There are a number of reasons why every other bright kid aims to one day enter through the hallowed portals of the Indian Institutes of Technology after clearing arguably one of the most competitive entrances in the world at least in terms of the selection ratio.
The most prominent reason that comes to everyone’s mind is the rosy picture of a great campus filled with efficient professors, world class laboratories and cutting edge technology where every other fellow is either an entrepreneur or a Nobel laureate in the making.
Being a student in the oldest in these elite group of institutions, I can assure you that the inside picture is not as wonderful as the outside world perceives it to be. So I would like to present you some new reasons why every interested student should try to get into the IITs.
1) Cultural Heritage: Each of the IITs have their own cultural heritage and tradition which are unique and wonderful in their own merit. All these colleges are filled with guys and girls who have spent the greater part of their childhood amidst deadly JEE study materials and fat books, and thus leave no stone unturned to use their college life to the fullest to realize their cultural and extracurricular potential. Ranging from various inter hall competitions to the cultural fests, wherever you see, you see a budding performer and an avid entertainer. A glorious example would be our very own Arunabh Kumar and Biswapati Sarkar from the TVF Media Labs, both of whom are KGPians.
2) Realization of your true potential: In continuum with the first point, once you enter into any of the IITs you realize your true potential. Surrounded by budding stalwarts in varied fields you rediscover yourself and find out your hidden talent which have long been concealed under the tremendous pressure of getting into where you are now. Once you are in an IIT, this pressure dies down, you are liberated and you give it your all to develop your talent, your aspirations and thus start your journey to become an example in your field.
3) Hostel life: Well this point caters to and is applicable to any and all of the engineering colleges out there but I still felt like mentioning it here in special reference to hostel life in an IITians way. Hostel life besides teaching you discipline, unity and self help, goes a long way in creating lifelong friendships and brotherhood. And not to forget, you also get to learn innumerable jugaads which are bound to help you cope with life in your future endeavours. Finally, the horrible mess food will make sure that you can digest anything that is served out to you and will face absolutely no difficulty in adjusting with any kind of food habit wherever you settle in the future.
4)Gaining experiences: In any of the IITs, you will be surrounded by students from different parts of the country, speaking different languages, having different food habits, celebrating different festivals and from different economic backgrounds. In a nutshell, IITs are a miniature India in themselves. You gain experiences and learn something new from everybody you meet and learn to accept everyone’s views and develop a healthy listening habit. You get to know about Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, life of people in the north eastern states, and if you are lucky may get to try the “rasgulla” from that bong friend of yours. You come out of your own comfort zone and get a chance to live life the global way. You may feel uneasy at first but believe me it’s a liberating experience.
5) Fests: Fests are arguably the coolest thing about the IITs and should be an important reason for an all out attempt at the JEE. Be it the cultural fests where you get to experience power packed performances by renowned national and international entertainers or the technical fests where you can witness the latest cutting edge technology, the fests are surely “four times in a lifetime” experiences. Notable fests in this regard would be Spring Fest, Kshitij, Mood Indigo, Techkriti among others.
6) Cradle of Excellence: Finally, the most important point. IITs are the cradles of excellence where the future talents of the country are nurtured. While there might be other views, we must accept the reality: IITs are the best colleges in the country. It is in these colleges where you get to learn engineering and at the end of the day, that’s what we are here for. You get good labs (though not the finest in the world) and get to do research and immerse yourself in the ocean of engineering. Believe me, even though we do not like to study, it is actually a great experience to see magic occur before your eyes and that’s what engineering is all about.
Concluding it all, the above are a few of the many reasons (most important among others being the WiFi) why we prepare for the IITs. It is a wonderful learning curve and something worth a try.
Disclaimer: All the points mentioned above are my very own personal views which are open for argument. I did not attempt to demean the other engineering colleges in the country as all of them have the same aim- to make us technologically efficient. The above points are simply the reason why I think the IITs are slightly more desirable than the rest.
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