Disclaimer: Vox Populi, IIT Kanpur, is the exclusive owner of the information on this website. No part of this content may be duplicated, paraphrased, or interpreted in any other way without written consent from Vox Populi. If you want to reproduce any of the content on this page, please contact our chief editors directly or reach out to us by email at voxpopuli@iitk.ac.in.
In this 21th edition of As We Leave, Shreyash Nallawar, a Y21 student from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, takes us through a heartfelt and honest reflection of his IIT Kanpur journey. From the uncertainty of an online beginning during COVID to the excitement of finally stepping on campus, his years were marked by self-discovery, academic challenges, and countless memories. It was through the Photography Club that Shreyash found both purpose and community — eventually leading the team to a gold medal at Inter IIT. Along the way came setbacks, late-night wanderings, valuable friendships, and a final-year placement at BPCL. His story is a tribute to perseverance, passion, and the people who make IITK feel like home.
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 IITK.
15th October 2021 – the date of doomsday. The day that I decided I would be somewhere in some IIT doing a Btech degree for some of my years. Of course, I am writing this, you are reading this, which implies I spent my time here at the super wonderful campus of IIT Kanpur, pursuing Mechanical Engineering. I am weaker at remembering dates, but if I am not wrong, I joined IIT Kanpur on 1st December 2021 online and for the first time offline on 6th April 2022 due to the aftereffects of nasty COVID-19. I was super excited to visit an IIT and that too as a student. The campus presented me with new people, new culture, new atmosphere, new routine, and a chance to build upon myself. I remember when I arrived at the campus, my SG (Student Guide), Arkachur Bhattacharya, contacted me and offered all the help that he could with the initial process so that I could have a smooth transition. Then I got introduced to all my wing mates with whom I had only interacted in online mode, and my first roommates, Yash and
Swastik. Both were unique personalities, and having to live with them taught me many things, from improving my adjusting nature to how to study and how not to.
This is one of the first photos with my first interactions with my wingies and my first friends here at IIT Kanpur. I have always been grateful to have them in my life and have shaped me to become who I am right now.
I began my wandering throughout the campus the very next day. Roaming into the lush green, beautiful campus with friends with no stress and tension was one of the very pleasant times that I experienced. I can still remember how excited I was to go to the library for the first time and do everything except study. I guess that was more important then😂.
The above picture is of us going to the library in the scorching heat for the first time, especially to relax in the AC😂.
This is me posing in front of the famous Crow in the Acad area.
As we were called on the campus, I was exposed for the first time to the concept of Fests! What amazing days they are. You groove, you roam, you dance, you enjoy forgetting everything else. I think I have gathered a huge store of memories from all the fests here at IIT Kanpur. These are the few things which will be missed once you leave this place, so go there, enjoy yourself, give yourself some time, and relax.
As we were learning to cope and handle, the academics came the very first outings with my friends, which have only made our bond stronger.
The above pictures capture those beautiful times of my first year.
Talking about the academics of the first year because I have to, as they had a huge impact on me and probably most of us.
Everyone here at IIT Kanpur has to go through a set of IC (Institute Compulsory) courses, which I was least interested in and found very challenging. I should have studied them with proper care and sincerity, but I guess I lacked it a bit, and it obviously affected my grades. To the few juniors who may read it sometime, a small piece of advice is never neglect academics! No matter how boring some courses may get but good grades will always help you everywhere!
Good grades and a good CPI open up a number of doors. It’s not that only good CPI will make you achieve things, but a good CPI will provide you with opportunities a little easier.
The most important skill to learn at IIT Kanpur is probably balancing academics with the wide range of activities that you may be interested in exploring. I think any suggestion will always be a personal bias, no matter how hard we try to deny but still I will suggest everyone to find a hobby, find an activity that you will enjoy, find something that will provide you with inner peace( I do sound like an enlightened one here lol) make yourself unique from others work on yourself. I think I learnt it a little late, but ig its okay! Better late than never. The typical philosophy that people (I too used to) usually follow, and I think is flawed, is “Abhi ye achieve karleta hu ya complete karleta hu fir uske baad enjoy karunga, khudpe time dunga ya man ki karunga.” This “uske baad” never comes!! For me, first it was clearing JEE, then it became getting good grades, then getting an internship, then a good placement, and this will go on, I am sure of that.
It is easier said than done, but I would suggest all to enjoy your time doing things that you love to do along with the academics or studies, instead of hoping to enjoy when all this will finish. We should learn from others’ mistakes, and this is the lesson that one should learn from my mistakes. Time is the greatest resource one can have at IIT Kanpur; invest it most judiciously.
The feeling of coming to the second year at the end of riding a roller coaster of the first year, and finally no longer being a fresher, was unique. I got involved in various activities and clubs, including the Photography Club, the Aeromodelling Club, and the Skating Club. Getting involved in all these activities posed the challenge of time management, which I learnt to tackle in due course of time. The second year made me realize that not everything goes as planned. You dedicate your time to learn a skill and creating an interest, but you fail. But it’s completely fine if it doesn’t turn out the way you expected. Every experience is a learning in its own right.
