Surviving IIT!

Finally i settled down at IIT Bombay Design, although its been alomst two months since my last post but it can be justified by the title itself. Well getting into IIT is one part but staying and surviving it is quite different. Its like the famous quotation "after the winner is announced you can quite not differentiate between the winner and the runner's up". After getting here i realized the pain i would have to go through to prove that i can survive for 3 years. It was quite something, i will ask you few questions to give a feel of what i went through, Take 50 best nerd's from around the country and place them in one place what would you have? Then add to that the senior's who frighten them to study? I think now you can understand what i had to go through. It was one real experience but then it help's to push the bar upwards which is all that matters, so it was not as bad it was fun but also painful. The first thing you should remember after taking admission in IIT is that you are there for studies, well thats important because there is so much to do, so much extra that you could get involved that you might forget that you also have to study, so many competitions so many clubs so many groups so many sport activities. But then thats why its so famous the campus is always upbeat with one or the other activity its your volition when to step in and where to stop. One more reason why its so important to take care is because its a relative marking system and you have to be at least around the average to survive and in the initial days you are not sure of your position so it becomes difficult to judge how much study is enough, everyone is studying for 6 to 8 hours and then it becomes necessity instead of requirement that you study. So surviving IIT is also more about choices you make along with the amount of study you do.

Last return

I was returning back home, it was the end of my journey. I had been to places and seen the sights i could have never thought of travelling. I was feeling relieved along with a sense of nostalgia, i do not know why but i was feeling a void. It was as if something great was coming to an end. Although my body was tired my brain wanted to carry on, somehow i liked the whole travel. I started off at noon, one thing i must set straight at this point is that the people of Guwahati are really very warm and helping i shall continue this in other posts, i reached the airport quite early had lunch and was waiting for my flight. All sort of thoughts were filling up my mind, i was feeling excited at the thought of reaching home and also was happy that i had my first admission after such a long journey. I relaxed on the airport for 2 hours and then my flight came in, i must admit the atmosphere at the airport is magnetic, light breeze with drizzle and mountains in the distance with orange coloured clouds is very scenic. Boarded the flight and had a window seat, it was a time to reflect upon what all i had been through. The time passed on very smoothly with several thought cluttering up the top space. Reached Delhi and moved to terminal 1-d for last time in my journey, the place was upbeat with lots of activity. I made my way to the counter only to find that my stay at the terminal was extended due to delay in the flight but it was not painful given the fact that it was my last leg of the journey. I passed the time on the terminal just resting and killing the time. Finally i boarded the flight and what i noticed was really shocking. The sits were very uncomfortable and not even reclining, they were like the seats that we have in our state transport buses. To my luck i again was endowed with a window seat and this time the sight i was going to see was really enchanting. The flight took off and i slept because of extreme wear out that i had been through but the hostess woke me up for having my dinner, i resisted cause i did not feel like eating and just wanted water but she forcefully feed me. Somehow i gulped the food and watched outside the window and saw some shimmering lights down beneath, as we were passing above various cities it was really worth it to see the beautifully lit cities down beneath. The horizon was dotted with several such jewels, it was dark and you can clearly see the boundaries of the city and how it slowly merged into the wilderness. Their was a small streak of light connecting two cities, it was the highway which passed from one city to another. Small vehicles were also visible with their lights. It was really enchanting to see those jewels embedded over the black fabric of night. Reached my destination at 01:00 in the night and it was too late to find any public transit systems to reach home. I decided to go for a cab, hired a cab and we started off at 1:15 a.m. It was already 12 hours or more since i was travelling but i was not at all tired as i knew this was last hour of my great journey, the cab driver turned on his music, it was a typical driver's music (those who have travelled in buses or have been to any of the highway restaurant might know this for sure). The cab was going swiftly through the night. I cannot exactly describe the feeling that i was going through at that point of time but it was a mixture of nostalgia, relief and achievement. This feeling cannot be categorically put into words but it can only be felt. Reached home at 2:30 in the morning and went to sleep directly, it was one of the most peaceful sleep i had in long time. All the things i had seen and felt during my journey were in my heart but still it felt light. My long cherished dream had been completed. Finally i was an IITian.

