AN EXPERIENCE
Prior to JEE, I could have easily divided Indians into two parts – IITians and non-IITians. The awe and adulation that these centers of excellence instill, renders all other degrees and achievements trivial. Sometimes you wonder whether Paris Hilton would look sexier if only she had B-Tech from IIT. This hype is what gives youngsters the urge to study hard and bust their butt for two years.
Having cleared the entrance exam you become the social mascot of the family. Relatives whom you have never met express how much confidence they had in your talent and how they used to tell everyone about your impending success. In most of the cases, parents get more involved during preparation,as an IITian son/daughter would definitely mean a higher social standing. Contrary to the popular belief that the prospect of a secure future attracts the best brains of the nation, I personally believe it has to do more with the feeling of exclusivity that clearing this exam brings in you. Predecessors in the family who have made it to this esteemed college are treated with reverence by one and all and are pestered to the brink of insanity in letting know what exactly it takes to be an IITian. So students do not hesitate to burn the midnight oil to be one-step ahead than their counterparts. This determination becomes passion and finally obsession. As the D-day approaches, senior members of the family offer prayers, observe fasts and what not. All this culminates into a bizarre mixture of fear, anxiety, apprehension and low self-esteem. Anticipating a nervous breakdown, parents keep telling you why IIT is not the end of life. They knock suspiciously at the doors each time you are having an unusually long bath.
Practical and school project works take a backseat in the priority list because we take it for granted that the marks in these subjects are distributed free of cost and even if we loose marks, does it really matter in the long run? Schoolteachers retaliate with a vengeance for year long neglect.
But lo and behold! all these superiority complex vanishes without notice the moment you enter the IIT campus. If you thought two years of mugging has given you the license for four years of chilled out life, you are in for a rude surprise. The daily hectic schedule (8AM to 5PM) consists of indispensable lectures, mind twisting tutorials and tiresome practical. At the end of the day when you return to the hostel completely exhausted, you realize that now the time for the self-study starts so that you are well equipped for the next day’s hectic schedule. If you commit the folly of relaxing you are ruined because you may have been the topper of your class but here the toppers compete amongst themselves.
O.K I agree that the week is only of five days with Saturday and Sunday being holidays but we can hardly venture out of the campus for enjoyment, thanks to the professors who load us with assignments and worksheets. Add to this the alien surroundings, bully seniors; and you have a perplexed chap wondering whether coming to IITs was a right decision. If you ever thought that being an IITian was a great inclusion in your curriculum vitae (CV) for dating girls then be prepared for a heartbreak because you are only considered a geek.
But there are things that make life bearable; the Rendezvous, the numerous opportunities to excel in sports, arts, music, literature etc. being some of them. There are clubs for every activities and each club is headed by representative each one of who introduces his club to the 1st yearites and stresses on its importance in our personality development. Gosh! Never before had I realized that I had so many interests. You have this keen desire to take part in everything and excel. Gradually as you make new friends, start interacting with seniors and broaden your horizon you start to enjoy and stop making a sense of mayhem. It is then that you are no longer a 1st yearite but a budding engineer.
