The IIT-Madras Campus

I have spent the first 9 years of my life in Kerala, a southern state in India. After moving to Delhi in 2000, I always cherished to go back to the south. I still feel like home when I am in south India. The traditions and culture are completely different from what you'd see in the north of the country. People here are more religious and simple compared to the north. Though I would say that there are many exceptions to this and that it also depends on which part of south India one is talking about. North India seems like more of dhotis, pants and shirts while south India is more of lungis. In north India you can manage mostly with hindi but south India is the home of 4 different languages. 

Yes. There are a lot of differences and I was able to experience these differences since I have lived in both parts of the country. After doing my under-graduation in Delhi, I moved to Chennai for the master program in physics in one of the premier institutions of the country - Indian Institute of Technology - Madras. More than studying physics and engineering, I learned a new way of life here. A life where we learn how to live with various kinds of animals. A life with people from all parts of the country. A life where you live away from your family and discover your potentials. IIT- Madras is not just an institution. It is a way of life.

This post is not about the academics of the institution. I will leave that for later. Rather I want to describe the campus itself. On the day of admission I took a car ride from my uncle's house to the campus. He took a long detour so in the way he could show me the beach and various landmarks of Chennai. The beach! No matter how long I see it, I never get tired. I just love to see the waves wash across the shore endlessly. That was one of the reasons I chose to live here, in spite of frequent warnings by people that Chennai is probably the most hot and humid city in India.

Marina Beach in Chennai

After wading through the morning traffic, we finally arrived in the campus. The campus was lively with thousands of new students who had come for admissions like me. The academic section is nearly 2 km from the main entrance and in between the road passes through a lush green tree cover. The campus is nothing like the city itself which is full of traffic honking at each other. There was no traffic. The roads are properly constructed with well defined pedestrian ways and appropriate sign boards which is very rare in India. There is a dedicated bus service every 15 minutes from the main entrance to the boys hostel which is about 3.5 km away.

The roads of IIT-Madras campus

Monkeys outside our rooms in IIT-Madras

We finished with the basic admission procedures in the next hour and I was then supposed to go to my hostel - Brahmaputra. Yes, the hostels here are named after the rivers of India. There was a time when the buses were also named after mountains hence the campus was called- "The land of moving mountains and still rivers". But the buses do not have names anymore. I dropped my luggage at my room and bid farewell to my uncle. My life in this campus finally began. 

I took a walk around the hostel and it was just sufficient for the needs of a student. The building was open in the middle and there was a nice green cover around it. There were about 5 mango trees outside my room. During summers, we literally had to fight with the monkeys to demonstrate our right on the fruits. Well, the monkeys always got their share when we were off to our classrooms. 

The best thing about my room was the morning sunrise. Its great to have an awesome start to a day and what better than an awesome view as soon as you wake up. This and evenings are the best times to take a walk around the campus. During the last few days in the campus, I think I did not miss even a single day taking a walk. Me and my friend used to walk all the way to the shopping center from our hostel which used to be about 2 km away just to get an ice cream. 

Morning Sunrise view from our room

The campus also has a beautiful lake. Too bad you are not allowed to swim in it. But the soft sound of water just adds to the calm and serene environment in the campus. When I was new to the campus, I once wandered around the lake and a couple of security guards caught me and suggested that I should make a girlfriend soon and bring her here, it is a very romantic spot. Even now people tell me to get a girlfriend. 

Lake inside IIT-Madras campus

 As I said before, this campus teaches you to live with animals. I gave you an example of how we used to "share" the mangoes with monkeys. But the monkeys were much bigger problem than that. It used to rain a lot in Chennai and for monkeys, our hostel corridors used to be the place of shelter. The next morning after a rainy night, our corridor used to be full of monkey poop and sometimes as many as 50 monkeys used to occupy the corridor. It was hard for some people to get out of their rooms especially during their morning calls. 

Well the campus is of course full of monkeys, but it also has some beautiful creatures. Spotted deers and black bucks are some of them and if you're lucky you might even spot Asian paradise Flycatcher and many other beautiful birds. 

Spotted deer

Blackbuck

The campus is lively with events almost every week. There are various activities a student can do during his/her time here. There are tennis, volleyball, basketball, hockey, football, cricket, squash, table tennis, athletics, gymnasium, swimming pool and many other facilities at very affordable costs. There is a film club which shows new movies every Saturday in an  open air theater. Though I would also say that the food I had here in the mess was just to fill my stomach. Some days it used to be very awful but there is a cafeteria nearby where you get some decent food, just that you will have to spend extra money for that.

So to sum up, being in IIT-Madras campus was a pleasure. It is not just the academics which makes this institution unique but it is also the campus itself which takes your breath away. I will always remember the time I used to spend in this campus. I had an amazing time with my friends here and rarely in your life you get to spend such a time when you are living in a forest for this long. Well, this is not entirely true academically. But as far as the student life goes, the campus is pretty good.