As We Leave…#5

Parth Chhaparwal is a final year undergraduate in the Chemical Engineering 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. 

It’s 7 in the evening of 22nd May 2016. I just came back after having the worst set of 2 papers in my life. I’m discussing the question papers with my mates, and I realize how badly I had messed up. It was the worst day of my life. Fast forward to the present. As I write this, it’s 7 in the evening of 22nd May 2020. I already know the decision of my last semester. Still, I’m waiting for the director’s mail so that it becomes official. And then the bomb drops. I’ve become an alum.

My college life had just abruptly ended. All those memories flashed through my eyes: the buildings, the incidents, and, most importantly, the people. It was the worst day of my life. Four long years transform a person completely. We often take our stay for granted and only realize its importance once our time is truly over. It was no different for me. But as they say, part of the journey is the destination, and you have to move on to the next chapter. In this piece, I’ll unfold my journey here at IITK, and maybe make you appreciate how precious your time at IITK is. I want to share both the professional and the personal aspects of this journey.

To be honest, Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur was never a strong preference. It was just what I was getting with my mediocre rank in JEE. So I came to IIT with a very bleak mindset. I desperately wanted a branch change. I still remember my first day here. As I entered the campus gate, and it felt like I had entered into another world. I did not expect this 1000 acre land to be so different from Kanpur city’s bland environment. I became a bit happy after driving past all those peacocks, and then I reached this old building called Hall 5. The first person I met here was this person whom we called Baapu. With his spiked hair and gentle voice, he gave me a false sense of security that all the rumors about those “senior-junior interaction” were actually rumors. The second person I met was this pale-faced guy who was my roommate, who later went on to become one of the closest friends I have at IITK. The reality of senior-junior interaction kicked in only on my first GBM. The executives of Hall 5 locked the door and gave us Samosa and a glass of Coca-Cola. For a short-lived moment, I believed that none of the rumors were true. When I had just taken the first sip, the then president of hall 5 screamed at the top of his lungs, roaring the widespread cuss words. I was horrified and wasn’t able to gulp down the cold drink I had in my mouth. This was when I realized that all of it was very true.

This being the first time I was living away from family, I was having a hard time adjusting to this new environment. Thanks to my wingies, and some great friends I made in the first year, I got used to the place in no time. The scavenger hunt, the outings, and the night outs are the best ways to make this place your home during the first year.

Now, how did my goals turn out? I managed to stay away from most of the campus activities, apart from this event called E-Summit, where I volunteered because of peer pressure. I did participate in the galaxy parade in which one of the HECs had to chase me on the bicycle because I kept running away from GBMs. I got a 7.6 in each of my first and second semesters. Coincidently, that is my current CPI as well. So as one could already guess, branch change was a complete disaster. I made peace with the fact that I was going to stay in chemical engineering. In the summers, I stayed back and did a course and a departmental project.

I was now well adjusted with life at IITK and had made good friends. But I did pay the price for it. My grades! It was time to find a new goal and get my act together. So I took an interest in the chemical courses and continued with my project. Things started getting back on track on these fronts. I was open to getting involved somewhere on the campus. Because of my previous experience at E-Cell as well as good word of mouth for it, it was a natural choice for me. The Overall Coordinators of my time had a lasting impression on me. I learned the importance of having a good intern and that firms look for an all-round personality in the candidates. I had made up my mind that I wanted to be the next Overall Coordinator of E-Cell and also improve my academics. So I worked at E-Cell all around my second year.

The best experience I had was the E-Cell interviews. My interview lasted for 6 hours, and the seniors who seemed like angels brought out with their devilish sides. During those 6 hours, I learned more about E-Cell and entrepreneurship than the previous 2 years combined. And in the end, I became the Overall Coordinator, along with my long time friend. Perhaps he was the only one with whom I could have pulled off a great tenure.

Halfway into the journey, I was happy. Everything was going according to plan. I became the OC, improved my grades to some extent, and was sincerely doing my project. I felt a step closer to getting my dream intern at ITC or HUL. On the personal front, I was also spending a lot of time with my close friends. What else could anyone ask for? Little did I know that things were going to get pretty bad for me really soon.

When the summers of 2018 ended, a series of storms was ahead of me. Only half of the work was done for E-Summit, which was only a month away. Day 1 intern interviews were a week away. There was so much to do in so less time. During the intern, I nailed the Group Discussions quite well. I was shortlisted for the interview for both the companies. However, I didn’t make it past the interviews. In one of them, I made it till the very last, but my lower CPI came out to be the reason for getting rejected. I was devastated.

On 22nd August, just 4 days before E-Summit and my birthday as well, I got my internship at Dr. Reddy’s. I was happy because I had finally landed an internship. The remaining work for E-Summit also wrapped up and those three days were the most happening days of my college life.

However, due to the workload I had in these 2 semesters, I grew apart from my friends. I screwed up my CPI (again). I got an X grade in the departmental communication course! After Gymkhana Day that year, reality hit me as I realized the third year was pretty harsh for me. I learned about this career option called Management Consulting, which attracts the best profiles. I never thought that I could make it because of my CPI and my mediocre profile. So, I aimed for a mediocre firm during the placement.

My intern was in the city of Vishakhapatnam, where there weren’t a lot of people to have fun with. The work site was 2 hours away from the guesthouse, so I spent 4 hours daily commuting on a bus. When I came back to my guesthouse, I prepared for GMAT. I had my fair share of fun though, when some of my friends came over. 

Then, after my internship, things started getting better. I resolved the gap with my friends. I applied for McKinsey, BCG, and Bain with no expectations. I had an entire semester to focus on my career while most of my friends were busy building their own careers or were simply not on campus. I started practicing cases sincerely. Two seniors, one who was PSG and got placed in BCG and another, a close friend from E-Cell, who got placed in Bain, helped me a lot during the preparation. It was during this time that I realized how essential seniors are in one’s campus journey. The things that we heard in the first year truly started to make sense.

On 5th October 2019, I finally achieved what I longed for. I got an offer from Bain & Company. I got the professional success I had wanted all through my campus life. A few days later, I got an offer for a deferred MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, which I eventually rejected. 

After that, I just enjoyed the remaining time of the semester with a newfound group of friends that we refer to as PRANK (Parth-Rahul-Abhishek-Navneet-Krishna). In the short-lived yet fantastic last semester, I reconnected with all my friends and had the most amazing times. Night-outs, outings, dinners, parties, drinks, and some gymming filled my days. In the first week of March 2020, I even went on a trip to the Himalayas with my wingies. When we climbed down the mountains, we realized that we would be heading home and not back to the campus to finish the final chapter.

The journey had its ups and downs, but more than the place, it was the people that made the journey what it is. I’d mention 3 people who were important to me in this journey. The first is my roommate, Anshul Yadav, who has always been my go-to person whenever I was caught in any trouble. The second is my IITK Bhai, Nikhil Srivastava, who has been the person who made my life fun and understood me. The last and the most important person is my best friend Shruti Jain, who has been there in the thick and thin and seen my journey. She’s the person who has always brought out the best in me. With these people, I feel that my time is not yet over, and there’s still a long way to go.

This was my bitter-sweet journey in IIT Kanpur. I wouldn’t have the entire stay any other way. I often feel that if there had been a better closure to campus life, the journey would have felt more complete. But this is how this experience is. It follows you when you need it the most and vanishes when you are ready to move on to the next phase of your life. With the entire cycle complete, I wish all the junior batches that they enjoy their time and make their best memories here at IIT Kanpur!

Written By :- Parth Chhaparwal

Edited by :- Hemant Kejriwal , Astha Pant.