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In this 5th edition of As We Leave, Shrey Mehta, a graduating Y20 student in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, shares his rollercoaster journey of college with his friends. Read his story of navigating different stages with enjoyment.
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 that time of life where I am filled with a plethora of emotions, obviously the sadness of leaving this beautiful campus and the life here, along with the excitement of moving forward into a new world altogether. This stunning journey started on the 18th of November, 2020, and life has turned a full circle since then. Many friends made, uncountable incredible moments experienced with them, and memories made for a lifetime are my takeaways from this journey.
It has been a rollercoaster of a ride, starting with the covid times when my entire life took the online route (too disappointed to date to miss those 1.5 years), taking a huge exciting leap on coming back to the campus and now comes the time when it’s about to leave. Though life may not have always been good, with the rollercoaster going to great heights and sometimes to some steep lows, the journey has been remarkable.
Campus Diaries Stage 1: Obviously, should start with friends made on campus
I don’t know how many of you have watched the film Student of the Year, but at least I was impressed with one of its dialogues a lot, and I feel it holds in real life as well: “Dost to sabhi ke hote hai, par school, college ke dosto ki baat hi kuch aur hoti hai. Ma baap ki tarah hume samajhte hai wo dost, jante hai wo dost. Takraar, jalan, competition, chahe kisi bhi daur se guzar jaaye ye dosti, dil pe uska koi asar nahi hota. Hum ye dosti kabhi nahi todenge.” I have grown up fantasizing about this very definition of friendship.
When I was in school, I was that typical nerd kind of guy who was friends with nobody (which, obviously, I will regret for the rest of my life) and wanted to achieve everything in his life. So, entering this whole new, highly romanticized place, I had no friends and wanted to make many of them who would last a lifetime. But, little did I know that this dream would extend even further for 1.5 years as covid struck and in the online mode of conduction, I was too introverted to start a conversation with anyone and eventually, ended up with very few friends (Het and Kushal, that also because they were also from Ahmedabad and I had met them, along with few others in the meets held there). After that came the dream day, 29th December 2021, when I stepped into the world of my imagination for the first time. However, things didn’t start well, as people enjoyed the first day and 31st of December with their wings and friends while I sat in my room and tried to pass the days first so I could settle down and adjust to this new world.
Luckily, life flipped this script on my birthday, the 6th of January, which was the first one on campus of the people I know to date back then. I was expecting to sleep, with calls from my parents, but to my surprise, I had a knock on the door at 11:58 pm, and there was the entire Ahmedabad gang, along with two more wings of Kushal, Akshunya and Jasjot, who went on to become one of my best friends till date. That day marked the beginning of this beautiful journey I am about to narrate.
So, the next day, I threw a party for all of these peeps and was invited to Akshunya’s birthday later that month. Slowly, the bond developed between me, Kushal, Akshunya and Jasjot. Then I joined the group we named “asdfg” (Too lazy to form names, so took the first five letters of the keyboard), which consisted of one more exciting member, Samar. Chalo to now, I was at a stage where I got some boost or, say, some part of the imagination of what I wanted.
Then, the 2nd and 3rd years went by, and in the process, some new friends were made; many moments were cherished initially in Hall 12 with some other good friends like Mohit, Akhil and many others, and later in Hall 5 as sort of pseudo-wingie of the “asdfg” group. Notably, for even many Y20s also don’t know, I am from Hall 2 but would be seen in Hall 5 the entire day with these people, and yes, there’s a little secret to it too: I have eaten in Hall 5 mess for almost two years, and till today, the mess wale bhaiya thinks that I was of Hall 5 itself. We would be doing nearly everything together, be it playing sports or doing assignments or doing bakchodi the entire day.
I also met Aryan in Hall 5, and we became good friends then. One fine day, I was working in the KD library with some assignment and fell asleep when Jaya woke me up and asked for something, to which I replied, “Hein??”. This was my first one-to-one interaction with her, and ended up adding a whole new chapter to my life. So, along with my other friends, Aryan and Jaya (who in turn knew each other also well) became two of my newest friends, remaining amongst the best to date. With these two and Harshit, the trio became one more group of my friends, adding to the existing ones, and eventually turned out to be one of the best of them.
