IIT
(An experience of sorts)
SAIDUTTA BIBHU PRASAD BEHERA
5TH SEMESTER, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
2003-2007
My journey through IIT (Indian Institute of Technology rather it is ‘Innovation of Inherent Technology’) was something which I will cherish for times to come for some unforgettable moments of joy & depression.
Starting my journey on a very suspicious note whether going there will be of any help or not and will I be able to match to the talent, grit & determination of technogiants from across the country. I had just gone to have a glimpse of what IIT is & a ticket to IIT was to participate in the “KSHITIJ”-Annual Techno-Management Festival(an amalgamation of IITs,IIMs,NITs,top B-Schools…).I alongwith five of my friends initiated our reverberating passage to the dreamland of technology.From the Kharagpur railway station,my IITian friend (core member of “KSHITIJ”) accompanied to IIT through their bus aongwith other students (and now the apprehension of IIT took its toll on me).Some minutes after, our eyes glanced through the imperative stature & serene atmosphere of none other than
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
KHARAGPUR
These were inscripted silver words at the imperious entrance,absolutely majestic & stunning.IIT Kharagpur was an amalgamation of Tech & MBA students,huge buildings with mindblowing architecture,departments with almost everything,a Museum & a horrifying prison built by the Britishers,parks,canteens,restaurants,hospital & cinema hall,clean & huge roads with an array of never ending streetlights,flower gardens,Police chowki,Hostels & Colonies alongwith Professor Quarters ,a small but optimum tech market and above all, the Library of IIT is the the largest Tech Library in Asia(it is a four-storeyed building with architecture…).The auditorums were well equipped & stunning.Specially their classrooms were like our own Keshari Halls with spacious galleries with Projector,LCDs & huge speakers.The restaurants there served delicious food.There was a Kendriya Vidyalaya,huge indoor & outdoor playfields for Cricket,Basketball,Tennis,Football,Hockey,Badminton,Atheletics etc.Anything treat to was their buildings especially “TAKSHSHILA”,a huge building of more than 1000 computers & its designed in such a way that mobile networks fail helplessly inside it.
We all registered at the “KSHITIJ” arena & accomodations were given to us.It was already midnight.It was a huge campus where may be 100 to 150 ITER would get in.The architecture conveys an absolute command as an overbearing & dictatorial person.
MOST INSPIRING PART :To look at the main building where the giant silver inscription of “INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY” was placed on its top (with a tagline “Dedicated to the service of the nation” ) which was supreme & peremptory enough to brighten up the fire within you to read in IIT & nowhere else & there was an absolute depressing feeling thinking myself to be an ITERian & not an IITian & made me remember those days when gossiping,playing,roaming,sleeping,gluing to TV replaced the very hated studies.Only one thing ringed at my ears -“TIME WASTE IS LIFE WASTE”.Well, in IIT there are many things to get inspiration than things to get you depressed.Perhaps it is the case of every outsider who tend to believe living in IIT for three days that “World is divided into two arenas-one for IITians & other for those “who wished if they were IITians”.As always, everyone was glad to see any damsel at IIT.But in IIT, the boy to girl ratio is usually around 600:32 or 600:19 or something invariably close.Some of my friends were referring the the IITians(girls) as “TECHNOMOTHER”
MOST DIFFICULT PART: Walking.It is huge campus of more than 1200 acres.To walk from the “KSHITIJ” arena to our Hall Of Residence(I mean their Hostels where for the time being we were given accomodation).Everyday we had to walk some 8 to 15 kilometres.To ride a bicycle is definitely a big thing there as every IITian used to ride a bicycle.Riding vehicles is not permissible.But yes, Rickshaws were plentily available.Meanwhile my friends went from Kharagpur to Kolkata & that was a bit setback for me.
All the Hall Of Residences(HR) were named after freedom fighters like Lala Lajpat Rai HR,Meghnad Saha HR,Vallabhbhai Patel HR etc.The Ladies Hostel was christened as Sarojini Naidu HR.Life at IIT was tremendously cool & everyone will feel the air of independence & freshness.The IITians used to read,play,roam or do something in their Labs,fields or Libraries till late in the night.IIT is 24 hours open and alive for 365 days a year.Meanwhile I participated in Ateliar,Tech Quiz,Biz Quiz,B-plan,Snappit.The Workshop,Seminar,Conference by professors from foreign universities including MIT was awesome & resplendent.There were participation from OEC,NIT,UCE Burla,IGIT Sarang,COEB,KIIT from Orissa.
Anyways,“KSHITIJ” was truly spellbinding,thought provoking,captivating & entirely appealing,an appeal to rise against the tides & go across the horizon crossing the limit.One particular thing that was fascinating & amusing was the language of every IITians.They call it IIT Lingo, a language that appears new like Malayam or Telugu but it is actually a hitech & engrossing version of Hindi & English language.They tell for a girl-bandii,boy-bandaa,Professor-Prof,Calculator-Calci,Electronics Department-thok(thick heads of kharagpur),tension-load,Department change-dipcy & many many to follow ,this is only a 0.005% of their language.
“KSHITIJ” started on February 05, 2005.It was a three days celebration of Technology & Management.On the last night, prizes were distributed.A boy from IIT Kharagpur grabbed a brand new ‘Pulsar’ for receiving highest number of prizes. Yeah, one thing I forgot to tell you about the horrendous & awful sight of the Robotics competition where participants were handling complex Electronics circuit & Robots in such a manner that I was horrified by the majestic talents of the IITians & made me remember those days when designing circuits on the Breadboard in the Basic Electronics Lab was difficult even having the Circuit diagram in one hand.
After having dinner, we went out to go across every department of IIT with my IITian friend & his girlfriend(a sweet,short stature Bengali girl of Electronics branch of IIT Kharagpur).I was specially attracted by the splendour of mechanical department where every subjects were dedicated special Labs &the glimpse of the machines were terribly huge for my eyes to catch up.So we took some photos there.We came across Vinod Gupta School of Management (Vinod Gupta is an alumni of IIT who contributed crores to make this building exclusively for B-Tech students).
IIT Kharagpur was built in 1951 due to which some buildings are too old.We had some snaps between us & went back to our rooms.In the morning, we left for Bhuibaneswar with some contrasting & enlightening memories of IIT.Its true that I had a bit depression at not being an IITian but yes it inculcated within us loads of inspiration that taught us to learn from past, live in the present & invest (our mind, soul & energy) in the future.
Its not wrong that in IIT, I was not proud to be an ITERian but yes, arriving at my very own lovely college made me realize what I am & I was absolutely at ease to feel good & do good for my college.IIT gave me inspiration & made me thought provoking to realize that my past made me go through those horrifying moments & made me think about my times of failure but yes, my future gives enough impetus & incitement to make me broaden the horizon to cross the limits may be higher than IITians.IITians live in different world not due to their brains but because of their grit,determination & dedication which we sincerely miss.So,inculcating all these things within us right now by living in the very present to make our future shimmering,illustrious & flambuoyant so that we can proudly think about it when it becomes past……Many lines have been penned down but still my description of IIT goes on……& that simply justifies what IIT is.
My experience at
“KSHITIJ”
Annual Techno-Management Festival
IIT Kharagpur
No comments:
Post a Comment