As We Leave…#24

Abhishek Gupta is a final year undergraduate in Earth Science 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. 

Since I have been told that this article is for ‘future me’ where I would look at it as a ten year old memory,  let’s make it a good and funny one because we never know – maybe this article will make me laugh after I write it, as I am smiling now thinking of my old decisions and harkate. 

Well, it feels a little funny writing ‘As We Leave’ considering the way we leave IITK…… but still while looking at the memories stored as pictures of my last 4 years in IITK, I feel a bit nostalgic and want to go back to campus to relive my four years in a month.

Like most of the students, I didn’t know what I want to do in life and what are all the options I can have. So I did what is obvious: Become an IITian and decide later. I always believed that in a great company, you learn and grow, and IIT was one of those great platforms. But my rank didn’t support me here and I was hoping my best to get into the old IITs. But, realistically, there was almost no chance for me, but suddenly there was news that a new department opened at IITK and I just hopped onto that bus, because the only thing that mattered to me was the rich environment and culture of the old IITs. Sadly, it has been disrupted very badly and I no longer feel that one should now get admitted to IITK for its culture. 

Firstly, some words of wisdom. We all face problems in life in some way or another. Like many uncertain and devastating situations came in my life such as the increase in difficulty level of JEE paper (I guess XD), fee hike, suspension, news of Modiji actually coming to IITK 1 week before Techkriti, and finally COVID-19 which obviously will make me scream.

But due to the huge support and guidance of my friends & family and the motto of life that ‘be happy because that’s the ultimate thing we are working for and take this experience for your betterment’, my response will always be …

So keep this line always in your mind. With emphasis on Ghanta!

My journey at IIT Kanpur:

I saw this very beautiful campus and began my journey. Then started freshers night selections and my journey of affiliation with dance club started there (and will continue for rest of my life :)) Then came the chance of representing IITK in Dance Competition, for a freshie that thing was quite fascinating, but many seniors I met told me not to go in the Dance Club or the Drams Club because they both are time taking and would affect my CPI. But I didn’t listen to them because my dream from childhood was to dance and because of which I continued with the club. At the end of the first semester, I realized that all those claims of my seniors were wrong because there were many people around me who were not involved in anything but still managed to waste time doing nothing and landed with low CPI. This taught me one thing about me, that I am able to manage my time better when I have lots of things on my plate. Because then I could think that since I spent my time on other things, I should utilize my leftover time for studies. But I will not encourage others to do the same; you just try finding what works best for you as this kind of funda worked best for me. Also, we had night outs during antaragni dance practice, which was first of a kind experience for me. All those methods of seniors giving Chai – paratha to juniors for working all night long. 

Then, at the end of the second semester, I wanted to become a student guide, but my cpi was not supporting it. So I did what we commonly hear from our seniors: Enthu dhikhao enthu, and it helped. I remember the way I projected my enthu to the interviewer by saying that “even if I am not selected as SG, let me learn those skills taught to SG’s for handling freshies!’ Luckily, they made me one and that experience of guiding six freshies, and being part of the orientation was an epic journey.

Let me tell you a story related to an encounter between me and DOSA. So, there I was taking a selfie in the washroom mirror, and DOSA Sir came from the back and started clapping and laughing while saying what a place for a selfie. Wait …. I am talking about A R Harish sir, during my first year, in OAT……what did you think of, huh?!

Well the bigger incident happened in my 3rd semester when I was suspended and my 3rd semester was scraped. Thank God, because that sem was really not going well. After returning in 4th semester my friends welcomed me and everyone was there to help me out. But the thought of knowing that I am lagging by one semester haunted me, which made me realize that I have to take maximum credits to complete my degree on time. Well, I worked hard then, getting my courses done, accompanied with all the extracurricular activities I wanted to do. I remember people telling me to not do extracurricular and what not because I had 4.6 SPI in my 4th semester. But the faith of my friends and families made me go through all those hurdles and made me complete my degree in 7 semesters. Not only I took 60 plus credits each sem but also accompanied them with the responsibility of Placements and Head, Techkriti. I want to tell all those who take the tension of their low CPI and think that they cannot score a good intern or placement. Well buddy believe in yourself, because if you follow your own path and do what you like, you can bang a good intern or placement. Those numbers written in the resume are worth close to nothing. People keep saying that keep your CPI above 7 to get a good placement, but this is false. You should not worry if your CPI is below 7, because you can still get a good placement. The main thing that I realised in this game is that, cpi doesn’t matter that much, but the thing that matters is that you have proved yourself in something or another. 

Then there was Team Techkriti. My involvement in Techkriti since the return after the suspension has kept me busy and gave new directions to my life. This one word – ‘Techkriti’ has impacted my life a lot. Not only it refined me more but also gave me a great family of friends and memories which I will cherish all my life. This is one thing that kept me sane during the internship season, because if I were not in Techkriti wing in Hall 1, then all the nonsense that goes around during the internship season would have driven me nuts. The thing I see there is that the pressure of not getting an intern and all doesn’t come from self. Instead it comes from people around you who keep crying. And my involvement in Techkriti really helped me shift that focus and since I only gave little time in preparing for intern, there was no time for crying about not scoring one but instead look at it rationally and do the suffice. Therefore I would suggest you all too to not stress on the fact that whether you will get a good intern or placement but rather look at it rationally and do the needful, because you never know what’s waiting for you there and how some events are going to affect your life. So just chill!!

I have no regrets with my college life…. I literally lived it to the fullest and when I look at the old pictures, I see a lot of happy memories, since we don’t click the bad ones, so I am left with happy ones only… It was really wonderful to meet such awesome people and do so many crazy things. Cheers to all those friends who stood beside me no matter what the situation was, to those teachers who were always there to help, to those juniors & seniors who made this journey more awesome. I could have not asked for more. Adios Amigo!!

….
Here’s to the ones that we got
Cheers to the wish you were here,
but you’re not
‘Cause the drinks bring back all the
memories
Of everything we’ve been through
….

Written by:- Abhishek Gupta

Edited by:- Aryan Pandeya