Looking back
Three years back, when I was studying to crack JEE, the parties and the fun stuff at IITs attracted me the most and motivated me to study. I had come here to make memories and boy did I make memories in the last few months.
So what is this blog about? I have just completed my 6th semester in IITK. People are going back home, and I have nothing better to do. I spent this complete semester on campus. As I move on to the next phase of my journey, I will try to highlight how amazing the last few months have been in this article.
What is different here?
It is very convenient to be carefree on campus. One of my seniors had advised me- ‘You should try as many different things as you want while here, be it hobbies, interests, substances, relationships, etc. You will never be this free in the future. You will never have so little responsibility once you graduate’. Things could never go horribly wrong here because the only person/thing you are responsible for is yourself. No one will stop you from doing whatever you want to do. You probably cannot find a better company anywhere else doing what you want to do because people do everything here.
So many activities
A typical semester at IIT Kanpur is filled with a plethora of activities. Imagine all those events spaced out throughout the year, crunched into four weeks. That’s what happened this year. There was a lot of partying this semester. On three consecutive weekends, we had our fests, Techkriti, Udghosh and Antaragni. Although the fests were not as grand as they used to be a couple of years back due to restrictions, they still were pretty enjoyable. The entire campus was lit up, and events were organized. Academics were put on hold, and everyone just enjoyed their time. We had terrific pro-nights organized this year as well, with entertainers like Ritviz, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan performing on different nights. After each pro-night, we had some of the best night outs of the semester. Most people were drunk or stoned, some totally wasted, others just tipsy, everyone having the time of their life. I had never been as drunk as I was on one of the night outs. The fun part about drunk stories is not remembering anything and getting to know about it from others.
A new home
Generally, people shift to their parent halls in their second year and stay there for a couple of years. We shifted to Hall 3 right at the end of the third year just for a few weeks. Hall 13 was good, but Hall 3 has its own feel. Hall 13 is like a palace, where the freshers are pampered for a year before they experience the true hosteller life. Hall 3 is like a real hostel. The rooms, the architecture, the washrooms, the mess and even the people are old. The hall has its own vibe, very different from Hall 13. I had two roommates, i.e. triple sharing in hall 3, unlike 13, where we had double sharing. No matter how poor the facilities are in Hall 3, I learned to get used to it. Two weeks into my new room, I did not feel discomfort living there. It shows how much can a person adapt to surroundings. The only downside of shifting was that my friends with different parent halls now lived far away.
Friendships and More
When you have the time of your life at the fests, the people you spend this time with become your best friends. There are many things that I have learnt about friendships. The most important among them is that friendships evolve. No matter how much you want things to be the same, they change. I made new friends this semester and became even closer friends with some people. I also did lose a few friends. In all this, I have discovered many new things about myself, making me more mature in dealing with people.
I have become a lot more emotionally mature during the last few months. People are more than just mere pixels on your screen or participants on a zoom call. There is a different personality behind every smiling face. People are more than just what they seem like when you talk to them in social settings.
Everyone has their own emotional baggage. When you talk to that person alone, make that person comfortable and allow them to open up, you realize the profundity of someone’s character. I learnt a lot talking to people and knowing about them. I have learnt to appreciate the people around me, especially my family and friends. I am probably a better listener now, and I better understand many things about people’s emotions.
I understand meaningful relationships marginally better. I have seen how much a person could change because of someone and how happy or sad they can be because of someone. I had never thought about it before I experienced it for myself.
Academics
There is a point in each student’s life when academics no longer is the most crucial thing in your life. You no longer care if you perform well academically. The later this point comes in one’s life, the more academically successful that person is. Once you hit this point in life in your life, you stop studying like crazy and learn to be happy with whatever grades/marks you get. I have always kept academics as my top priority for as long as I remember. When I was a little, I wondered when this point would come in my life? It finally came this semester. Engineering finally broke me.
I cared less about academics this semester than in my previous semester. For the first time, I felt like I did not want to study anymore, and it was okay to not give my best. I eventually did study sufficient to get decent grades. To give context, imagine you are doing a heavy bench press. You have 3 more reps to go, but you know that you cannot do more than 1. You somehow push your way through to do it, but you know that you cannot possibly do another rep after it is done. It’s a similar story in academics; I don’t think I will be able to push for another semester.
Offline Teaching
The transition to the offline mode of teaching was excellent. For two complete years, I missed a lot of things, waking up early to attend the lecture, forgetting where the lecture hall was in the academic area, cracking jokes during the lecture, passing hilarious comments, falling asleep, and many more things which happen only in classroom lectures. I understood a few things in the few lectures I attended offline, even though I had no idea what was taught before. Asking doubts in lectures was so easy, and the interaction was so helpful in learning. I really feel that I would not have lost interest in academics so soon if things had not shifted to online mode during the pandemic.
Not all things went right
As far as productivity is concerned, I have been way less productive this semester. There used to be a time when I worked more than 12 hours a day, handling DebSoc and AUV simultaneously and still managing to study for academics. Such things are simply impossible on campus. I often didn’t even realize how quickly time passed when with friends. Those night outs and hangouts took away a good chunk of my time and disrupted my sleep schedule. Sure, they were fun, and I loved hanging out doing nothing, but it consequently meant I could not be involved in DebSoc or AUV to the same extent.
My debating form has definitely been poor this year. I have not even broken at a single tournament this year. I have been out of touch for so long that it will be challenging to get back in form and start breaking again. I also did not get much time to contribute to my team this semester. My physical fitness also worsened this semester with gyms staying closed, poor Hall 3 food and lack of proper sleep.
IIT Kanpur Parliamentary Debate
Although I did not debate much this semester, I had to spend a lot of time on IIT Kanpur PD. It was my dream to make this happen, and this semester it finally came true. I had dropped a course to keep my semester light, just in case I had to give more time than expected to IIT Kanpur PD. I also had to give up participating in Inter IIT Tech meet because Inter IIT and IIT Kanpur PD dates were clashing. Although IIT Kanpur PD was not as grand as I had imagined it to be, it still is a significant achievement for our society. I learned a lot of things in the process. I had to manage everything, finances, marketing, design, tabs, etc. I better understand what it takes to conduct an event. I also learnt a few things about leading a group of people. It was a great experience despite all the hiccups that we had to face. I hope that a few years down the line, IITK PD becomes one grand event in the Indian Debating Calendar.
Goodbyes are never easy
The last few months have been so wonderful that I could not possibly point out a better time in my life before it. It is so heartbreaking that it is ending. I won’t be able to meet my friends for three months from now. All of them will intern at different locations in India and abroad. It will be tough to catch up, but we will surely plan something. Anyways, I still have one full year with my batchmates. The final year is the year to make the most memories in college life before it ends. It will be so much more exciting than the last few months.
Our senior batch is leaving the campus. One could easily find them on campus in those cool looking shorts and blazers, shooting the farewell video, hanging out with friends for one last time. When the time comes, all that will be left behind is that small empty room, a packed suitcase, tears in their eyes and loads of memories in mind. When we see their Instagram stories with “See You Again” in the background, we will know. It does not just make me feel sad that they are leaving; it reminds me that we will be in their place next year.
It's never Goodbye.