As We Leave… #4

Mr. Akshit Srivastava is a fourth year undergraduate in the department of Chemical Engineering from the Y15 batch. He will be joining Bain and Company as an Associate Consultant. Read further to know his story.

Backspaces were pressed many times before coming up with the right beginning to this article. I wasn’t quite sure how this article should come out as – a personal account, a funda guide, a ten ways to spend life at IITK know-how or a dos-and-don’ts handbook. I still don’t know how it will be perceived but here is something to stick your eyes to As I Leave. In fact, initially, I believed that the link to this piece wouldn’t even be clicked upon because who wants to read about non-Gymkhana stuff. But then General elections happened, people lost hope, and I sighed a relief. To be honest, this is the first time that I am feeling nostalgic about the place which became a home to many of us for four years.

With all modesty, my journey in IITK has been one that I like to call an ideal college walkthrough, one you would want to highlight during your campus promotions if you were in a Lovely Professional University. And I certainly would like to thank quite a few people and situations for making my life here a pleasure for me.

I entered IITK with the pretty common mindset of “branch hierarchy.” Choosing IITK was easy for me as at my rank, for a “better branch,” you had to compromise on the institute. Plus I had heard that IITK offered more flexibility in its curriculum and that MSE here is one of the best in the nation. Honestly, the first few days were quite disturbing for me. No, I was perfectly chill with the “interaction” we had with seniors; the issue was centric towards the kind of people I had around me. I met people who were excelling in every field – academics, sports, music, quizzing – and then I did what more or less every school here teaches its student, compare the individual with yourself. I developed this feeling of inferiority thinking what good had I done till now except clearing JEE, that too, with a screwed up rank.

Dramatics Club was a place that led me out of this feeling, and I will always remain indebted to this club for making me what I am today. It was below the floor of L-11 that I discovered my love for acting. In fact, dramatics created a place so close to my heart that I considered switching my path towards web series and stuff multiple times. But then, because of academic and ideological reasons spiced up with the typical Indian family’s shake-my-head to such ideas of an IIT student, I left dramatics club after my first year. Dramatics tested me in all ways possible – attending early morning PE after late-night practices, mugging up PHY103 notes after creative Nukkad discussions – and made me realize that if you want to make it big in life, you ought to give your blood and sweat to whatever you do, but judiciously.

Pic : After bagging 2nd position in the Antaragni ‘15 Nukkad Natak.

By the start of my second year, I was pretty convinced that sports are something that keeps you fit as well as devours a good space on your CV. I had even calculated that if not in the second year, I would surely make it to the Inter-IIT team by the end of the third year. Badminton became life for me for almost 1.5 years starting first-year summer camp. I had literally started thinking and dreaming badminton. The only other time I had invested such an immense amount of hard work and perseverance in a venture was probably in my intern with ITC Limited. I was disheartened unfathomably when I could not make it to the Inter-IIT team in my second year, to such an extent that I began overthinking – questioning whether I was worthy enough of achieving anything, a feeling similar to what I had in my first semester. I wanted to blame all of it onto someone/something else. I grumbled and pestered my close-ones to a great deal – blabbering baseless arguments as to how situations always unfold against me.

The fifth semester was a dark phase for me, into the roots of which I’ll want to avoid going right now. I had started developing this feeling of loneliness clubbed with the feeling of incompetence. Here, I must admit that I am a highly aspirational person and I definitely seek recognition (and maybe success) in places and activities I have toiled and perspired. Also, I firmly believe the ideology that it is perfectly fine if you pick up a limited number of activities (do not read PoRs) in campus, but whatever you aim for, give it your best shot. I have spent (wasted?) huge amounts of hours in my 5th semester either crying or finding reasons to cry because of which various facets of my life suffered – my grades, my relationship, me myself. Now that I think of it, I feel I should have handled situations maturely.

The only good thing other than an internship that happened to me in my third year was Antaragni. My tenure as a manager in Antaragni was pretty satisfying and buoyant for me. I delivered well and maybe even more than what was expected out of me. After my third year, C-Bot, Hall 1 was probably the only place I could have landed into. Being idle hadn’t worked for me in any way whatsoever throughout my three years on the campus. Some people knew this better than me and hence pushed me to try for Core Team Antaragni. Antaragni has been to me much more than anyone can imagine. To be part of something so grand and celebrated, to plan a whole festival for all the stakeholders involved, to be entrusted with the responsibility to pull off an astounding pronite line-up and to finally gaze at the huge pronite ground from the stage after the final night as a team is indeed a special feeling. Antaragni is one of those feelings which has resided into the category of ‘forevers’ for me.

IITK has carved out for me some of the most cherishable memories for my lifetime. In hindsight, it has made me grow tremendously as an individual. It is important to note that disappointments will be a part of life no matter how successful you are, how powerful you are or how-any superlative term-you are. It is important to deal with those times of low and gloom and to fight back. Isn’t this one of the greatest life teachings one can learn? Do not shy away from making families and friends. Trust me; they’ll go a long way. It is always good to have a support system by your side to make you drive through the four years of college life. Find people who share your interests. People who don’t judge you the way you are. Be with them.

Keep yourself involved in some or the other activities/opportunities this place has to offer. Do not while away all your time into your black mirrors and do not succumb to addictions of any sort. These four years, the hundreds of people you meet here, the thousands of hours you spend in bulla sessions, and the numerous fields you can explore here are never going to come in your life again. Live them and make them lively.

The individual who had entered A337, Hall 10 and the one who will be leaving C123, Hall 1 are two very different personalities. When I look back, I see various instances where I could have gone wrong or maybe did too. Although, you can surely feel safe in the hands of this campus which tries indefinitely to raise you well in a plethora of ways. The key is to remain true to yourself and learn whatever you can from the happenings of your own life here. Each individual who leaves this campus has a unique story to narrate, and you’ll have one too. So, the next time you hear the letters I.I.T.K., fill your chest with pride, because one thing’s for sure – IITK may not make you a good engineer but it most certainly does make you a good person, and that is all that should matter in the long run.

Written by Akshit Srivastava, Edited by Ayush Agarwal