MY COLLEGE LIFE(1st yr)

Like countless others I too had a dream of pursuing my Engineering in IIT. From an expected 3 digit to an added 4 digit rank in IIT-JEE I had to land in CIVIL Engg in IIT Roorkee. The journey from my hometown Hyderabad to a distant place Roorkee in Uttaranchal (often mistook as Rourkela in Orissa) via Delhi is a long (1800 kms) and tiring one (30 hrs) only when u r alone (Later I felt as if it’s very nearby). My friends during their 1st visit anticipated beautiful snowcapped hills, valleys when coming from Delhi to Roorkee but to their disappointment, found nothing except green fields and lots of Punjabi dhabas. But this place is surrounded by beautiful places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Mussorie and the holy Ganges. As soon as u land at the bus-stop u find urself at IIT gates. (U can take a rickshaw from railway stn too which is 3 kms away).Welcome IIT Roorkee!!

FRESHIE-1st Yr.
I take the pride as First batch of IITians from IIT R but that had its pros and cons. With eyes full of dreams and lots of expectations junta is charged to fullest for a bright future but who wud imagine how many hurdles one need to cross b4 u get actually get in there.There’s a biggest hurdle to cross first..Ragging!! Although officially banned in all IIT’s how cud one escape from the clutches of seniors.(Its fun most of the times when done in limits) The mighty seniors and the cowardly juniors playing hide and seek in the campus. In the scorching summer we were forced to wear plane full formal shirts, formal trousers, no watch and black leather shoes. Seniors wait for their prey everywhere in Libraries, Departments, Cyber cafe, Banks, Canteen, Hostels and outside the campus (the only market Civil Lines-CL). With all the abusive MC’s and BC’s around I became familiar with the aura of Roorkee. For 1 month was locked up in Bhawans and waited for my turn to become senior and rag my jnrs.


For a fatcha its tuf to adapt to a sudden change and many r not even used to stay away from parents but this is how u will know to live a life. I shared the room with my Hyd fren sami and so it was fun from beginning .When u r in new place its common that first u wud like to associate first with the guys hailing from ur place. Then I made frens with all Hyd guys (called Haddus here and Gults in other IITs) and then with lots of other non hyd guys too.In the pic is shown my room G-16 of Rajendra Bhawan, the most Baqar(gossips) place. Anyone going out for work wud pass that room and then wud forget y the heck he was out .From left the names r – Murali, Naveen, Bharath, Harish, Sami, Rigvi, RT, Sreeram, Vijay, Naresh. .


The image of IIT also gives u the picture of some Godly profs but scenario is quite opp. U sneak out of the classroom from backdoors, say false attendance for ur fren called proxies, target the most ghissu(bookworm) in the class during chalk-fights. My batch B was dubiously known as Boys batch without even a single gal in it. Well cant help it. There were only 13 gals for 330 boys and the whole campus m/f ratio was 1:45..A perfect stage of elite IITians to bcome frustus!!



How can I forget the most painful & joyful days in NCC. Yeah it was compulsory for us & later our jnrs were also given option for NSS.(gals didn’t accompany us even in NCC).Imagine a JEE stud who knows nothing but the weight of books he mugged to carry real guns(of course unloaded). With tedious drills for 2 hrs which we never did properly we just had to stick on for the refreshments given at the end..a samosa and a laddu..The Guard of Honour(often distorted as smth else) on Aug 15th and Jan 26th is a eye-candy drill to the guest . The end of NCC on jan 26th -03 was the memorable day.



The food in the mess is usually called grub. With only aalus, rotis, rajma it was difficult to eat a totally contrasting food of home. I got used to it later with some special items like paneer, butter nans, raita, paranthas. The struggle for existence at first bcame a habit later(Reminds of Tom Hanks in Cast Away)


Due to lack of computers in 1st yr the best means to while away time was cricket. We used to play even in the 3 hr gap b/w two successive xams. Best way to screw ur acads. Ah..who cares..The late night study habit b4 getting into IIT was quite useful for baqar sessions for whole nights. This is how insomniacs r born here and as a consequence bunk the morning classes. When the day ends for world, day starts here.
















The most memorable thing of 1st yr is the 12km rafting experience from shivpuri to marinedrive (rishikesh) during the clg cultural festival Thomso time in feb. The icy water of Ganga (4 degrees) and the rapids which we faced on rafts were a out of world experience. No one was a swimmer and all had the fear of drowning in water though equipped with all safety measurements and a rescue team.

Dude’s set to rafting The rafters


This is how u feel in icy Ganga









Kal Ho na Ho..life hanging on Ramjhoola








A tiger came 4m cave & took my fren.. :)









Row baby, row..return to rishikesh. Wish it wudn’t end..but it did








Days just passed by and we were at the end of 1st yr. With many diverse faces from different places, different mentalities, attitudes its only fun and a platform to grow as a individual and live a independent life in the near future. After slogging like dogs for 2 yrs b4 getting into IIT one can only imagine the metamorphic fun he has in his 1st yr.. Many are susceptible to screw their acads. Many do continue their dog slog too. Its only natural. Isn’t it? But if ur marks r for records on papers, these memories r written on ur heart.

The studies and xams r such a pain that guys want to leave the place asap. Eventually 2nd sem ended and guys went for summer vacations to home. Guess what? All got bored within days they went home and were despo to come back to coll. The only way to love smth is to realize it may b lost..We realized what we r gonna miss after 4 yrs..