But, as they say, “Change is the only constant in life”; things didn’t remain the same forever. In the final year, some of my friends and I moved to Hall 1, during which some of them were left behind in Hall 9 (though they are still in touch more than anyone else). Also, priorities for some of them changed, and I learnt a crucial lesson in my life, “Treat the people the way they treat you” (though the actual quote states otherwise). Regardless of the situation, I tried to balance things between all my friends and spend as much time as possible with them during this last leap of the journey. But, the dialogue from YJHD suits the best here, where Naina says, “Life me kitna bhi try karlo, kuch na kuch toh chootega hi. To jaha hai wahi ke maze lete hai”. So, over this last lap, majorly the entire 8th semester, I spent time roaming around, going out for trips, and enjoying time with my friends. At this point, I feel fortunate to have had such great, loving and understanding friends throughout this rollercoaster ride.
Campus Diaries Stage 2: Living to the fact that “Human is a social being”
College life is to explore, and one should dig into each direction to find out which suits one. The best way to do so and to engage with the seniors and even the batchmates is to be a part of some club or society.
One of the biggest regrets of my college life is not being a part of any club or team, which was mainly due to the entire first year being online, which was due to me not being aware of the importance of joining them and the help they provide in the character development of a person. Though last year mein was a part of the Google Developer Student Club; in its first tenure at IITK, I realised what I had missed throughout my three years. It gives you a great chance to interact with many people on campus, including seniors, batchmates and even the junior batches. Besides that, I got a chance to become a Tutor for ESC101 and ESO207, where I got an excellent opportunity to interact with the junior batches and fulfil all I had missed in my previous years here.
Along with that, the best social interaction happens in the wings of the hostels. I might not have interacted much with my wing in Hall 2, but I was a pseudo-wingie of the Hall 5 group, which helped me interact and learn. I went through the phase of being a complete introvert in the first year (before coming to campus) and not being involved anywhere; I have come out as one of the guys known by almost everyone in the CSE Department, at least the Y20 batch. People who didn’t even know me back then now tell me, “Tujhe to sab jante hi honge”. This has been a significant turnaround in my life, and I feel that interacting with my peers and seniors by getting involved in some place helped me survive this captivating journey through college.
Campus Diaries Stage 3: Remembering that acads is also important (Don’t want to talk a lot about it even while leaving)
Full-time bakchodi karna is a part of almost everyone’s campus life. My parents tell me I have changed a lot after college. I have been playing all day round, studying only the last days of the exam or doing all-nighters to complete the assignment. They ask me, “Why can’t you start it on time?” My answer is, “Are koi nahi karta itna jaldi start idhar!”. This is the academic life summarised here on campus.
To my utter disappointment, I started my campus life in an online mode, due to covid, all of you know. Since I was also more of an introvert then, I focused on studying, which people here call “JEE Mode”. This way, I completed my three semesters here with a decent CPI of 9.8 (B bhi aise courses me laga tha jisme sabse jyada cheating hui online me). Then, a bomb dropped. I came to campus in the fourth semester, and boom, my SPI dropped to 8.8 that semester. Coming back on campus after such a long wait and having already missed three semesters hit, and then what? Wo pura sem bakchodi me nikal diya! It was evident when the results came through, and little did I know about the importance of CPI during the internship season, which would take place at the start of the very next semester. I had no chance to increase it, so I started focussing on other things: learning DSA, Quant prep, etc.
Then came the D-Day, the Day 1 of the internship season. After having cleared rounds for companies, I had 5-6 interviews on Day 1. I don’t know what happened that day; I lost my opportunity to get into two of my top preference companies, and even after completing the rounds of the other companies, I was wondering whether I was getting an offer that day. That day, even my SPO friends would not respond as they were also busy managing the other interviews, and the day passed. It was night, I had not eaten anything the entire day, and I was very ashamed of myself, thinking, “Kya muh dikhaunga ghar pe”. I generally talk to my parents over the phone daily, but that day, I was out of any confidence to speak to them. My friends took me to Hall 11 for dinner; I was almost teary-eyed and didn’t sleep at all that night with all the weird thoughts running through my head. Then, the next morning, came that call from Garvit (one of my colleagues at Samsung), who said that I had been selected for an internship there. I was literally out of words, my eyes filled with uncontainable delight, and I called my Mom and said, “Ho gaya Samsung me!” That was the most satisfying moment of my life. Luckily, I got a PPO from there, so I did not have to sit for the placement season, as I was in no mood to go over that stress and pressure again.
