"Life at IIT Gandhinagar helps balance studies and recreational activities"

Students often enter a college with a notion that there would be a lot of study pressure. And when entering a college like Indian Institutes of Technology, you expect the study and exam pressure to be higher and bigger.

To find out the reality and know the secrets of life at IIT Gandhinagar, Shiksha.com reached Punit Kumar who is a first year student of Civil Engineering at IIT Gandhinagar. Here, Punit talks about his daily routine, study pressure, activities to unwind and more about the esteemed institute. Besides everything, Punit also informed shiksha.com that IIT Gandhinagar is shifting the base of its old campus to a new one. So, he is not sure what life would be like at the new campus.

Take a look at the conversation shiksha.com had with Punit to know the life at IIT Gandhinagar’s current and old campus.

1. Punit, please tell us your Institute’s name and something about you.

My name is Punit Kumar and I am pursuing Civil Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar. I belong to a small town in Bihar.

2. Besides JEE, what other exams did you take?

Actually I was quite confident about my JEE preparation so I didn’t take any other entrance exam. I only filled the form of BCEC (Bihar State Engineering colleges). Besides this, I applied for CUSAT (Cochin University).

3. Which course and specialisation are you pursuing at present and why?

I am pursuing Civil Engineering. I wanted to study civil engineering from starting. Civil or Mechanical any one of them. Then on the basis of my rank, when I had an option to choose one, opted for Civil as I was not getting a good college in Mechanical.

4. Who all are there in your family?

We are only four members. Besides me, my parents and my younger brother are in my family.

5. Is life at your college exactly as you expected? What all did you hear about your college before joining? Were they true or is life a little different from what you heard?

Life is a little different but most of the things are true. Like before entering the college we all had in our minds that we’ll have fun. That’s true. But along with that one has to study as well.

6. Tell us about your daily routine.

We have classes from 8 am till 5 pm in the evening. We have tutorial and practical classes or lab classes. After classes whenever I get free time, I read books, watch movies or sit-coms. Also, I like reading about new inventions or new developments in research.

7. Tell us five good things about IIT Gandhinagar.

Firstly, I would say that the place where the college is situated, Ahmedabad, is beautiful. Also, everyone here works hard to achieve their dreams. There are lots of cultural activities going around in the college like two major fests of IIT Gandhinagar, intra-college competitions and fun activities take place every weekend. The last thing I would say is that students here are not only indulged in their studies but they also take part in other activities like research, their start-ups, Art, etc.

8. What are the things that you would like to change about your college?

IIT Gandhinagar doesn’t have Computer Science (CS) branch. I think there should be CS branch in the college. Then, there should be balance between the freedoms and restrictions imposed by the college.

9. How is the college crowd like?

Most students in our college are Rajasthan or Mumbai based. So, Mumbai culture is dominant here in the college.

10. Tell us 5 popular hangout places in your college.

There is a food hub outside the college where we get good food at reasonable prices. We often go to Samrat Mall near our college to have snacks. Kandhriya Lake is another place we keep going to unwind ourselves.

11. How are the hostel facilities at your college? Do you face any problems?

Hostel facilities here are good. The hostel is available only for BTech students. no hostel facilities are available for Master’s students.

12. What is the best part of your hostel life?

The best part according to me is chatting with friends and night outs.

13. Tell us about the classes that are conducted (Fun or strict or dull)?

The professors here are friendly, so classes are not at all boring. There are exceptions but mostly they are fun and interesting.

14. How much attendance is compulsory?

This is a unique thing about IIT Gandhinagar. Attendance is not at all compulsory. We do easily bunk lectures. But majorly it depends on professors. So, we can easily skip a few classes but for some we have to appear.

15. Is coming late to classes permitted, if someone does this how do professors react to it?

Yes, we can easily enter the class through back-gate. Every class in IIT Gandhinagar has a back-gate. But if the professor catches us then we get the punishment otherwise we get into the class easily.

16. Is there a lot of study pressure?

Yes there is a lot of study pressure but there are a lot of activities taking place in the college so we have an option to relax. So, there is a balance between study pressure and relax.

17. Do you get lots of surprise tests?

No, we are informed well-in-advance about any test taking place. It is very often that the professor takes a surprise quiz.

18. List down some recreational activities that you are involved in?

I am involved in many activities like in our cultural fest and technical fest. I am a part of robotics club of IIT Gandhinagar known as mechanics. Some kind of activities are always going on in the college. So, most of the time I am a part of that event.

19. How is your college canteen and the food? Is the food affordable?

Yes, the food is quite affordable. But when you compare it with other places, so Ahmedabad is quite costly. So we have to pay a bit more than others.

20. What are the best and worst dishes in your canteen?

Best dish is ‘Aaloo ka parathaa’ and the worst was ‘Maggie’ that has already been banned.

21. Rate your college life at IIT Gandhinagar. Is there anything that you miss here?

I would rate my life 3.5-4 out of 5. Yes, there are quite a few things that I miss. One thing I miss the most is my freedom which has diminished after entering the hostel. But I am sure that I will adjust here soon.

Listen here the podcast of Hardik Kumar, an IIT BHU Varanasi student.