During my second year, I got closely involved with the Photography Club. Thanks to the amazing events conducted by my seniors of the club, Granth, Nitin, Shubhda, and Saksham, which created a wild curiosity and interest in me towards photography. Then I applied to be a secretary of the club so that I could learn more, but sadly was not selected :(. But my curiosity led me to request the seniors of the club to let me also be a part of the club. After multiple requests, I was indeed a part of the club! That’s the specialty of the culture of this institute, right? You just have to show your enthusiasm (enthu is our lingo) and passion to be a part of a peer group, that’s it. The day I was welcomed as a part of the photography club, I made sure that I would not let this opportunity go to vain. As time passed, my interest in photography grew exponentially thanks to the strong support and learning provided by Granth and all the other club members. These were the moments when I realised I finally got something which I truly enjoy, something that gives me happiness, and that was photography. A major part of my personality has definitely been shaped during my time with this club. Apart from photography, I learnt to work as a team, conduct events and sessions, create similar interests in others, and much more. During December 2022, I got to be a part of the Inter IIT contingent for the Inter IIT Cult Meet 5.0 to be held in IIT Madras in the first week of January 2023, for the event of street photography. It was a very proud moment for me, as it should be. I finally got to showcase the skills that I have gathered till now with the club.
I was a part of the photography contingent of IIT Kanpur on the way to IIT Madras in the chilling cold of Kanpur.
As I already said, things often do not turn out as u have expected! As soon as we reached IIT Madras, I fell ill 🥲. I turned helpless due to my high fever and cold. After complete bed rest for a day and a half, I gathered the courage to come up on the street with a camera in hand and a great company of friends. I had mixed emotions of happiness and sadness simultaneously. But I was happy that I did contribute to the team despite the conditions. All thanks to the extreme support of friends like Anshu and seniors like Granth.
At the end of my tenure as secretary, I decided to further lead the club as I was completely attached to it. I applied for the post of Coordinator of the club for the tenure 2023-2024, and I still remember the night of my interview. It did not turn out well. I was filled with self-doubt and worries, and thoughts like “I have dedicated all my time to photography and still am not worthy of leading the club” filled my mind. Did I think this was the largest of my problems then? Yes!! But now, after years, I think that I was over-stressing and overthinking. These problems, which appear very large in the short term, are actually very, very small in the long term. I get a smile on my face whenever I think of the kind of thoughts I had when I did badly in my interview and thought I could not do anything. This taught me another lesson that all the problems that we happen to make or think are so big are merely short-term; once you get past them, you will realize how you were too stressed about such small things.
Then the stars aligned, and I guess I did not even do that badly to not become a coordinator! (Sorry for boasting myself :)). I then got the opportunity to lead the club and an even larger responsibility to carry forward its legacy.
While this was all happening, I got my first F grade!! In a course on dynamics. I have never even thought that something like this would happen to me. But I now know that this is all due to negligence and poor practice of the course, along with the course being difficult. Did I panic? Yes !! But now, when I see it as an event 2 years in the past, I think we generally panic over situations, thinking only of the short-term effects. Now I feel there is no need to stress and cry about this, as the event itself does not significantly matter in the long term, but our learnings do. Thus, what matters is the lessons that we have learnt during the situations, whether good or bad.
The end of the second year marked the start of the internship drive. Everyone was fueled up to get an internship to further get a good placement in a typical chain. What was I doing then? Being confused about what to do!!, what role to prepare for, and what will interest me and what will not. I now find that it was then completely normal to not clearly know what I wanted to pursue then as if I or someone knew what he or she actually wanted to do, then half of the problem is already solved, and one just has to dedicatedly and consistently follow a path to reach the specific goal. But how do we find the path that will interest us? I guess the simple answer is to try everything you can. Explore for yourself what works and what does not. This may take up time, but it will make sure you do not end up doing what you don’t like! Internship season was pretty hard for me. Due to my then relatively poor academic performance and lack of knowledge, I was devoid of even applying for various opportunities that came then. But yeah, a huge huge thanks to my lovely seniors who had my back through this whole time and had a huge positive impact on my mental state and helped me to improve myself. To name a few of the great seniors who had a great impact on me are Aryan Raj, Granth Choudhary, Nitin Kumar, Arkachur Bhattacharya, Divyani Gaur, Vinoba Pandey, Suryanshu Jaiswal, Raj Verma, Vineet Kumar, Sanyam Singla, Vedant Gitte, and Kuldeep Singh. Through their constant guidance and support, I secured an internship at a MedTech startup named Medantrik Medtech as a product design intern. Most of my third year passed trying to get an internship, studying, or doing photography.
