Amchi Mumbai!

Here i was in IIT Powai, the best institute to study in India. I entered through the gate and asked for the hostels. I finally reached one of the hostels and not to my surprise i was asked to move to another hostel because of unavailability of space so to the next hostel and finally i get a space. Here i walk the long corridors to reach to my room which was in the last corridor after which started the vegetation.  I reached my room and opened it, and their lay two beautifully mummified lizards on the bed looking so real as have been crafted by a master craftsman. Shocked as i was i made some room for me and kept my luggage. Finally my friend arrived and we arranged the room so as to make it livable for the next two to three days. Then we moved out in search of food, like scavengers we were ready to munch on anything we could lay our hand on. We went to one mess only to find that breakfast time had just got over, but to our relief we could find some maggi and a cup of tea at the tea stall outside the mess. Then we moved around the campus with one of the guy who was aware of the campus and studies their itself. The campus is surely a large one not as big as IIT Kanpur but it surely is big and then their are two corridors joining all the departments housed in the campus. You can move from department to another through this corridors. The terrain of the campus is quite undulated. The main building sits on an hill and down the hill are located the hostels and the ground. The most astonishing thing i realized was the starking difference in speed of life as you crossed the gates, the life outside the gates of the campus runs at speed of light. Its as if people here have roller skates on their legs and not shoes, everyone is running from the working class to the BMW's. People have so much to do in so little time that every one is running. Then we went to the Hiranandani complex just opposite to the campus and here you feel as if you have came to another country. For a small city guy like me to see all this tall towers and so many of them together was really a surprise. Till the sight went only tall towers ruled the sky and they are gorgeous one of a kind architecture. This was surely the location where you would like to own a flat. Great locality and great view. I would recommend that those people who have any doubt about the wealth in India should at least visit this place once and lay down their doubts for once and forever. Return to campus and the speed of the life just cools down. Second morning and we got up early to have breakfast, we had determined that we will eat something this time for sure and went to mess to find that breakfast timing hadn't started and we were early so back to room and wait begins. Back to mess only to find a long queue of people already waiting for food. This food thing has stuck in my mind as it was not as hard to get food in Powai as anywhere else. Well but like all good things have a flip side this might be it. Finally our test and interviews get over and off we go. (Actually the real adventure is remaining but i have kept it for next post)

Lets go!

Here i pack my bags and starts the second leg of the journey. Off we go to Mumbai the city of dreams and high risers. I went to my pickup point for bus and i was the only person to board from that point. Here i was at 11:30 P.M waiting for the bus in middle of road with traffic zooming through, i went right to the travel operators office and he said that bus was late which was obvious cause they are not trained to handle buses on time. I asked how much late, it was 45 minutes late so it makes it around 12:15 A.M that's in the night in middle of road with no one around. But i had the men's most faithful friend around, a gang of few stray dogs scouting the area as if on some search operation. It was really weird to stand their, all alone with few dogs to depend on and one bus operator all shops shut and the noise of the vehicles dying out somewhere in distance. It was 12:30 in my watch, all sounds had died out, my holy friends had left me and moved forward and i finally asked the operator why is the bus late? Any gusses of what his answer was? If you thought it was due to traffic you were wrong... For those who thought due to flat tire you were thinking too practical... For those among you who think of only extremities and who thought it was due to an accident you are right. The damn bus had met with an accident on the highway. Figure this, standing in middle of night on the empty road and the operator is going to get you board a bus which had been through an accident, isn't this exciting. Well to my relief the bus looked in a far more better shape and it had brakes which were working so i boarded it. Seats had no number, here i was again in a dilemma, "Which is my seat?". I feel after my first experience with the flight i was in such a trauma that a phobia had developed wherein in was always worried about the seat. But i got a seat and here we go to Mumbai. 

Return to home

Slowly the night came in and i left for coming back and on my way back i noticed that this was one of the best experiences of the life. An opportunity to peek into the life of the people their. On station i waited for train and i waited and i waited but the train didn't turned up, trains which weren't on the list were coming and going but my scheduled train wasn't arriving. Finally after some moments of apprehension it arrived and i boarded it and to my comfort i slept peacefully. Back to airport and i reached quite early and when i went for boarding pass the lady asked me "So early?" as if it was a crime and i was going to be sent to jail. I took the pass and waited their and watched over the airport. I haven't seen so many planes together, i was a bit in aw and watched over. I didn't realized how two hours had passed and moved towards the boarding gate at the earliest so as to get the first seat so that no one occupies it this time round. This time their was no one and actually the flight was going quite empty. Back to home peacefully and safely first leg of the journey ends.