"One man's disgust is other man's food"

The title shall be justified as i go along. Boarded the cab and i was moving towards the campus, i passed through the settlements which were overwhelmed by greenery. The place is having a constant war with nature, the greenery as if trying to take over every bit of land it finds, even the building's seems to be taken over by them. I must admit, here nature rules. You cannot fight with it, you have to learn to live with it, either you live with it or you leave(this statement shall be understood in more depth as we move along). The place is very close to nature, untamed vegetation everywhere, planned and controlled vegetation is very less. After few kilometers i reached Brahmaputra bridge, the river is the largest flowing water body i have seen. Somewhere in distance two branches mixing and making one large body. It makes everything else look small, its so huge that it takes few minutes to cross it in a car. Whosoever sees it for the first time is surely going to fall in love and be terrified at the same time. This was my second grand encounter in a single day. After few minutes i crossed across and reached the campus. I must admit the campus is one of the best guarded i have seen. As always my search for my hostel started, good thing was that we were already informed about the hostel we had to go. I reached my hostel and straight to my room. Tired as i was, i slept for few hours. Slowly night came in and i decided to go around but there stood my first surprise, i wont call it a pleasant surprise by any means, it was an insect (if you can call a 3 or 4 inch long fleshy roach as insect), so big that it could swallow lizards. It was something similar to roach, it was really annoying, it could fly and would go down the doors and get into rooms. It was something i had never seen in my life and may be thats the reason i was frightened at first sight. Although i managed to get accustomed of its presence around me, i was still not comfortable with one of those things getting into my room. For first night none of those came in and my night went peacefully. Second day i went around the campus, its really nice, as i just mentioned about the vegetation, similarly here too the vegetation is wild, actually it cannot be tamed given the area of the campus. The area is so large that it hits you directly in the face. The architecture of the campus is really nice. Its designed in a beautiful way. Second day passed by and then came the most horrifying night i had, i was sleeping and the "insects" i was talking about came into my room, total 4 of them. I was sleeping peacefully and suddenly i heard something near my ear and to my disbelief it was sitting next to me. I was so much horrified that i felt like leaving the room and running away, but in middle of this unkown place you have but one choice and that is to fight. I somehow managed to get one after another every single one of them out and then stuffed my door with polythene bags so as to restrict their entry. It was one bad experience i would not like to have again. That night itself during dinner time when i was going around i saw one person carrying few of them in a polythene, i thought he was carrying them so that he can dispose off them somewhere else. I inquired and then i got one of the most unusual answers i can get. He said they eat it. It was really startling to know that one man's disgust is other man's food. But that was true. Next day i took a flight to home.

