Life in an IIT: ‘How IIT Gandhinagar improved my social and communication skills,’ a BTech student shares

What a usual day at IIT Gandhinagar looks like

The classes are held for five days a week. The breakfast is from 7:30 am to 9:30 am. Generally classes start at 8 am or 8:30 am, then there is a lunch break from 1 pm to 2 pm. After 2 pm, there are labs or classes which go on till 6 pm or 6:30 pm. At IIT Gandhinagar, it is a rule that labs would be held for a maximum of three hours.

At our IIT, we have compulsory physical education for first and second year students. We also used to get credits for it. And, now a new credit system is in place, which encompasses everything from exercise to sports to any activity of choice for credits. I used to thoroughly enjoy the physical education classes, it really helped in reducing stress and maintain fitness.

My life as General Secretary

I am the General Secretary of the student council and therefore I have various roles and responsibilities. Some of my days are so hectic that my whole time is packed with back to back meetings. The day starts at 9 am and meetings go on till late night.

There are nine members in the student council. It comprises one General Secretary, one convenor and seven other secretaries. The General Secretary is elected by the entire student community.

Generally, I have meetings every other day. There are institute senate and disciplinary meetings. The institute senate comprises director, dean, associate deans, some faculty members, representatives from the student council including the General Secretary and Convenor. There are other meetings also where we discuss what changes have to be made for the welfare of students, issues related to hostels and meetings on policies and procedures. The student council is present in almost all decisions taken in regard to students.

The kind of responsibilities and involvement students have in day-to-day matters is commendable. The institute not only takes our input for a lot of important decisions but considers it seriously as well. It has made us more responsible and confident.

Life at IIT Gandhinagar

We have a nice night life at IIT Gandhinagar. The canteens are open till late night. We have quite a lot of events at night from stand-up comedy to dance face-off, talks and so much more.

We have almost all sports facilities in college including — cricket, football, basketball, volleyball, rock climbing wall, swimming pool and more.

We have a technical summit called Amalthea which is held around October but due to Covid, it has been happening in January. It is a two-day summit where we have conclaves that have talks by prominent leaders in technology. There is also an event called Symposium where industry experts come and there are panel discussions held and one of the faculty members are the moderators. The experts are generally founders of a start-up, CEOs and CXOs. We even have tech expo and technical quizzes in Amalthea.

We also have a cultural fest called ‘Blithchron’ where there are various events including— street play, slam poetry, singing, dancing, drama, street dance battle and more. The main attraction is the Pro Nights when artists— actors, stand-up comedians, DJs, singers come and perform.

College, campus and popular spots

The campus is spread across 400 acres of land. We have a tower called Lal Minar, and has a breathtaking view of the campus from the top. Students often visit the Lal Minar and enjoy the view from atop.

There is also an open air theatre— Rang Manch. The students go there for a walk or sit for hours at night. It looks very beautiful at night. There is also the Panchayat circle, which is in the centre of four hostels mainly but is connected to all the hostels in some way. There is also a canteen in Panchayat circle. There is a spot called Tea Post which is very active at night and is open till 3 am. Another famous spot is Jal Mandap.

There are a total 12 hostels, out of which three are for girls and the remaining are for boys.

The infrastructure, hostels, rooms, facilities are fabulous. Even the mess facilities are very good. We eat in mess only, most of the time. It is also declared as an ‘eat right campus’ by FSSAI and has a five star rating.

As I am from Ahmedabad, I am lucky that my home is not that far. Generally, I come back I get khakra, fafda and other Gujarati delicacies from my home or a local sweet shop. I have very diverse group of close friends, three of them are from Southern states, one person is from North India, one of them is from Ahmedabad and one is from Maharashtra.

Opportunities provided by IIT Gandhinagar

IIT Gandhinagar has helped me become more confident and improved my social and communication skills. And, every student who comes here gets opportunities to learn and grow. For example, Amalthea is conducted solely by first and second year and it is such an enriching experience. I was in the core committee of Amalthea in my second year.

One of the advantages we have is our professors are young and they are very proactive, and pay a lot of attention to students and are also very friendly.

My biggest learning in the last four years has been that confidence is the key, you could achieve anything if you are confident enough. Also, find people who value you, changes are bound to happen so be open to changes and adapt accordingly.