Indian Institute of Technology B.Tech Review By Mahesh Maru

It’s been a long time since I passed out from IIT Delhi. It’s because my friend insisted me to share my thoughts so I have to share them with you all. IIT is a dream of many like me. I have lived that dream to the fullest as IIT is a life in itself. Every single day was new at the college as 365 days we had events at the college. There are many branches and every branch used to have their event and if not the students from the interior had any plans the outside organizations were more than ready to host an event at the college. The general perception is that IITians study the whole day long but is not at all true. The fun and the laughter that you will experience at an IIT campus are unparalleled to any other campus. I have been to over 100 colleges in India then and this is why I can guarantee that life at IIT was much better than most of the colleges. One just has to be serious at the classes and pay attention in practicals. This was enough to pass at the IIT if you are smart enough or engineering is actually your dream.

Every year was divided into two halves called the semester. We had around 10 subjects in each semester including practicals. IITs if I am not wrong were the first institute that started the residential program. We have to attend classes daily no matter what. Don’t believe all that you saw in 3 Idiots as academic may take burden beyond a point but then that is why it is IIT. You have to submit practicals on time and also have to be the teacher's favourite to get good numbers at the internals. All these things matter a lot in IIT.

You will find people like Viru Shastri Buddhi in IIT. Not in terms of strictness but in terms of knowledge and their dedication for sure. All the faculty members were so experienced that a student can gain as much knowledge they want from them. One negative if I can say is that most of the faculty members were too old and luckily we didn’t had the modern-day concept then because they were definitely not capable of making us teach on computers and LCDs. The education system has been updated in India and so has the faculty at IITD. I went there in 2016 and saw many new faces and interacting with them made me realize that IIT only hires the best in the world.

The companies that visited during our time were different as IT sector has taken over and I am baffled that how can IT companies hire chemical or mechanical engineers. For our mechanical department companies like JSPL, ONGC, L&T, GMR Infra, and PFC were the companies that attended the placement sessions. It was indifferent in those days as all our marks, projects, and backlog was taken in account and therefore the placement sessions happened just 2 months before the final semester. All the students who could survive till there were all eligible for placements. A committee was formed and that looked after the placements. We were not offered the job immediately but were informed through a list on the notice board. It was so much fun as curiosity grew with each passing day after the interviews.

Udaigiri house that you see now at IITD was not then during our days. Oh my word what a hostel it is but coming to what we had during our time, there were 6 blocks of boys hostels and 3 girls hostel buildings. All with a capacity of 80 students each. The hostel in time was 9 pm and if you fail to enter by then you have to stay out the whole night. It wasn’t that strict but yes entry time was. Warden hardly visited our rooms and most of the rooms then were so ugly that I could never bring my parents to show them my room. The bathrooms were common as the rooms only had 2 beds and 2 study tables. The mess was huge and not just the students but some of the staff that stayed at the campus also joined us a few times. The mess was under students' supervision as every department got their turn to run the mess for a month. We were allotted a good budget and it was more like a competition during our days so the food part was never an issue there.

The picturesque campus is spread across 320 acres. It boasts natural beauty like no other campus. It may be smaller than some of the other IITs but exploring every corner of the campus with friends was my best experience at campus. The labs were excellent and there are tunnels for parking and some workshops for the mechanical department. The roads at the campus were wider than highways then and the sports ground which is molded in 3 halves was bigger than many grounds in the city. IITD was the first college in India that installed a hyperbolic roof at most of its buildings. The MIS canteen food was average but luckily we had restaurants like Rajdhani Dhaba, and Masala Mix near the college campus. The infrastructure of IITD is counted as one of the best as it is one of the best.

IITian will only understand what life at IIT is. Full of drama, emotions, competition, and events. IIT Delhi’s technical fest Tryst is Asia’s biggest technical fest. IIT Bombay may have scored higher at the cultural fest but not at the technical fest. As an IITian we were lucky to be sent to various other IITs for competitions and all those competitions have proved that IITD is the daddy of all IITs.