Terminal 1-D

Well as i have already said this was on of the most painful experiences of my life. After getting down at Delhi we took a cab and reached this place called as terminal 1-D. By now i had been here at least a few times to know its layout quite well, but this time things were different. It was 00:00 in the night, i had 5 hours to go for my flight and i am not accustomed to late night outs or any late night parties so it was like an acid test for me to pass these 5 hours. To our advantage we reached early enough to find few benches unoccupied also as my friend and me were not feeling well we had to find place to rest else . . . So we managed to get seats on bench. The benches, i must admit, are really not as comfortable as they look. I have sat on these benches before for hours but sleeping on them is not my cup of tea. I tried every single position you can imagine in a chair, i tried my legs up on the front chair, on my bag, even on the seat next to me. I tried sleeping upright and sinked in also tried to sleep with the bag in my lap but all tries failed. I was feeling like Mr.Bean, trying all the silly moves that i can. All the veils of shame or disgrace had fallen amidst the primitive urge to sleep. Finally i decided lets not sleep, this being a bold decision as i never ever had a sleepless night. Even during my college days i never slept later than 00:30 p.m. But my friend who was already sick and in a dire condition took a rather unimaginable decision. He was going to sleep on the floor. Here on India's most swanky airport my friend pulled out his sheet, laid it down kept his bag as pillow and slept. I was shocked, not as much by what he did but by the irony that when in condition like this nothing seems inept, i was comparing the situation with the condition of poor people who have to sleep on platforms, its not as if they like it, its because they do not have any other option(we shall come to this soul searching in separate posts as this itself is quite a large topic to discuss here). So as i had already decided not to sleep i went in search of tea so as to fool my natural cycle that i already have had enough sleep and lets start a new day. I had my tea went around the terminal so as to freshen up. It was 3 o'clock in the morning when one of the staffer came so as to guide us towards the check-in. She woke up my friend and was insisting him to move, i compared it with what the guards do with those poor people who have taken refuge in the crevices in the platforms. So finally at 3:30 we moved towards the check-in and we were inside. Rested for few hours and decided to have tea and snacks (breakfast if you may call it so) at 4:30 in the morning as my flight was scheduled at 5:25. Looking over the beautiful air stirps with atleast a few dozen aircrafts waiting for the next day to began i was sipping over my coffee and having my sandwich. It was time i left for my next and preferably last frontier it was Guwahati. I parted from my friend and moved towards flight. I was drowsy but still managed to board the flight and like all other times i was terrified by the thought of not having a seat or sharing the same seat number with someone else, well it did not happen this time. The flight took off early in the morning with the sun not completly out and the early morning haze still settling down. I was really tired. I slept as soon as the flight took off and the hostess started her daily chores. Somewhere middle in the flight i don't remember where i woke up suddenly, to my luck i had been endowed with a window seat, the white clouds were beneath us and somewhere in distance i saw one of the most beautiful view i ever held in my eyes. I was looking at Himalaya's (if i have not mistaken!), the Grandeur of those mountains is so magnanimous that it fills you with aw alongwith a sense of being trivial. Trust me i have never seen such a thing in my life, i doubt i will see something like that again. It was as if my jaw dropped to my feet. I was trying all i can to keep on looking at them, its just magnificent. Somehow coming out of the lure i reached Guwahati, the place is a heaven truely, although i did not realize it at that time but today thinking of that place i feel its really so. I landed amidst fog and drizzle, it was quite soothing to enter this atmosphere. I felt a light breeze across my face which was both cold and wet. Its really one of experience, lush green fields around the airport. I came out of the airport and boarded a cab to my destination.

Return from Roorkee

Returning from roorkee me and my friend both were utterly exhausted to the extent of being worn-out. As both of us were not to the best of our health's it was really tough going through the journey. This was the lowest point of our tour i must admit that. And from here we were going to directly move to Guwahati. That too, after passing through one of the greatest pains of my life which i shall describe in my next post. Me and my friend are kind of well built and the only means of transportation to the station is cycle rickshaw. Its really painful to ask someone to tow us till there. But one brave hearted person took the challenge and dropped us till the station. On station my friend's health deteriorated even further and he was at a point where he could no longer carry on. So finally he decided to reschedule his journey and leave back home without coming to Guwahati. Although an audacious decision it was one of the most apt decision given the condition he was in. So on the station the flight was rescheduled and we were moving in different direction from Delhi. Here came the train and we boarded it. An utter disbelief awaited us to the booking that we had done for the return train. It was the best coach one can travel in India. We were served mineral water and our luggage was taken care of. Snacks, soups and dinner came progressively and it was such an irony to travel in this compartment when only 2 days back we had been through the worst of the journey's that could be possibly undertaken. So the turn of event was really hilarious. Still in the train but our conditions were not at all proper. Somehow gathering all the strengths that we could we managed to reach Delhi Airport terminal 1-D. By now the Terminal 1-D had stuck in my mind like a leech. I had already been there so many times it started to feel like the backyard of my house. But this time it was going to be different. . . .

