Pushpesh Kumar is a graduating Y18 student from the Department of Civil Engineering. In this edition of As We Leave 2022, he talks about his IITK journey. He shares the memories he made and some crazy incidents he had during his stay at IITK.
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.
“Keep admiring the beauty of your dreams – they are the blueprints of your upcoming achievements. Learn from every junior, senior, or batchmate around you and strive to be the best version of yourself. It’s not easy but then, you’ll keep getting better.”
THE BEGINNING
Ummm…okay so I came to IITK in Civil Engg. dept., and I think it will be easy to guess the general mindset of around 70% of students at my stage? 1st yr. ke end tk branch change maarenge and fir maze hai. But I was in the other 30%. I saw CE as a very resourceful branch if we see the opportunities available. For me, CE is an evergreen department. Although I did tell my parents I will study for a branch change, I was not in a mood though :P.
It all began with most of the students getting a double sharing room but me getting a triple sharing room on the top floor of a six-story building, Hall 13. Yeah, it was a bummer in the start but thanks to my roomies, who made the transition easier by providing sufficient space for me to keep my stuff XD. After planting the family tree and “covering the gaps” during orientation, I was well settled.
Everyone has their own wing story and it is fun in their own way. Mine is kinda hazy for me as I think I did not give the time one should give to the wingmates. Nevertheless, it was them on whom I counted day and night throughout my first sem and the rest of the semesters for any academic help I needed. I am so grateful that even in my 8th semester, I had them as my wingies. My IITK wale bhailog helped me pass the first-year courses while I was busy dancing throughout the nights.
Talking about dance, I always wanted to explore the dancer in me, hence having a precious space for dancing in my heart. Right then, came the Freshers as an icebreaker. I gave my 1st on-stage performance & who knew, this was the beginning of a journey to become one of the main dancers of IITK. Coincidentally, for the first time ever, the first-yearites were being selected for the dance team and I made it through!. It was an extreme pleasure to be a part of KOS, IITK, right at the start of college. I was damn excited for all the upcoming lifetime experiences of Rendezvous, Antaragni, Galaxy, and Inter-IIT ofc. Though dance is very time taking, it is worth giving time to.
BECOMING A DANCER…
The first semester ended in a blink and a new semester began. Suddenly, everyone started behaving as if we were going for a world cup. It was not a world cup but something more than that (as I belong to Hall-3), it was Galaxy. Most of my second semester was spent in hall 3. Learning new dance styles, and moves, practicing a lot to devote every drop of sweat to my hall. As many of the first years do, and the seniors kinda pull you to do so (if you talk to your seniors sincerely, they do help manage too), I lost focus in academics and ended up securing the worst SPI of my 4 years – 6.71. It’s a very common mistake a fresher makes in their second semester. Honestly, I don’t really regret it now, only because of the other unimaginable and absolutely worth it experience that I lived. I started becoming confident on stage, in front of a crowd, and then, the most special event happened – I was the lead actress in the dance drama event of that year – Priyanka Chopra XD.
In my opinion, 1st yr. is usually the most fun because after that, one starts thinking about academics, how to manage things you f**ked up last year, and how to take a big POR (the efforts for it starts from the 2nd yr. itself). In short, how to align yourself in a good position for the next 3 years. With the same thought, I participated in the Summer of Code and also did a project under the E-club during the summers.
Moreover, a realization hits you – Yaar! I need to improve my CPI! But how? It’s Antaragni time and I have the max number of songs to perform on & that requires a hell lot of time. Well, luckily my third semester was not so tough and I focussed on getting ‘B’s in all the courses and an ‘A’ in HSS. Got 8.7. This marked the highest of my college life XD. Not talking about acads much, I got a chance to dance a lot, performing in almost all the songs and representing IITK at Antaragni, moreover being the first runners-up, was an overwhelming feeling both personally as well as for the whole team.
THE CHAMPIONS!
Mind you, an even bigger target was awaiting! To win the Inter-IIT in the home ground of IIT Bombay (Madrid to our Barca). The team was confident with the production we had – and we made it, “Overall dance champions – IITK”. Even after multiple tricks to keep us down, the team rose as champions. Indeed, one of the most thrilling experiences of my college life. The environment, feel, competition, people, everything was at its peak at IIT Bombay, and we emerged as Champions! A big thanks to the seniors who made this possible.
THE OVER-RIPENED SEMESTER – LAPTOP ANECDOTE
For me, 4th semester was the busiest. . If I just list out the events that happened in 2 months on campus – galaxy (I was leading this time), Counselling Service (CS) core team interviews (5 rounds), my laptop got stolen, I became the CTM and thus conducting SG interviews, and finally Covid. Sounds tough? Yes, it was!
Leading the hall dance team in Galaxy 2020 (being Preity Zinta in the dance drama XD) was thrilling, but before going for dance coordinator, I decided to apply for the position of a core team member at CS. It gets unnoticed by most people, but the work done inside CS is really helpful for those who really need it. 5 rounds of interviews along with continuous night-outs for dance practice. It was hectic.
