Arjav Modi is a Y17 undergraduate student from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He narrates his journey over the four years and talks about his choices and reflects on his time at IIT Kanpur.
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.
“Muskurane ki wajah deti hai yeh yaadein, gham ke palo me aankhen nam karti hai yaadein. Jab raasto me ho mushkile aur dhundhli lagne lage manzil, to dil me honsla jagati hai yaadein.”
15 May 2021, 09:53 PM
After almost half a dozen reminders from a volunteer of Vox Populi, I am starting to write this write-up. Should I call it a write-up? Or a letter? Or a memoir? Or just an article?
Anyways! I was very confused about how to actually structure this. But as I badly wanted to write this write-up, I anyway tried to create some kind of structure.
By the way, I am Arjav Modi. Most of you reading this might be knowing me from social media (primarily Facebook) as a Y17 doing shitposting & stuff. I am graduating from the department of Mechanical Engineering this year. (Disclaimer : If you are here for some gyaan about Mechanical Engineering or intern or placement or life, just scroll down to the last section of this article)
According to me, I am a Cliché. An engineering graduate interested in writing stories (not books) & everything except academics. But when I told this to my best friend from IITK (Let’s call him Abhay Varshney), he said that I am not a cliché & I have done some stupid stuff during my college life, that “sounds” interesting.
College life is like your favourite playlist. You keep adding new songs & you skip the songs that you don’t like anymore – but you are also lazy enough to not remove them from the same playlist.
1st Year – Mishri (Anuv Jain)
Coming from a Gujarati medium background, I was always told that the first six months of college would be the hardest ones. And I believed that. Orientation was fun, I remember myself enjoying the campus tours, dancing on the stage to some stupid songs & taking some witty photos with my wingies. During that time, I found a guy hailing from my city. I remember enjoying the cycle rides, study sessions & the exploration tours of Delhi while travelling home after missing flights. I still remember roaming around the campus of IITD with him in Sept 2017.
It was around 15th Sept 2017 when I talked to Anjali ma’am from the PE section about handball. It is basically a game which is there in Udghosh but no coach or facilities are available for that at IIT Kanpur. (Irony!) She along with Sunil sir (Football coach) arranged a centuries-old ball & a football ground, where I trained around 10-15 seniors on how to play handball & what are the techniques for that & we made the first Handball team of IIT Kanpur. (Confidence dekh rahe ho lounde ka XD)
Tragedy aana abhi baaki hai mere dost! It was 2nd October 2017 – Garba night on which I got my hand fractured & had to return home for surgery in the middle of the semester. Couldn’t participate in Udghosh & missed my first college fest (& free pizzas :P) I had to restrict my movements & those 2 months with a plaster in hand actually helped me make a lot of acquaintances, especially in my wing. (obviously, I was the center of attraction with some witty stuff written on the plaster)
Galaxy practice for nukkad naatak, which started in January was fun to an extent after which it was literally kind of a physical & mental torture for me (in the name of – enthu) & I gave up practicing 3 days before the main competition. (Without regrets)
With all of this, I was exploring my love for writing, poetry & storytelling. In March 2018, I organised an open mic at Urban Crave (campus cafe) which was a success honestly. All these started to create a sort of ego in me which I was clearly able to see when I went to give interviews of 2-3 clubs of my liking. (HSS, Films & E-cell – & almost got rejected in 2 of them!) Also, it started reflecting my careless attitude.
Amidst all this, I was selected for the Lawn tennis summer camp team (I still can’t believe that) & those 35 days of grilling helped me a lot in making some new friends & I thoroughly enjoyed the free food that we got as a part of the camp. I decided that I won’t continue Tennis after the camp because it required a “commitment” of at least 2-3 hours of my after-class time which I was not ready for. That camp was more or less my last formal encounter with any kind of sport.
2nd Year – Dil Beparwah (Ankur Tewari, Prateek Kuhad)
Frankly speaking, I don’t remember much about my 2nd year except that – this year, we actually participated in Udghosh (stood last :|), bunked mechanical core classes for sleeping & did some work here & there for clubs. The 3rd semester wasn’t quite good for me. I got 6 SPI in 2nd semester (Thanks to Galaxy [Seniors shouting in the background – “Course nahi sambhal sakte to job kya sambhaloge aage!”]), couldn’t write a single line of poetry for almost 6 months & 24*7 pressure to perform better in quizzes & exams. Maybe the two good things that happened to me in my 2nd year were – finding best friends in my wing itself & organising TEDxIITK with the E-Cell team. This was the year when I came to the conclusion that Mechanical Engineering is not something that I want to do in my life (frankly because I suck at it). But I was not even ready with an answer to “if not this, then what?”. I decided to skip an internship offer from an IITK startup to focus on the work that I have to do as the manager of MnP at E-Cell & took 2 summer courses in parallel. That was one of the best decisions that I made in my 2nd year. (Thanks to Saksham Gupta for the manipulation xD).
