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A time capsule, akin to a time-travelling treasure chest, captures the essence of an era- our biggest dreams, core values and the milestones that define us—so that generations down the line can uncover and reflect on who we were and what we believed in.
While this might come as a surprise to much of the campus junta, in 2010, as part of its golden jubilee celebrations, IIT Kanpur devised a unique way to safeguard its scientific heritage and glorious legacy— by preserving it for posterity in a time capsule. Remarkably, this was only the second such capsule created in India at that time. The then President of India, Smt. Pratibha Devi Patil, was herself present at the event.
The director at that time, Prof. SG Dhande proposed the idea of this time capsule followed by the creation of a committee headed by Prof. SP Mehrotra and comprising Professors Ashwini Kumar, Ashok Mittal, Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Manindra Agarwal, Rajat Moona and Mr Phool Chand Gond as members.
Breaking from tradition, gun-metal, also known as red brass, was used for the outer casing of the capsule instead of the usual stainless steel. The project, led by Professor Avinash Kumar, was primarily designed and executed by about 50 students from the institute in a Mechanical Engineering Lab with a budget of around 2.5 lakhs.
To ensure the longevity of the contents, acid-free paper was used for storing printed information as regular paper, made from cellulose, can attract insects when exposed to water or oxygen. Most of the information was stored digitally and sealed with a nitrogen atmosphere to prevent interaction with oxygen.
Addressing the common issue of data retrieval in time capsules, the team included external hardware- a 16 GB pen drive holding all the documents in digital format, along with a notebook computer equipped with the necessary software and cables to access the data in the future.
The 3-foot long capsule is composed of two sections—an inner cylinder measuring 6 inches in diameter and 17 inches in length, and an outer shell that encases it. This shell is made up of three separately cast segments, which were assembled after the contents were securely placed inside. At the time of burial, the total weight of the capsule was approximately 285 kg.
Several interesting things were placed inside the capsule after 6 months of deliberation, in both hardware and digital form. These included photographs collected over 50 years, an aerial map of the institute, a replica of the President’s Gold medal, copy of statutes, ordinances and acts, a weekly menu of a student hostel mess, information about birds spotted in campus, annual reports, R&D publications, copy of ‘courses of study’ booklet in microfilm, minutes of first and hundredth Senate meetings and the Board meeting, and the IITK movie of 2009, among others.
If you haven’t yet guessed the location, let us break it to you. You might have wondered about the large white rock when passing through the Main Auditorium. Perhaps, you have even taken a picture there, unaware that this marble rock, weighing around 10 tons and transported from Banswada, Rajasthan marks the spot where the Time Capsule is preserved. The capsule encapsulates the Institute’s rich history and the aspirations of our generation, embodying our commitment to shaping the future with our unique vision and ideals.
As we reflect on the treasures buried in 2010, one can’t help but wonder—if a time capsule were to be buried today, what new milestones, achievements, or symbols of our era would we choose to preserve?
Written by: Ashutosh Sharma, Dhriti Barnwal, Sanket Bansal
Designed by: Arnav Gupta, Kanak, Mitanshi Khandelwal
Edited by: Vedanshi Aggarwal
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