Y16 as a batch has seen a lot, the batch which started with a protest on campus and ended with COVID-19 (not to mention much more in between). Thanks to all my juniors, seniors, batchmates and professors (with whom I have interacted) for making my journey a memorable one and thanks for supporting me always.

Written by:- Prajual Maheshwari

Edited by:- Aaryan Mehar.