I remember a warm july morning travelling in an autorickshaw burdened with homemade savouries and expectations. After all I was now at the gates of the “world best” IIT in India. Being a skeptic I had kept my expectations low. I had low regard for Kanpur (still have). I expected rustics and loose cows and I got idiots and untamed peacocks. Much improvement. I expected shabby rooms, dirty toilets, mud patches and betel juice stains and got clean hostels, proper roads and an Open Air Theatre (OAT). Much Improvement! (yeah, the toilets were clean too). So this place is well maintained, I thought, the professors are surely the henchmen of Satan himself. After the semester grades, surely so but some are really cool (used in its colloquial sense). Indian cinema has failed to capture the complexity of a professor’s character like they have done with the art of movie making but that’s a separate issue. Then there are really stupid rituals like Galaxy, GPL which are avoidable if you’re quick enough. I won’t talk about academics and let some maggu take over here (I’m really awed by this species, the maggus). The academic system is a bit lame but it is improving. There is more freedom to change you branch (CSE is still 10, you wannabes), diverse courses are available (but there are time clashes) . So this improvement  is a good thing for the future batches, like, you’ll have it better than us (lucky kids).  Do I like it here, you ask?

Sure, I don’t like the place. I sometimes even hate it. Food is bad, weather is annoying, triple occupancy and the closest city is Kanpur. But (yes the but!) I realise that I hate it less than the other things wrong with my life. I mean, you can never completely like a place. If you do, chances are that there is an old witch licking her lips right now waiting to turn you into supper. It the human tendency to never be satisfied, that’s the first law of Economics (my branch of study in case you’re wondering). The thing is that you get used to it. You adjust and adjustment at IITK is very easy dear Hansel/Gretel. Don’t like the food, there are other sources- canteens open till 2 at night, OAT stalls open till 4 and MT opens up at 5 in the morn. Don’t like the weather, you have air conditioned lecture halls, library and labs; sleep wherever you want and frankly IITK is a self sufficient city in itself. It’s clean and green with top notch sporting facilities and an OAT which seats 1200. Then there is all the “freedom”… enough advertising. I get it you’ll think I’m highlighting the good things about this place. Of course I am. I’m already adjusted.

I  want to call it luck. I was all set to board the train to Guwahati but I got in on the third list. I did not choose this place. IITK chose me.