Summer 2019 – Ghar (Bharat Chauhan)
Those 2 months were all about studying with Abhay, Bahubali & Aditya for summer courses (Lol no! For Lib AC) & lying on bean bags in IME312 while working our asses off for the E-Summit 2019. Those chai & bulla sessions at DOAA canteen with Saksham(x2), Sharma, Jangid, Vikram & all the teammates used to be the best highlights of those days.
16th May 2021, 11:51 PM
3rd Year – Waqt Ki Baatein (Dream Note)
3rd year at IIT Kanpur was all about being stronger philosophically & learning about startups, humans, every kind of relationship, life & most importantly – about myself. As expected, E-Summit was a blast. Most of the arrangements that we did became successful. We noticed those bright, shining & hopeful eyes of attendees & juniors students of IITK getting wider & happier during those days (Being the former head of media & publicity, yeh bolna zaruri hai XD). While partying at VH & Liquid (restaurant) after completion of E-Summit, I didn’t realise that those were the only few good moments that were gonna take place in 2019. On the very next day of E-Summit’19, IME312 was taken away from the E-Cell team FOREVER by the college administration. We all cried as if a toy had been taken away from a small child. IME312 was our happy place 🙁
My sister always tells me that I inspire her through my “chill” attitude. I was someone who didn’t take internship season seriously. (Karke kya hi mil jayega was my escape. But deep down I knew that I was still not good enough for any company) I remember the days when I used to go for an intern test & used to come out of the NCL immediately seeing the coding questions in the test. Intern test of a startup named ZestMoney was scheduled at 12:00 midnight on the night of Antaragni & I was discussing with Jay, Bhavesh & Dheeraj if we can miss the test & write an apology mail later. But Jay forced me to go for the test. It was a case study & went pretty well. And the next day, I got a call saying I was selected as an intern there. (Without even an interview!) (Jaa! Kya jhoot bol raha hai – was the reaction from my friends when I told them that – Intern lag gayi XD)
I have read somewhere that 3rd year is the most difficult year for any engineering student. You enter your 20s, you are confused about your career, you can clearly see your grades going down & what not. I will always remember November 2019 in my entire life. One day, I came back to my room after trying to study some MechEngi course with Abhay. It was around 4 AM in the morning & we both started crying in my room. LIKE HELL. That was our situation & it wasn’t just because of acads. It was an amalgamation of stress, emotions & relationship crisis! I scored 4.29 SPI in that semester. (Thanks to some mechanical engineering professors who passed me in their respective courses even after scoring less than 30%) I always loved December breaks more than Summer ones because they give me time to recover & don’t burden me with questions like – “Kaise utilise karna hai yeh time?” Winter ’19 break was like the biggest relief that I have ever got. I started recovering from January 2020 without any external help. 3 months went by, test scores were very low as always & then COVID-19 lockdown happened & we all passed the semester without any examination. (The only reason because of which I am graduating this year)
17th May 2021, 11:38 PM
Online College Life – Dil Kyun Yeh Mera (KK)
My internship went pretty well. The learning there & IITK tag helped me to crack 2 other internships. (with an early stage startup & a VC fund) Till then, I had become a bit consistent with my story-poetry writing & could see it improving from the reactions of my followers on Instagram. I decided that I won’t be sitting for placements & will join some media & content company. When my friends were preparing for placements – I was putting in efforts to find some intern roles at these media companies, which were all in vain. It was November 10th when I decided that I will at least give a try to placements(Peer pressure & expectations). I had my internships in product teams & was giving placement tests for that kind of role. I started preparing for interviews around 15th November. (without even a single shortlisting till then) It was 26th November when I decided to step back (fear of rejection striked again) & called Abhay for guidance. With his motivation, I continued my process & got shortlisted for 1 interview on Day-1 (got only 2 shortlistings for first 3 days of placements) & luckily/unluckily converted that to a full-time offer. Unluckily because it wasn’t the role that I wanted to pursue & luckily because the interviewer selected me even after telling me that I shouldn’t work at that company if I want a startup experience.
