As We Leave…#17

Krishna Gupta is a final year undergraduate in the Chemical Engineering 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. 

Let’s start from the beginning. After all the analysis and discussions, my JEE rank was such that I had to finalize between IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras. My parents insisted on IITM because it is closer to my hometown. But I wanted to come north, and hence chose IITK. I came to Kanpur from Agra via road and on reaching the periphery of the campus, I was shocked to see the surroundings and wished for an error with Google maps. This cannot be an IIT! A railway crossing at the entrance of the campus, and that too it was closed then, was a further shock. Sitting inside the car, gazing at the passing train, I started to doubt my decision. But once I passed the main gate, I saw two distinct worlds separated by that crossing. Excitement subdued that feeling of shock. Orientation started with a great first day, but the very next day I had 104℃ fever and was admitted to the HC for the next 4 days, missing the rest of the orientation and the very first interactions with my wingies, Bapu and Chachas. It led to me finding solace in an old friendship with Akhil and drifting me apart from my wingmates. It took me a little time to finally be a part of my wing. But who knew over these years, I would be so much in love with this place and people here, that I can blindly say that these four years of my life were the best of times I have lived.

After completing a month and scrutinizing my quiz 1 performance, a very foolish thought got stuck in my head “Dassa aane se toh raha nahi, ab kuch bhi CPI aa jaye, koi fark nahi padega.” Consequently, I started skipping lectures and got busy spending merry time with friends, exploring campus, and doing whatnot with full enthu. Almost every other night, we used to explore the campus on foot. One of my best first-year memories includes all of us gathering in a room, with lights off, and talking about paranormal stories which once led me to run out of the room reciting the Hanuman Chalisa. 

One thing which has been and will always be very close to my heart is Antaragni. In my first year itself, when the nominations for Antaragni were out, I was very keen on becoming a Ritambhara volunteer, obviously because of the hype and ‘perks’ told by the seniors (most of you must be aware of it!). I prepared for my interview for a couple of hours! During the festival when I saw the core team with walkies and Metal ID, I thought, “Yaar, yeh toh pehenna hai ek din”. No wonder, I have been part of the Antaragni team for 4 years, and have truly enjoyed it.

Because of how frivolous I’d become, My grades suffered and I ended with a CPI of 7.6 in the first semester. Next sem, I started off with the ‘cliched next sem fod dunga wala attitude’,  but again things were as usual after a couple of weeks, and my SPI further tanked to 7.1 bringing my first year CPI to 7.4. 

Like a lot of enthu filled first yearites, I explored many clubs and fests. Being a part of one of these organizations, paving the way for my career. I was a Company Coordinator in SPO in my 2nd year which made me realize 2 important things. Firstly, I was now aware of the importance of CPI in the future, and wanted the seemingly safe CPI of 8 for myself. Secondly, I came to know about the frenzy on campus for Day 1 internships and that there are 2 such core companies, HUL and ITC for Chemical engineering that is sought after. This lured and motivated me, and I started to concentrate on my academics and managed to bring my CPI to 8.1 after the fourth semester. The SIP internship drive familiarised me with the types of profile choices. I realized most of the roles offered were of coding profiles, and I neither liked coding nor was good at it. I was still unclear about how to spend my next summer. Meanwhile, to explore core chemical engineering, I took a UGP under one of the professors in my department in my fourth sem who offered me an intern for a couple of months at TATA Steel, Jamshedpur. This intern experience gave me a fair idea about my core work culture and now I was ready to sit for the campus internship season with a fair resume in hand. 

Second-year was special to me for a lot of reasons. I was a student guide and the pure and innocent bond that I shared with my bacchas is something that I’ll cherish forever. I thoroughly enjoyed my leisurely hours then, by playing a lot of volleyball and cricket in our hall. Also, my second-year room was the best I have lived in IITK. Room No. 262, 6mid, Hall 3, exactly at the center of the wing, on the 1st floor with a view of basketball ground in front. Fresh air and sunlight flocked in as soon as you opened the door; peacocks roaming on the ground graced the view by their presence from the balcony too. And Dipankar made a perfect roommate, with whom I share a very special bond. 

