Diary of a young girl from IIT Delhi

Hello Quantuse,

When I was in my 12th class, there was a dream to get into IIT Delhi or IIT Bombay. But I secured AIR 3819  in JEE Advanced. So it was not possible to go to these IITs. I decided to go with BSc and avoided joining NITs. There was some mistake in the counselling otherwise I would have got in any other IITs but thanks to god it happened.

I was happy with my undergrad in science. Then in my third year, a girl named Jyoti came to me and said, “you deserve an IIT to do MSc in physics”. I was, and even now, I am good at PCM, but there was a special feeling for physics after preparing for JEE Advanced. In October 2015, I decided to prepare for the IIT JAM examination with a lot of excitement. Here is the story about what all I went through.

I was a Hindi medium student. Instead of this, I was enjoying this preparation. Since long, it was in my mind to go to IIT Bombay, but my parents wanted to keep me near to my home. So I chose IIT Delhi. All I was thinking before joining IIT Delhi was that there would be a fantastic aura. The people out there would be different and intelligent. I had the same thought for the professors. I used to think about this continuously and that: “whaan to alag hi duniya hogi because India k topmost minds wahin hai” (There would be a different world because the topmost minds of  India would be there). And it all gave me a boost of energy to move forward.

Now I want to tell you about those days which might feel weird to you. I didn’t know how to use the Internet. While I was preparing for JAM, my uncle made a Gmail account for me to take online tests from home .

Now in 2016, I secured two significant results: JAM AIR 25 and JEST AIR 40. My parents were so happy.

Now, it was the first day at the institute. IIT Delhi is not a simple institute. I mean, here is not one single building but it is a kind of village in itself, it has everything inside it. I used to forget the way to my hostel from the main building, but my father was always with me as usual.

“Sabse darawana baat bataun first-day ki” (Let me tell you the most horrifying story of the first day). I got a four-seater room. Oh god! There was a lot of confusion about how I am going to manage this. “Itne bade institute mein aisi haalat? Girls ke liye room nahi”(Such a situation in such a large institute? No sufficient room for girls ) because before this I had never come out of my home. Never! This was my first time. I left everything to god and said “jo hoga dekha jayega” (I’ll see whatever happens ).

Next day, there was my first lecture at IITD. It was of classical mechanics. I had no idea what a period of 1:30 hrs is like. During that lecture, I was thinking, “I am going to leave IITD; I am happy at my home”. After the class, I met my father. I told him, “I did not understand a single word papa. I am going from here!” My friend was also with us. He was in BTech. He told me to give some time, “every Hindi medium student faces the same issue”. “If you are not able to handle it, you can go but there should be no regret for you”, he added. I thought, “Ab agar aa gaye hain to dekh hi lete hain. Nahi Hoga to RU(Rajasthan University) se kar lenge” [If I have come here then I should try a bit. If I still can’t handle, I’d join RU(Rajasthan University)].

Slowly, I started understanding the lectures and I got 9.4 CG. Wow! I was happy. I want to tell this to all non-English medium students. There is no point of language: your knowledge and your curiosity about your field are what keep you going forward. Please don’t make a decision so quickly on the basis of language. I am the best example in front of you.

Oh! I forgot to tell you about the labs at IIT Delhi. The lab was not in good condition and I never got perfect reading and result as well and secondly, I didn’t know how to use google at that time so as a consequence I was getting no better concept clarity from the internet. This was a big challenge for me and I wanted to tell you,  I always topped in Science and Math subjects. No one was there to beat me in these areas in my time. Still, there was always this fear inside; but I fought and moved forward. Most of the people made fun of me, but I never minded and never wasted time explaining anything to people. I thought.”Jisko jo sochna hai soche, mujhe apne kaam pe focus karna hai”[let people think what they want, I have to focus on my own job]. And believe me, I secured more CG than those guys in all the semesters.

Hostel food was okay. It wasn’t so good after the initial days. My roomies were all cool. I was rigid about a few things, but due to them, I was going smoothly through this big change of my life. Credit goes to them and as well to my BTech friends, Masters friends and my brother. All facilities in my hostel were good in my view, and everyone was cooperative whenever I needed them.

Career:

Before I came to IIT, I wanted to do a PhD from a foreign university. I wanted to work under a top faculty of IITD, and through their recommendation, I would be able to go out for my PhD. But after coming to IIT, I found the reality of how happy the PhD students are. So I got confused about my plans.

In 2018, I was not able to study properly anymore due to frustrations and workload. It felt like nobody was trying to understand me. I did not know what that was, but I wanted to give some time to myself. I did not want to hurry about my career. So after completing my M.Sc degree, I joined M.Tech rather than PhD. What you expect in your life, it always happens the same. It’s rare but sometimes destiny designs your way, where you have to go and how long. If you are not confident about something, please take your time and then decide to take a step. Don’t hurry. Listen to your heart. It really gives you the right directions. Never think about people.

All my classmates were very good. This time of writing I am missing them because everybody made me learn something in my life.

The conclusion

IIT was not as much according to my expectations but it’s really a good place to bring positive changes in you. It helps you get in touch with the world and opens a lot of opportunities to go ahead in your life. There is always an incredible feeling whenever I close my eyes and imagine my campus. My favourite place in IITD is wind-T and Chaayos ( I am Chaai lover).

Thanks to Quantuse who gave me this opportunity to share my feelings about our IITD.

This article was sent to Quantuse by an alumni of IIT Delhi. The stories, facts, views, etc expressed in the article belongs to the user and does not reflect the views of Quantuse in any way. To contact the author, please let us know.

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