In a class of its own.

Truely the campus of this place is one which has to be seen atleast one. Although not upto the standards that we expect after seeing kanpur, i think i was a bit prejudiced after seeing kanpur. For me nothing is as good as Kanpur. Although, i have not visited IISC but in IIT's that i have visited for me Kanpur is superlative. I might be wrong so please do not take it personally. Roorkee is closest to what you may have an image of an ideal college or university. White archaic buildings with an atmosphere which is seemingly pleasant because of its location. Every care has been taken regarding the infrastructure and its nice to move around. The central building sits atop a hill and looks nice. For the part that we have roamed its nicely planned and maintained. Also, there is no hustle and bustle. Life here is quite tranquil. The only problem me and my friend were facing was that non of us was feeling well. We were not at the best of our health so it was not possible to enjoy it to the fullest, else its a great place to be. I can't write much about this place cause my encounter to this place was quite short. But for the time i passed i had all the feelings to settle down there, but life is about moving and here we go once again.

Longest journey in my life

Truly the title of the blog is not an exaggeration, its quite true. I left at six in the morning, boarded bus at 7 and reached the city at 8 then back in auto rickshaw and then to train which left at around 9:30. This was going to be quite an eye opener and an exhausting one. We started our journey with ease and like earlier times i had my friend with me. Here we were on our way to Roorkee, for those who think its somewhere in Orissa i must inform that its Rourkela and not roorkee. Roorkee is up there near Haridwar. So train was moving and it was almost 3 to 4 hours since we were moving and then we entered Rajasthan, well i must tell you this was one hot experience which we may never forget. The temperatures were soaring and we were seated near the windows so the sun coming directly over to us the air was hot as if breath of some grievous dragon and the cabin was a living hell as if we were put into some furnace. The only sign of relief were the fans, they were trying their level best to keep us cool but in front of the heat demon it wont stand a chance. We thought of pulling out our other weapons, the bottles of water but to our surprise they were empty. So now what? We waited for few minutes for some station to arrive so that someone might come to sell bottle of water and no one turned up, stations went one after another and no one came for selling bottle of water instead they sold TEA yes tea, we thought how in this whole world in middle of desert someone would have tea but our doubts were rest assured, their were people who were comfortable having a sip of tea in middle of desert with all that heat. Out of our inquisitiveness we stopped someone and asked why the hell we don't find a bottle of water and quite honestly he replied "you wont find it anywhere on the train sir". Stations passed and we were starting to get a bit dizzy and then i saw a person with two bottles of water in his hand and inquired only to find out that the bottles were available on the train itself, at some ten bogies distance. I rushed through the cramped spaces in the train to reach there and bought three bottles, back to the place and drank them ferociously. Relieved a bit but not completely, we moved ahead. Now we had atleast some means to stay alive, finally after few hours of torturous heat the sun began to set and the heat began to subside and due to our horrifying experience we had collected enough water of bottle to have a bath with. The train reached Delhi in the morning and we thought our pain was over as we had made it up til here, only 3 hours separated us from our destination. But we were again taken back by surprise, this time it was not due to nature but due to people. As soon as we left Delhi people started to flock our compartment, we thought it being a reserved compartment such a thing would never happen but when we saw our Travel Ticket Examiner being escorted by two police guards our illusion was shattered. Few police men entered the bogie and to anyone's guess they too were travelling with us. People can seat anywhere and you cant say anything to them, its just not possible for you to defer them. For first time in my travel i was feeling unsafe. But to god's grace somehow we made it through and reached our destination. Like Kanpur here too the mode of transportation is Cycle Rickshaw. So we boarded one to the campus and here we reached campus. Finally to room at 12:00 in the noon on other day. It was a 30 hours journey from my home to the campus. Literally the longest journey i had in my life.