My next semester had a very good start. I was well prepared for the internship season having a very strong desire either to get into ITC or HUL. Things went my way, and I secured an internship at HUL. And the icing on the cake, I was later informed that my internship location was Indonesia. And I could not have asked for a better 2 months than those I had spent in Indonesia. From an academic point of view, the next two semesters were pretty good. Being free from the internship burden, I tried to explore coding by taking up DS and by the time it ended, I was sure that I didn’t want to land a coding profile job. Apart from the general stuff, I had a lot of reckless experiences with proxy attendance. I was caught in 5 courses keeping a proxy and was on the verge of getting deregistered in 2 of the courses, but lucky enough not to have any severe consequences of it. Though I would sincerely advise everyone not to indulge in all these malpractices 😛 . 

Before the 7th semester, I was clear in my head that either I wanted to get into management consulting or into HUL through a PPO. I was also the Head of Media and Publicity for Antaragni’19. I knew it was going to be a very hectic semester. The semester started with bad news. I didn’t get a PPO from HUL against my strong expectations. It took me 3 to 4 days to come out of this shock. But then, I was determined to make things work for me now on. 

Antaragni was in October, and my target companies (Mckinsey, BCG, Bain) had their interviews in September-October. The initial three months of my semester were really nerve-wracking. I knew the real challenge was to manage all the three things i.e. acads, placement and antaragni and excel in each rather than ruining even one of these. It all started with my Mckinsey interview. I was rejected in the second round though I felt I had performed decently enough. It was the first time when I started to doubt my capabilities. I used to sit in the PE ground for hours just overthinking about what was going on in my life. Then came my BCG interview where I was rejected again, though this time I knew my interview didn’t go well. Now with Antaragni approaching, the workload was immense, and Bain was my final shot before the placement season. I was pretty confident about my cases, so I calmed myself down. And finally, I got an offer from Bain and Company and I was relieved from the placement stress. Now I just had to look forward to those 4 days of Antaragni, which were truly the best 4 days of my campus life. Tears trickled down my eyes out of joy when I was on the stage with the entire team after the final night of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. 

7th semester was the most happening and probably the best semester I had. After all these experiences, I feel one should never lose hope and continue believing in himself/herself however adverse the situation becomes because one day surely the hard work pays off and things turn out your way. Being a part of the core team gave me the best of my times, be it the experiences of the learning opportunities through the work or the bond which I have with some of my friends. During these tough times, I had the constant support and motivation of my Co Head, Shreya. From practicing cases at the BSBE building at night after a long busy day of work to going out for sudden dinner plans with some of our lovely juniors, I have spent some of my toughest and best moments with her.

The best part about my campus life will surely be the friends I have made throughout my journey. I believe the place becomes more beautiful if you have good people around you. From making family-like friends in my wing (Dipankar, Sahil, Mahesh, Laksh), to learning my courses a day before the exams from my friends, Amit, Vishnu, Yash and Vikram, I have truly enjoyed every moment of the process. To add to the ‘learning’ that I did with them, I must say I am lucky to have a friend like Amit who not only got me through those last night mug ups but also made more assignment submissions for me than I personally did. Thank You PRANK (Parth, Rahul, Abhishek and Navneet) for making my last semester such a memorable one. I hardly remember having dinner in my mess in the 4th year because almost every other day I used to go out with my friends, and I can bet very few people on campus would have gone out for dinner as much as I did. 

Finally, I would like to thank IIT Kanpur for being such a great host. This place has given me almost everything, from such a beautiful campus to my dream internship, my dream job, my Antaragni moments, and such beautiful friends. Those late-night campus tours, those impromptu dinner plans, Mama Mio drinks in all seasons, hanging out with friends for the 3 AM chats in all corners of campus, and even the SSACs, my experience here has been truly versatile, be it good or bad. I don’t wish to change even a single incident. Lastly, I can blindly say that I am ready to relive these 4 years of my campus life on a loop without giving a second thought. But yeah, I wish that was possible!!

Written By:- Krishna Gupta

Edited by:- Akshat Goyal