“Fir to kya, karo maze, ab to life sorted hai” was my only motto during the last two semesters. Besides maintaining a decent CPI and doing some valuable projects, I managed to enjoy and be a part of all the things that I had missed or did not get a chance to get into due to covid or several other reasons.
This academic expedition has seen many ups and one major down, but it has also been meaningful and memorable to cherish.
Campus Diaries Stage 4: Trips, fests and the cherished memories
A very serious rule of my life, which I tell everyone and abide by, is “Kabhi kisi bhi trip ke liye mana nahi karna chahiye.” Why does anyone say no to a trip? Padhai karni hai (ye to nahi ho raha), paise nahi hai (intern me itna to kamaya hai) and the worst of the reasons I get from my friends, “Man nahi hai”. What does it take to go on a trip with friends? An impromptu plan and a bunch of friends ready to follow that plan with you. My first trip was with the aforementioned “asdfg” group, where we went to Jaisalmer in the mid-semester break of the fourth semester (bola tha na bohot bakchodi kari hai tab). I went on another trip with them and a few more of them to Thailand, a dream trip for most of us and one of the most discussed ones on the campus. Even one of my neighbouring flightmate was surprised that we had gotten a chance to visit Thailand during our college days itself. It was one of the best trips of my life till now, and we enjoyed it in all sorts (waisa sab kuch nahi kiya) there and utilized our last vacation to the best of our ability. Besides that, trips help strengthen the bonds between the friends as they live, talk and play with each other the entire day. I went to Rishikesh with Kushal, Het and Arpit in December of last year to do all sorts of adventurous activities possible, where we also did bungee jumping. Also, the trip to Varanasi was very memorable as we seven people shared the same dormitory and enjoyed ourselves with each other the whole night. It was a new group of friends for me, which I joined later, and I had a chance to make friends with many new friends and interact with them to date. One to Lucknow was sort of a road trip vibing on old 1990s Bollywood songs. I explored Lucknow’s traditional local cuisines and fashion with one of my favourite travel groups comprising Aryan, Jaya and Harshit, along with Priya. I expect to share a seat on many more trips with them and my “asdfg” group.
Another important stress buster was the fests, especially Techkriti and Antaragni. They came twice a year, and those 4-5 days would be filled with fun, vibe and whatnot. Dancing in the fests and ultimately matching the vibe was the prime motto of Akshunya, Mohit and me, who used to dance the night out on the days of the concert. Also, the campus used to feel new and filled with lots of novelty, with many people visiting the campus during that time. These nights will be one of the most memorable moments of my campus life.
Many memories were cherished, and nostalgic moments were captured through these beautiful and captivating fests and the stunning trips through these four years.
Campus Diaries Stage 5: Bidding goodbyes
To Kushal, for being the constant supporter and ever-ready for any plan. To Akshunya, for always understanding me and encouraging me. To Aryan, for that late night walks and showing the practical route of every situation. To Jaya, for all the gossip sessions and the fantastic trips planned. To Harshit, for constant FOMO to learn more. To Samar, for the exciting cricket matches played and watched.To Akhil, Harsh and Mohit, for being the constant poker buddies (the best one was that night we played poker in the RM building).To Jasjot, for the late-night parties had. To Dishay, for the valuable mental support provided at the deadline of the assignments. To Tejas, for giving me your priceless relationship advice and carrying the bag to all places to help all keep their stuff. To Vaidik, for those enlightening conversations. To Het, for teaching me a carefree attitude. To Arpit, for a boost of completing the assignments a minute before the deadline. To Garvit, for helping me out of crunch situations.
As I prepare to depart from this beautiful loop of things, I’ll treasure these memories as the foundation for the exciting path that awaits me but, as SRK says, “Picture abhi baaki hai mere Dost” with many more memories to cherish with these wonderful people going further. Sadly, IITK won’t be there then with us.
ADIOS IITK. YOU HAVE BEEN THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED IN MY LIFE. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING! :))
Written by : Shrey Mehta
Edited by: Sanchit Arora, Kaushal Jain
Designed by: Sanyam Shivhare
