Yearnings of Yore- Life Goes on!

This article was originally published in
"Yearnings of Yore"(Volume-VII) given as a souvenir to the alumni present on the occasion of "Seventh Annual Alumni Meet", January 8-10, 2010.


Life Goes on!

It was a day that changed your life once and forever, from just a mere mortal oblivious about this world to a community for which people used to spend half a decade to be in. It was the day your forefathers would attain salvation after getting the big news.



However, you were calm and sleeping in your not-so-cozy but homely bed when your mother wakes you up. You brushed your teeth as you were a mother’s child and had to abide by her morning rules. Wow! You are selected at IIT KGP.

Congrats now you are a KGPian!

The news of your selection spread like wildfire, soon phone calls started coming in if you happen to be selected after the telecom-revolution.

This is the celebrity phase of life every IITian never forgets throughout his/her life.

Life gives you choices and sometimes plays with your fate and gives you surprises. IIT welcomes you with surprises, few bad ones and pleasant ones too. You transform from a teenager to a young adult. It is “Goosebumps-giving” to say that the change IIT did to you still reflects in your personality and you have never changed that much over a span of 4 years other than in KGP. When you put your footsteps here you might be with your dad or mom but in the subsequent 4 years you start doing things on your own. Your first all-alone journey back to home, your first visit to the stationary shop for purchasing stuffs that was previously bought by your parents or elder brothers and sisters, gradual loss of interest in studies, involvement in hall activities and orientation program, etc. all carve out a change in you successively, obviously not in the above order . Here I’m tempted to quote a cliché
“Your hall is your identity. Your hall is bigger than your year, bigger than your department, bigger than your CG, bigger than YOU.”

This is learnt by you and you are made to learn things which leave transcendental changes in you. Hall seniors and the stationary shop owner of your hall are the people you have to be subservient to for obvious benefits!

Within 6 months, you have loads of activities to do and you get a hang of the less happening life outside KGP campus. Cheddis, Tikka and other eateries give you relief from the mess food and excuse to do “Bhaat”!

“Bhaat” is really an activity which forms an indispensible part of every KGPian throughout his stay here, be it the personal problem, IIT issue or national and international issues, a KGPian has a point of view on every topic under the sun what he refers to as his “funda” or “fundae”.

Every KGPian subconsciously believes that he/she gets paid not for his/her technical expertise rather the “fundae” giving capability he/she inherits from his/her seniors. The explicit mention of photocopying centers deserves a mention as it is the prime reason for making you an IIT graduate. People say getting in to IIT is tough, try getting out! (another cliché). Academics take a backseat in most of the KGPians’ priority list. Life goes on, you graduate and after 5 years or 10 years or whatever may in your case, you feel like returning once again to this mother of all the IITs. The students of KGP also wish to welcome their seniors again and relive the moments again. Being an alumnus of IIT KGP you might get nostalgic but the feeling of nostalgia is also quite serene and surreal.

PS: This was the first time I got bylines for any article and I was very happy to see my name in print for any article for the first time!