College Memoirs Part II - The First Year

All the years you are in your school, only one thing is fed into your mind, that after school, going to IITs is what the brilliant people do. So, even I became a part of this rat race. I worked my ass off during the last two years of my school for that elusive dream of clearing the IIT-JEE.

My exams went well and I expected a 3-figure rank. IIT-Delhi, the institute of my dreams was looking more within reach now. But lightning struck on the day of the results. I was really disappointed to see a 4-figure rank and that too with three being the first digit. The only thing we ere taught at Vidyamandir was that you should take everything in your stride and never be tense in any situation. But that day I couldn't control my emotions and anyone could see the disappointment etched on my face.

I had never even contemplated joining any institute other than IIT-Delhi. But now I had to look for alternatives. And there stood my IT-BHU. I started gathering more information about IT-BHU because according to the trends of the preceding years , I had realized that I only had a realistic chance of making it here. What I heard about the institute was encouraging. People told me its the unofficial IIT and that the standards there are almost the same as IITs. Even at the councelling, one of the IIT-D professors told me to prefer IT-BHU over IITG. Although these claims of IT-BHU being academically equal to the IITs need much debating but I dare say that the things I learnt here, I could never have done in an IIT. IT-BHU made me a more complete person and this may have been the best decision of my life.

When I entered the institute for the first time it was a gloomy day giving the institute a far older look than it already is (and it is about 90 years old). The hostels and buildings resembling those spooky villas in horror stories. It looked more of a heritage site than a university where supposedly more than 15 thousand students stay and study.

Since the name IIT was so revered all around, I had expected state of the art technology and the infrastructure comparable to the best in the world. But alas, I was to be disappointed. When I got to my hostel, I had expected decent rooms as shown in the movies. But the rooms were tooooooooo small and the icing on the cake was that in the first year, two people had to share that room which I thought was small for even one person.

Next was the day of orientation and registration. The Swatantrata Bhavan where the orientation was held didn't disappoint me. Our registration was to be held in one of those ED(Drawing) rooms. I had expected modern classrooms but those rooms resembled the classrooms and courts shown in pre-independence era movies like Bhagat Singh. Even the classes were not very impressive either. It may also be due to the fact that after preparing for JEE each and every person expects to start learning Rocket Science on the first day itself.

But I had the will to let go of all such expectations and begin the journey in IT-BHU. Everything thereafter went uphill for me. The first year especially was a roller coaster ride.

Each and every one of us was so afraid of getting ragged that we went to bed at sharp 10 in the night and followed the famous dress code of Shirt and Trousers religiously for the first few weeks. All the students would go to class in huge groups resembling a the supporters of a political leader. Since all of us were afraid of getting ragged all of us used to assemble in one room (more than 10 in that dungeon) and do BC(hostelers would understand this term) i.e talk and have fun for long hours. This is the time when the foundation was laid for some amazing friendships.

Even though everyone tried to avoid getting ragged, all of us invariably ended up getting ragged. The ragging session ranged from seniors coming down from the first floor just to have some plain fun to the organized ragging when all the first year students go to the senior's hostel where everything from stripping to abusing goes. That feeling is particularly not a very good one but once that is over, you feel that you have broken all the shackles. People undergo a revolutionary change especially the shy introverts.

Then started out outdoor times. Then onwards this is what my daily routine was: getting up, attending classes(yaa we did in the first year), going to play volleyball(which became such an important part of my college life) and taking out our cycles and going out to explore the university campus at night. The campus was huge (it is the one of the largest in Asia), so it took us some while to get hold of the routes inside the university.

There were a lot of memories attached with our first year: the movies we used to watch at night in the common room, the hooting of other teams in all out inter-college events - be it sports or cultural, or the way everyone used to make ED sheets the whole night just a day before the submissions.

One thing we got to learn was that studying a lot did not lead to being the topper in class. So, most of us took exams more as a ritual rather than a means of survival. That was the really the reason we enjoyed the first year as much as we did.

The amount of fun all of us had in the first year may only be rivaled by the final year. The friendships I formed then were the strongest I had ever formed in my life. The transformation of many people from being protected children at home to being independent young men was amazing. At least for me, the first year was the one which taught me the most and one which I would never forget my entire life. It made me a more complete person.