Ugly Outside Beautiful Inside

Well this are the words that i can find most appropriate for IIT Kanpur, i passed through the city to reach IIT and found that most of the civil infrastructure was deteriorating. I was dropped at the IIT Kanpur Gate and the driver recommended to do another auto. I was surprised to find that the area is so large that you really need to have a public transport system separately for the campus and they have one. I travelled with the auto from gate to inside and passing through i found lush greenery and large grounds. Well this all was maintained in the best way it can be. I finally reached my hostel and kept my bag in the allotted room. The Hostel was so large that i believe that my college would complete fit into it. It had atleast 300 rooms and their i saw the most pleasant sight of them all. After keeping the bags i came outside the room in a hurry to rush to the department and their it stood infront of me, a peacock with it feathers in full flurry and moving around. Just imagine having a full grown untamed Peacock in your hostel lawn. I saw it in disbelief but rushed as i didn't have much time. Then to my surprise i found several of this magnificient birds moving freely without any barrier around the campus. I entered the academic area and again i was greeted with surprise. I for one had never been to IIT or for that case any such institutes and here i was, fountain and long corridors and large trees and big buildings. I stood their in aw, had only watched on telivision and in movies those long corridors and this type of campus. It was really magnificient. The best center of study i had seen. I searched my department for half an hour and finally found it. Their were some 500 people and you can never tell that their were so many people as they didn't seem to matter infront of the scale of the campus. Finally after all the formalities i moved to their new hostels and they really are a place to watch. From outside they really look like hotel and from inside also they are clean and comfortable. What impressed me the most was the food and their facilites of canteen and mess which are unmatchable. Slowly i realized that it was the best of campuses which one could possibly have in India. It was really good. I cant say the same about the city and thats why the title but the campus is a real beauty.

Trip to Kanpur

The start of the journey, and as always started with the visit to the nearest temple. For the first time entering the city's Airport feeling the joy of a little child when he is about to enter an amusement. Always looking at that flights from ground and here i was going to board one now, it was this feeling which had overtaken me leaving aside all the thoughts. Like a child i was paying attention to every detail which was present not missing even the advertising posters hanging on the walls. Behaving a bit unsure about what to do, i entered the airport and checked in, sitting their in the airport slowly the feeling sanked in and i started feeling a bit comfortable. Boarding time and i moved towards the boarding gate and finally to the plane. Then came the first shock, i went to my seat and to my surprise it was already occupied, so their i stood all shocked and sheepishly searching for the flight attendant to sort this out, she came and seated me in one seat. The lady who owned the seat came i had to be dislodged again into another one and to my surprise it belonged to another gentleman. For a second a thought passed me that i might be asked to get down the flight because of unavailability of space. Well this feeling had happened in the state transportation buses but on a flight? Just think standing their in middle of flight crowding the space and people looking at you because you are hopping from one seat to another, and feeling that you are some sort of jerk. Finally i got a seat, i held on it until i was sure that last passenger has boarded and to my relief i got a seat, the attendant was really ashamed and tried to comfort me.  All this passed and flight went in for its departure, following all instruction to the T i watched outside the window in amazement. The speed was phenomenal and when you suddenly get that jerk backwards it feels really great. It was like bliss, felt like .... cant explain but it was one of kind of experience. Finally at Delhi i moved towards Hazrat Nizamuddin, i had to wait their for 4 hours. Well i reached station and tried to find waiting room and to my luck i found one and entered it emphatically only to find that it was only for ladies and i was looked at in surprise. I went out immediately and tried to find one for men and to my disbelief it was under renovation, i somehow found a space on the bench and decided whatever happens i am not letting this space go at any cost. Fighting for every inch i made comfortable space for myself. Finally the train came and i boarded it and got a comfortable space to sit. Here i was travelling to kanpur in Patna Garibrath. At ten in night came Kanpur and i asked one gentleman about the Hotel i had planned to move to. He was kind enough to help me find a cycle rickshaw in the most appropriate fair, i was doubtful to board it at first but then i managed to sit in it properly. Passing through the city with no lights and in an cycle  auto you feel as if you have time travelled few decades back. Finally to the Hotel and the travel mostly ended.

First Encounter!

Well this blog is dedicated solely to my experiences during visits to various IIT's. 

To brief about the background i cleared GATE (Not the one you have at your house), it is pre-requisite exam for admission in postgrad in India.

All India Rank 418

Score 602

Total no. of Applicants 23720

Percentile 98.18

So the blog shall be titled as "Being AIR 418".