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In the 19th edition of As We Leave 2024, Athak Kumar Singh, a Y22 M-Sc student in the Department of Mathematics, talks about his 2 years at IITK. His AWL is about the friends he made and the experiences he had 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.
Now that we leave this place forever, 2 years seem too short a time to gain meaningful experiences. But nevertheless, putting this feeling aside, I can say this place has taught me a lot about life, relations and interpersonal management. The memories made here will forever be cherished and they force me to feel pain in these last moments. One may call it the pain of separation from the people who made the stay memorable, the uncertainty of life that lies ahead, or the surety that I may never be able to live this kind of life again. Whatever one may call it, the feeling remains profound and contiguous.
This was my 2nd college and certainly the better of the two (although Covid had a role in ruining my 1st college life). Being an MSc student here has been both – an advantage and a downside. An advantage because you get the UG tag while having the privilege of being a PG student (although that has changed now) and a downside is that there are no sufficient senior-junior links and traditional batch activities. Maybe, the paucity of time we get to spend here is the reason. Whatever the downfalls are, they never hindered the formation of bonds in my life here.
Starting from the first semester – the time earmarked for exploration and mistakes (I certainly did a lot of them), Hall-5 accounted for most of my memories. Whatever time we could take out, we made sure that we hurt our bellies laughing. Who thought just lying down idle in a room with friends would constitute the most memorable of times? The room D-206 shall forever be witness to the most cranky and roasting individuals. My roomie and I spent our time together sharing anecdotes of our day and talking about lives in general at 2:00 AM in D-301. My routine consisted of waking up early for classes, skipping a few of them for my afternoon nap after lunch, attending the rest and coming back to the conundrum and fun till 2:00 AM. We sometimes went out for night strolls which always exceeded the limit we set in mind. I vividly remember strolling the campus during Udghosh – just 2 of us and inquiring about every event that was happening. We finally decided to sit at OAT and watch the cool breeze go past our locks. We once booked a bus and made a Lucknow trip (It was a class trip and I managed to sneak in though I belonged to a different programme). One thing which stands out was becoming a ‘Govinda’ in the matki-phod event during Janmashtami in hall-5. I could finally strike off one element from my bucket list after that. Those were some of the sweetest memories I had of 1st semester.
The next semester brought with it an air of freshness and excitement. We gradually started exploring Kanpur city and its places to visit. We went to the zoo in January 2023 and enjoyed our company more than the animals (I ain’t sure about the animals though!). This was a semester marked by my opening up to the most people in the campus. My friends and acquaintances grew in number. It was during this that I discovered my inclination towards badminton. I started visiting the old sports complex daily in the evening with my racquet and shuttle and sweating it out on the court. This was followed by a one Hour gym session in the morning. I enjoyed my heart out while I played. This continued till my racquet was broken.It was also the semester with both Antaragni and Techkriti and that meant no sleep at night for 2 weeks. The night strolls and canteen meet-ups were constant upshots of this semester. The long summer break was just unbearable after 4 interesting months of college but I nevertheless endured them, waiting for it to get over soon.
Life in 2nd year was greatly different from that in the 1st. The class was divided as everybody chose different electives and hence the sense of togetherness was weakened somewhat. Anyway, we managed to conduct freshers for our juniors and new bonds were thus forged. We were shifted to Hall-11, whose only upshot was the availability of single rooms. A small circle of close friends was created within the larger one during this semester with whom most of my time was spent. It was during this time that I learnt a lot about interpersonal relationships and that not everybody can be with you always. We would enjoy playing, talking nonsense, roaming in the campus, blaming the HEC for poor service quality and what not. I remember once we decided to go for a small stroll for half an hour after dinner. We left at 8:00 PM and didn’t return till 3:00 AM. It was my first time that I celebrated Diwali away from my home and it was a Diwali to remember. I got permanent people to spend my time with, discussing almost every topic we found interesting, even fighting in the process. Our interests and likings were not too similar but the curiosity made up for it. I thank all of them wholeheartedly. The most memorable time was a one-day Lucknow trip which the four of us managed to carry out without sleeping for 24 hours. The 3rd semester included project work and was a painstaking one academically, but nevertheless it was completed satisfactorily.
During the fourth semester, badminton re-entered my life. We got racquets arranged from the hall office and started playing in the hostel courts. We celebrated the new year 2024 by visiting Bithoor and ISCKON (We travelled on foot as there was an autorickshaw strike). The jolly talk with one auto during the night made our trip special. The Keechad-holi we played during this semester was worth remembering. Though the colours were available, all the people chose to get immersed in the mud instead. The 2 trips this semester made it worth remembering. We visited Banaras in March and were lost in its pristine spirituality. The ghats were so enchanting that none of us felt like leaving the city even for a moment. The Ganga Aarti during the night was a cherry on top. During the same month, we also went to Mathura and Vrindavan – a 17-person trip which we ‘just’ managed to pull off! The energy reverberating in the streets of Vrindavan was fascinating and though the trip was messy to execute, we enjoyed it a lot. Even the fest concerts at Pronite Ground felt different during this semester. The sight of Farhan Akhtar climbing the stage frame is still entrenched in my mind. Maybe it felt so special because it was the last time we were witnessing a concert as a student in IITK.
It didn’t dawn on me that IITK was done for me until the end-sem exams were over. The day they got over – 28th April, felt very eerie. We knew we were done but no one wanted to realize that. The day it really hit me personally was the day of our farewell – 3rd May. After the event, the 5 of us (the inner circle) spent our night roaming the campus one last time, remembering good and bad days and reminiscing about the enjoyable moments. None of us slept even for a moment during the night. The next day, 2 of us left for home and 2 left the morning after that. It was while embracing my friends for the last time that the realization became unbearable. The sequence of people leaving continued until I myself left on 5th May. The last moments were worth remembering as everybody I was friends with came to say a last goodbye. Although we promise to meet each other and stay connected, it is a reality that many of us may not be able to meet again in life due to the uncertainty that lies ahead. The last embraces made my stay at IITK even more special and now I eagerly wait for 29th June to get into the campus again, dressed in white Kurta-Pyajama, receiving my degree, meeting my friends and sharing those laughs again which will stay fresh in my memory for lifetime…….
Written by: Athak Kumar Singh
Edited by: Saatvik Gundapaneni, Nandini Vaid
Design by: Sanyam Shivhare
