(Title)

It always feels nice when memories of the good old school days are revisited. The news that the school is publishing a magazine, of which I can be a part, just adds more joy. And what better than to share the experiences of my life beyond St. Stephen's. So let me first give a brief introduction about myself. After giving my best in the board exams and various entrance tests, I didn't even clear the cut-offs for the JEE and also missed out on NIT Surat by a small margin. All I could manage was to secure admission in Mechanical Engineering in Nirma University. Years flew quickly and came the final year when I planned to continue studying with a Masters degree at IIT Kanpur leaving the couple of placements offers. And now having just completed my post-graduation, I work for the Engineering Research Center at Tata Motors.

So how was my experience in studying at the two institutions and what were the differences between them is precisely what I want to share here. Nirma is one of the premier institute in Gujarat and unlike Gujarat University, is very much serious on education and extracurriculars. So lectures are held regularly, attendance is a must and there are frequent test/assignments. The faculty and students are fine with good technical knowledge and helpful in nature. These days most of the colleges have their own technical and cultural festivals and Nirma used to conduct the biggest of all in Gujarat. There are various departmental groups, Robotics groups, SAE group, Rotaract club, Management groups, quizzing communities etc. In short, I got a chance to pursue all my interest. Comparing with school friends studying in other institutions, I considered myself fortunate to do my graduation from Nirma and started believing that I didn't lose much by not getting into the IITs.

But how wrong was I. As luck has it, I cleared GATE and got an opportunity to pursue my post-graduation in Design from IIT Kanpur. And from the very starting I felt everything to be bigger and grander than Nirma. So after spending time with the best professors and students from Gujarat, I got a chance to spend time with the best from India. Imagine the feeling of studying advanced engineering courses under the professor whose book you used to refer during your under-graduation. The most important part of post-graduation is research and here lies the major difference with the state-level engineering colleges. (some projects). And I'm talking about the work going on in just my department at IIT Kanpur. Think of the huge number of research projects all these 13 IITs would be doing. (extracurriculars - Over and above the differnt clubs in Nirma, you also have swimming pool, karate club, tennis grounds, gym, auditorium with weekly movie screenings.) At the end of my post-graduation a part of me was sad that I got to spend only 2 years over here. Lucky are the undergraduates who get to spend 4 years at such institutions.

(Got intereseted in IITs by now? So have to prepare for IITs - clear the concepts -read textbooks, more interest in studying.. students of other states.. surely plan for a second degree.. be it mba or masters..)

Epilogue - (life after failure in 12th etc.. end with again congratulating the school..)

Aradhya

- Batch of 2006