But something else was yet to come. It was around 9:30 PM when I returned after finishing round 3 of the CTM interviews just to find that my laptop had been stolen. SIS guards were there. I was stunned. After 2-3 days of roaming around with local police and performing in the dance battle without any sleep, the solution was to file an FIR. To everyone’s surprise, the very next day, the thief was caught stealing a cycle at the Open Air Theatre, with my friend’s stolen phone in his pocket. FIR was filed before, so it was now a legal affair to get the laptop, that had to be done via a court procedure. My two victim friends and I had some trips to the court for the processes and paperwork. But then the worst thing happened, COVID. Our one-week holiday became 1.5 years of stay at home. On the brighter side, I became one of the CTMs-Operations team, my academics were not harmed too much as adequate grades were given by the professors due to Covid, and and and, after 3-4 trips to Kanpur high court during that lockdown period, I got my laptop back exactly after one year of it being stolen. Wohooooooooo!!!
CIVIL ENGINEERING AND INTERNSHIP
It won’t be right if the part where I failed and was really broken is left unspoken. After all the drama in the fourth semester, it was the time I prepared for the internship drive with all my heart but faced a lot of rejections. I am sure, during the lockdown, trapped in our homes, each one of us would have faced problems that were mentally challenging. Nothing different was my case. The rejections further added on to it. There’s already a blog published by the Academic and Career Council about my adventurous internship drive. You can read it – hope it will help if you are going for internships.
In between all this, the online semesters helped me interact with my department buddies – due to obvious reasons XD. Becoming the DUGC student nominee enabled me to explore the unexplored aspects of the department. It’s satisfying that apart from clubs, societies, festival teams, etc., I got this opportunity to bond with my department friends as well.
CS AND ME
Here, I would like to give a special mention to the Counselling Service. It’s one such body that performs a lot of welfare work for the community without being in the light too much. It was a privilege to experience some and be a contributing part of it. After my episode as an SG, it was certain to apply for the Core Team Member. I got into CS while being a member of the Dance team. It’s a rare combination, and for the same reason, many of my friends were like – Bhai kya dekh ke liya tujhe CS walon ne XD. But then, I made sure to do justice to both of these responsibilities. With time, things smoothened and I got a new pool of friends who faced similar cases being in the Operations team. Thereafter, we all organized a successful Orientation (2021) together. Being in CS, the importance of mental health and how people were affected during lockdown was an eye-opener for me. I dealt with some cases with the help of my coordinators and the counselors. This was my major involvement during the third year or we can say – during the lockdown.
Among the chaos of Covid, it is worth mentioning that a trip to Dehradun – Masoori – Dhanaulti – Kanatal with the D-club guys was rejuvenating.
THE FINAL YEAR
Okay, so what did I do in my last year? I worked hard and was fortunate enough to receive a PPO from the MTX group after my internship. So the only thing left was helping my friends during their placement drive and having loads of fun. The placement pressure faced by the candidates is clearly distinguishable and I felt lucky with the PPO in my hand. After all my friends were placed, it was time to party. A trip to Corbett and Rishikesh with my CS mates and then the awaited Goa trip with my D-club friends!!! Trust me when I say, it was the BEST December of my life.
Last semester was just about emotions attached to campus life. The goal was to create as many memories as I can. I’m utterly convinced you will never get to party in an SIS secured area again with such freedom XD. Hall 1 has its own feel and legacy. Every student in their last semester wants to do everything they think they won’t be doing in the future. And this is it. Party all day and party all night. No burden at all, just ensuring to pass all the courses. I explored terraces in the Academic area I had never gone to before – IME rooftop is the best. Piece of advice – go on walks with different groups of people, even if you know them a little or just by face, go and hang out with them once. You may get to meet some of your social media friends in person. This may also help you know people who have the same job location as yours. Try out any of your hobbies you didn’t get time to explore. I think no one will get these beautiful four years again. You might have seen posts from our alumni with a caption like “25 years after I graduated from IITK, still, those were the best 4 years of my life”. This says it all.
CONCLUDING THE VOYAGE
Undoubtedly, college days are going to fill your life with colorful lessons. It’s that phase of your life, where you can literally do whatever you want. No one’s going to check if you got a 5 SPI because you were trying out new hobbies during the second year. But, I always say this to every junior, be responsible for the decisions you take – “with freedom comes responsibility”. As long as you’re genuinely answerable for your actions, you’ll do well. It’s all about being independent and strong enough to deal with various situations. Also, the decision on what to do post-graduation has been, and always will be, an obvious tussle of thoughts. If you’re bothered about it, you’re already on the right track mate!. Just enjoy the process, and ultimately you will find your way. College life is like a ship voyage. Being nostalgic about it is just the tip of the iceberg. The real emotions kick in when you roll back the memories you had, and find yourself sinking in the tears of love, care, and above all, friendship! So, build your network and keep rocking…
Signing off – 180570
Written By: Pushpesh Kumar
Edited By: Ayush Anand
