Unsolicited Lessons

A diary post about IITB

The first some days of this IIT Bombay journey were about settling in, gathering things that were needed and planning a day-to-day routine. I had done this 3 times before now, with 3 different environments. I did everything on my own this time, and I’m grateful for how my parents trusted me to handle that myself. That has always been the backbone of my relationship with them, one where I figure out things myself and they help me and support me wherever I falter.
But all good plans go to vain for a man ill prepared of what might happen. I woke up three days in a row in the first week at 5 am. And I did not do that ever since. Because I have figured out since then that, the fuel that runs this university, keeps it alive and thriving, is insatiable curiosity. The campus is always alive. And not in a figurative sense, quite literally. There is ALWAYS someone or the other awake here. The mass of people that ask revealing questions in class is replaced by people practising for some cultural event in the foyer. A walk by the Main Gate Road at dawn will show you groups of people running by one side, and those returning from some work over the night. And the best part of this month has been that all these activities make me feel fuller. I have never once felt overwhelmed, nor concerned about my academics.
Stepping up to the IIT standard means different things for different people. While the acceptance that you have to change something within you to be worthy of the IIT tag is not universal, that is a different matter altogether. This cognizance of where you are and where you want to be, is a constant theme here, something conspicuously absent form many people in my UG. The fact that a lot of people here consider the balance among Academics and Extra-curricular important, with less bias towards Academics is amazing.
I am persistently reminded of my zeal towards learning something new, and the layers of that novelty have taken me by surprise. In my first semester here, I have already discovered my newfound passion for signal processing, and I admire what a capable tool it is in my arsenal. I am really looking forward to exploring it as a tool to understand interpretability in machine learning.
I am fortunate to have been able to find Prof. Vikram Gadre as my guide for my M.Tech seminar and thesis. I will be learning Wavelets in the next semester, and am really looking forward to add it to my skillset. It is not often that you find a mentor who is so passionate about the subject, and a fantastic teacher as well. This mix of pedagogical acumen and subject knowledge is unmatched in my perspective.
My foray into dramatics has been a rewarding one as well. In my first semester, I have been able to direct and write a play as well as act in one, representing my hostel. In understanding the minutiae of art and the process of delegation, I have learned a lot about my own capabilities and most importantly, my limitations. The process of art for me has its roots in my own mother, who has dabbled in art since my childhood. She leads her own Bhajani Mandal, and her thinking out loud at times has guided my intuition in these matters a lot.
This diary entry has been rather unorganized, but posting this is more of a self-confident exercise than anything else.