During all these events, I realised that just a selection mail for an intern/job won’t give you the kind of happiness that you need & “deserve”. Only the work that you do for yourself, for your own likings can bring that big beautiful smile to your face. I started a small community for artists in January 2021 named Mic Drop Community, which has grown to 120+ artists right now. Two of the most important things that are making my current mental, physical & professional states better are this community & the friends at IIT Kanpur. Oh! How can I not mention the 30 days I spent at IITK from March 22nd to April 22nd. Those nightwalks, bakchodi, mess food, bulla sessions, isolation periods & all those stupid wingies. (I am crying or you are crying?) I can write about the emotions during those 30 days. But let’s not dive deep into that for now. I don’t want to make you all feel jealous 🙁
Goa 2021 
Final year photoshoot
22nd May 2021, 10:20 PM
What’s Next? – Sapna Jahan (Sonu Nigam)
Just before starting to write this article on 15th May, I rejected the placement offer from Flipkart without a confirmed job in hand at that time. Last 4 months of 2021 taught me a lot about happiness, hobbies, passion, art & what not. I was not able to connect myself to Flipkart or any other corporate giants. I applied for some seed & series-A startups which are working in the sector that I love & I just received an offer from a company that aligns with my interests. (which are media, creation & communities) If you are still reading, you might have noticed that I gave up on most of the things in my college life (including hard work, relationships, friends, jobs, and even myself sometimes). I don’t believe in long term goals & don’t know what I will be doing after 2, 3 or 5 years. During my entire college life, I have been a very unorganised human being. But when I look back now, giving up on some things & “trends” made me push my limits & become a better human. Maybe?
The Mic Drop Community will continue to grow with the job. But I am sure that Mic Drop Community & my friends (Fam!) are going to be the only things that I won’t ever think about giving up on, from IITK. I know it sounds cliché. But I warned you at the very start itself – I am a cliché!
23rd May 2021, 07:25 PM
Some gyaan to leave you with..
- If you need something – Ask for it! There is a saying in Gujarati that – Without asking, even your own mom won’t serve you food.If you need someone’s help – Ask! If you want a senior’s guidance – Ask! If you want your marks to improve – Ask! This is not an age or a phase where you can expect spoon feeding.
- Not everyone is your friend. Just because someone is in your wing or department, it doesn’t mean that he/she is your friend. Think about the value that the other person can add to your life & vice versa.
- Clubs, cells, teams at IIT Kanpur are part of a well-structured system, not a compulsion or limitation. Organise individual events even if only five of your friends show up! Leadership as a skill is important. If things happening at IITK don’t attract you, start something of your own. Start a company with your friends. Sell your own creation, merchandise etc. (Student Entrepreneurship Policy is here already) Remember that “You can talk about stuff which is not on your resume during interviews”. Take calculated risks that don’t include/affect any other human.
- Not every semester is the same. I guarantee you that out of these 8 semesters, you will face at least one semester, which will make you collapse mentally. Accept that fact, work harder during that phase, study in groups, binge watch motivational movies in your “free” time. Make a schedule, drink more water.
- Before trying to become good at coding, analytics or finance; become a better human. Empathise with others, help people as much as possible without expectations, try to make people around you happy.
- (I promised you no gyaan about placements, but here it is – Important hai) You will hear a lot from your batchmates & seniors about “Intern/Job lag gayi kya?” Remember the difference between “Job lagna” & “Job lagvana”.
- On-campus interns & placements are not everything. IIT Kanpur’s reputation in industry is more like a technology & research focussed institute. (I think so) Many of the good product, design, media, social change focussed MnCs & startups don’t even come for placements. You will get a lot of better opportunities outside the campus. You just need a good strategy & a positive approach for that.
- Keep at least one friend during your college life whom you can rely on while making important decisions. This friend can be different at each stage of your journey. Remember that a friendship also needs to be maintained & nurtured & requires effort.
- Learn to cook – Food or stories (Ideally both). Will surely help you a great deal. It’s a skill that most of your batch mates would be lacking & will surely give you an upper edge.
Lastly, have fun! Click a lot of photographs. (screenshots in the current batches’ case LOL) & Go for trips if possible! These years are called the golden year of your life for a reason. Stay safe. Khush raho 🙂
Written by: Arjav Modi
Edited by: Ahmad Amaan Jaafri, Aryan Pandeya