During December of 2023, after I completed my 5th semester, came the much-awaited Inter IIT cult meet 6.0 to be held at IIT Kharagpur. As one of the coordinators of the club, I had the opportunity to lead the photography club. A few of the most memorable moments of my college life have been carved in these times. I still remember the phenomenal enthusiasm that we as a team carried on the streets of Kolkata from literally dawn till the last of the light was available on the streets for straight 2 to 3 days. I can never forget how I, along with Atishay and Shubham, were so so tired when we reached in front of the Victoria Memorial and were waiting for second team to reach Kolkata from Kharagpur and book a room so that we can rest, that we fell asleep while sitting on the side of a footpath! Crazy, Crazy time that was, and even crazier teammates. Thank you, PhotoClub, for making my time memorable, always.
The above picture captures all the haste and moments before our final submission for street photography. We literally submitted our entries at 11:59 PM!!
Then the summers at the end of my third year (6th Semester) were quite productive as I started my internship along with a course on probability and learning swimming, lol, managing everything side by side.
The start of the fourth year marked the start of the placement preparation, along with making memories simultaneously, as this was my final year in this beautiful institute. I worked on preparing for multiple roles, ranging from product management to data analytics, machine learning, and core Mechanical Engineering. Again, those were the times of hard grind; managing academics along with the placement prep was tough, especially for me, because I had a lot to improve in my academics, too. I am grateful to all my friends who had my back during these tough times. It is correctly said that a good company can completely change the results! I will just have a simple suggestion to everyone, especially juniors, to be in a good and positive company of friends and people in general, it will surely have a huge impact. Placements are highly unpredictable as far as I have experienced. Along with the skills and academic performance, it also, I believe, depends on luck to a certain extent. But that is out of our hands, and we must keep this in mind and work on improving our skills and be stress-free about the rest. I know it is easier said than done, but the sooner one realises it the easier it will be to cope with these times. In the climax of placements, I was selected as a management trainee in BPCL (Bharat Petroleum)! I still do not know if I wanted this particular job or not, but I am very happy with what I have achieved and am confident that this is just the beginning, and I will strive to achieve great heights.
A picture after my interview for BPCL
After my selection, I was all involved to help my friends during the placement season, may it be to carry their resume and search for walk-ins, provide them emotional and mental support, help them in their interview prep, or just be there for them whenever needed. And yesss, all my friends secured a job, and even though the road was tough, the destination was beautiful, as we will witness it together.
Placement season ended, and now, for the last time for me, the preparation for the Inter IIT cult meet started in full swing. I then the senior-most member of the team had the responsibility to guide and mentor our team for the street photography competition to be held in Patna. This was probably the most memorable Inter IIT for me because of the excellent team that I got, I guess, or because of the excellent bonding between us. And guess what, after three continuous years of efforts, dedication, and improvements, we bagged the Inter IIT GOLD for street photography! I cannot express how happy I was after the results; all the hard work was finally rewarding, and the end was possibly the sweetest. The photography club has shaped me in almost all aspects of my life. I have improved as a person, got a new skill, and a hobby for which I will forever be grateful. Winning the Inter IIT for the club was one of the greatest dreams that I may have had to give back to the club.
The start of 2025 marked the start of my last semester of my B.Tech at IIT Kanpur. All the memories started to flash back in front of me, all the moments that I along with my friends have enjoyed all the bakchodi all the masti and what not. The core memory of the 8th semester is definitely the nightouts and the all-nighters for everything except study. I cannot express how heavy my heart is when I am writing this AWL while remembering all these incidents and memories that I have lived here. Probably, I have met a few of the best people of my life here and enjoyed my life to the fullest. Thank you the the ones who have been close to me through my thick and thin. Thank you to my lovely seniors for guiding me, and thank you to my juniors for making my time here memorable. Hope I added some value to your life, but I definitely got to learn many things from you guys. A special heartfelt thank you to my closest friends Divyanshu Singh, Yash Hatwar, Rutvik Nawade, Arindom Bora, Ritik Ahirwar, Yatendra Singh, Prabhash Mishra, Anwesh Saha, Vaishnavi Singh, Pradeep Bagri, Ajay Makkena, Kundan Kumar, Shreya Verma, Harsh Methwani, Harsh Deshmukh, Swastik Singhal, Mihir Tomar, Aryavart Pradhan, Siddharth Bhalla, Madhav Kumar, Anil Prajapati, Anshu Saini, Shreyas Mirkale, Aakansh Chandra, and the system bhai Tushar Dhanwani thank you for having my back always I will
forever be grateful.
I am not a writer myself, and this is probably the first time I have written this much about myself. I hope I did not bore you :). If you have reached till far, a special thank you to you guys for bearing with the text, hope it has offered something meaningful to you.
All the best, guys, do well in everything and do achieve whatever is meaningful you want and more.
A final lesson – “Goodbyes are indeed the hardest”
Thank you
Shreyash Nallawar
Written by: Shreyash Nallawar
Edited by: Mitanshi Khandelwal, Amoghsiddhu R N
Designed by: Pragya Puri
