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Journalism of Courage
(In this six-part series, indianexpress.com talks to alumni from the first batch of first-generation Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). They tell us about the admission process back then, academic pressure, campus life, and how they bonded with their fellow students and faculty.)
What started as a journey of nearly 50 students sharing six big rooms in the hostel, turned into some of the most prized memories for Jugal Kishore Tandon, who was amongst the first batch to graduate from IIT Bombay. Tandon received his BTech in 1962 from the Metallurgical Engineering Department.
While the first batch had nearly 100 students (out of which there were no girls), the majority of the students had opted for the Metallurgical Engineering Department.
Since graduating from IIT Bombay, Tandon worked at multiple companies including MAMC Durgapur, Hindustan Zinc Ltd, and Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd.
“I got to know about IIT through my physics professor when I was doing graduation in Ajmer. He suggested I should apply to IIT Bombay. Back then, the admission process was pretty simple and we didn’t have to go through the nerve-wracking Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). They used to select students from every state. I had done a graduate programme from Rajasthan, so I was one of the few who were selected from that state,” he recalled.
First batches of IIT: IIT Guwahati | IIT Kanpur | IIT Madras | IIT Delhi | IIT Kharagpur| IIT Roorkee
While he got admitted into one other engineering college of Mumbai before IIT Bombay, Tandon decided to trust his destiny and waited for IIT Bombay’s final call, which was his and his father’s decision.
“If I had to give JEE today, I would never clear it. Almost all of us who were from the initial batches feel the same,” he laughs while talking about the admission process for IITs.
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“This entrance examination has stood its test of time and is an apt way of choosing the right candidates. I have heard about corruption in other places, but not in JEE,” said Tandon.
Seventy-eight-year-old Tandon is, however, not in favour of the coaching culture. He believes there is no need to join these coaching classes at such a young age. Till Class 12 students should also concentrate on understanding their basics and passing their school exams. “My grandchild — who is a student at BITS Goa — too has to go through his rigorous school and coaching centre schedule. By the time these kids enter their college, they are half exhausted already,” he concluded.
An engineer by passion and profession, Jugal and his classmates have now adopted advanced technological tools such as Zoom and Google Hangout to stay in contact. “I made friends for life. The people I stayed and studied with at IIT Bombay all those years ago became a part of my family. We developed a strong bond and still stay in contact. We try to meet as soon as possible, however, we also use these new tools such as Zoom to stay in contact,” he said with a smile on his face.
Talking about his friends from the IIT days, he recalled how the outstation students used to celebrate all festivals together.
“In the first year, we all celebrated our first Holi in IIT Powai campus. Since there were so many people, we all decided to purchase the Holi colours from the market in bulk. I clearly remember how the shopkeeper was stumped when we told him the amount of colour we needed,” he reminisced with a laugh. “We also had a big pond full of colour in which we all threw each other,” said Tandon.
He also recalled Worli Sea Face was one of their favourite hangouts. “There were two cinema halls nearby where we used to regularly go and watch movies on the first day itself. Even during the night shows, the staff allowed us to sit and watch the film as we were from IIT Bombay,” he recalled.
Jugal also shared his fondest memory of the day he got to meet Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. “He had been invited to lay the foundation stone of IIT Bombay’s campus site, and we all got to see him. Only 4-5 of us had cameras during those days and we got the golden chance to click his pictures, which one of our batchmates still sometimes shares in our WhatsApp group,” he recalled.
When asked if it is the IIT brand name or the skills that help in getting good job opportunities, Jugal quickly concluded that it certainly has to be both. “Having the IIT brand name surely helped in the corporate world because for people it is like we have come from a different world,” he said.
During those four years, the students learned skills that made them industry-ready. “IIT Bombay taught us the technical skills and life lessons that we cherish for life. One thing that I learnt in my four years was the commitment to consistency,” he said.
As they were the first batch and the campus was under construction, Tandon recalls how it influenced his career choices. “Majority of my work experience is of new projects that I built from scratch — for nearly 45 years I have chosen new establishments over settled ones, and the confidence and commitment to do that has been given to me by IIT Bombay. This institute taught me to take chances, learn new things, overcome fear of and learn new technology,” he said.
He also added that the institute has kept him a part of the family even years after he graduated. Thanking the alumni network of IIT Bombay, he added that “they still invite us for all milestones of the institute and keep us in the loop about all the big happenings of IIT Bombay and the world. That in itself speaks highly about the institute,” he concluded.
