Final year at IIT Kanpur : first half

It all started with gloom of many hues. It ended on a positive note. While it was clear at the outset that it is going to be a very different year of my academic life, it turned out to be the best year. John Keats said, “Heard melodies are sweet. Those unheard are sweeter”. Clearly this melody was sweet. I wait for sweeter ones.

This year was preceded by departure of many of my friends with whom I relished talks ranging from topics as apart as economy, foreign policy, politics and cricket. Of course we discussed something about academics too. Dual degree programmes at IIT Kanpur have one drawback, though not necessarily of their own making. For four years we are put in a wing (a column of rooms) with inmates from different departments and different programmes. So it is quite natural that you make friends with students enrolled in 4 year programs. Sometimes they turn out to be your closest friends or cronies!!! One can't stop oneself from cursing this design of academic structure. But then, not all whines are for legitimate reasons.

I entered the new Hall of Residence (that's what we call hostels in IITK ) which is at least a km away from academic area. This distance looked more arduous due to necessity of marking attendance everyday. However, things started getting better from second month onwards. The September last year had the best weather I have ever seen in my life. Add to it the rustic surroundings of Hall 9. The wing structure in Hall 9 suits smaller wings. And we were left in just that number in our final year. The bonds grew stronger. The stipend and quality of Hall 8 canteen meant that we were able to spend more on food. Four of us became frequent visitors to that place. My interaction with department also increased due to allocation of a workbench and duties of Teaching Assistant. So much so that the guy with whom I had only formal conversations for first four years, leg pulling and banter was part of every meet.

October brought with it some tension. Yes, the placements were approaching and even if you try to remain oblivious to the fact, your surroundings wont let you do so. The spate of PPTs and concomitant tests meant that the importance of the event dawned on us. Add to it the aftershocks of recession last year. November went off very quickly and perhaps it was the single largest month of the year in terms of tension. Luckily for us the placement of Computer Science department was very good. Overall placements also improved. Most of us got placed before our expected date. And some of us got their choicest sector. With this our first semester concluded on a happy note.

Any remembrance of life at IIT Kanpur should not end without mentioning the weather and beauty of the place. Early winter months are very pleasant in Kanpur. Hall 9 is very well placed with vast open space behind it. Few stunted trees dot it but more or less it is a grassland. The view is breathtaking at evenings and during cloudy days. Vacant backyard also means the wind speed is relatively high. The final year provided us with many spare hours to enjoy natural beauty and contemplate. And one thing which I can say with confidence after living there is that plains can be as beautiful as hills.

P.S. I plan to write about remaining months but I am pretty lazy in putting my thoughts in my blogs, so that may take some time.

First cricket test match in stadium

After missing 3-4 chances in Kanpur I finally got to watch cricket for the first time in a stadium. And as they say in Hindi 'Der aaye durust aaye', what a treat it was to watch.

The planning of this match started with one of my friends (who ironically didn't watch cricket even on TV in our first semester at IIT Kanpur). I was very disappointed that Wankhede missed out on test match against New Zealand and wanted to watch test cricket this year at any cost. Finally we both zeroed in on Bangalore test between India and Australia because, well you knew this, it was between India and Australia. We also factored in that this would be the last time Dravid would be playing on his home ground and that this is the last time Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Ponting would be part of a test match in India.

The start of the day was very disappointing, not because India didn't win the toss (in fact with India fielding we got to see most players close-up), but due to inability of our bowlers to take a wicket in whole of first session. This meant that we had to put up with Mr. Watson who is as boring to watch as excitement while watching Ponting bat. Our torture ended in second session when Ponting came out to bat. And the elegance of his batting was clearly visible. To help the matters the view from our seat was very good for both ends. But like most Indians it becomes very difficult for me to appreciate opposition's good performance for long. Harbhajan was impressive in second session and Ojha in second and third but we felt much relieved when Raina trapped Ponting who it seemed was not going to be dismissed by Indian bowlers all day. All in all we got to wave Indian flag 5 times (five wickets fell that day).

I was very happy to see the turn out. The stadium was almost full. The din compounded by shrill music (or noise?) added to the excitement. That was one time when I would have agreed with Ravi Shastri's "The Atmosphere is electric" chirp. Was disappointed with Laxman not taking field but saw debut match of Pujara. Who knows he turns out to be next Laxman!!!

P.S. Was impressed by Ponting's conduct on and off the field. Esp. his thanksgiving to crowd in post match conference. My respect for him, both as a person and a batsman, has gone up by few notches.