Apurv

Tell us about your journey coming here. Why did you choose IIT Bombay?

 I used to live in Nashik and pursued my studies there only. IIT Bombay is close to Nashik and is one of the top IITs. In addition, I wanted to pursue something related to aviation, hence I opted for a B.Tech in Aerospace. In my third year, I converted to a dual degree, with my project centred around propulsion. In my PhD under the IITB-Monash program, I sought to pivot to Air Traffic Management, and I wanted to do something futuristic–drone delivery of commercial goods. I got the opportunity to go to Monash University in Australia, but I decided to drop the project. It was going in a direction which did not appeal to me, and there were some concomitant issues like funding. So I decided to take a Master’s exit. I could have, nonetheless, gone to Australia and then taken the exit, but that did not seem to be an ethical decision.

What were some stress-busters that helped you survive on campus? 

Writing helps me relieve emotional stress, and I typically use Google Keep for journaling. Interacting with people also helps me, as it gets me out of the cycle of overthinking. At the same time, I enjoy going on solo explorations around the city. Another stress-buster is going on walks while listening to music. Once, like many other students, I had thought of going to the library to study for the midsems. I decided to go via the lakeside because it would be a nice walk.  Then, I went to Gate number 3 and walked to Goregaon. I took the route through Aarey Road, which is surrounded by a forested area, and it took me about three hours to reach. Being close to nature is also a source of serenity for me. During May afternoons, I would sit near Jal Vihar and enjoy the cool breeze.

Which clubs or teams were you a part of?

I am passionate about reading and writing. My mother has a vast collection of Hindi books, so I have been well-exposed to both Hindi and English literature. Naturally, Literati and Vaani were the first two clubs that I joined. I contributed to the Hindi writings in Vaani. Photography is another one of my hobbies, and during my freshie year, I became a regular at Rang & Pixels. I contributed some of my photographs to SilverScreen for use in their films and also found myself sometimes working with the dramatics club, as I also had some friends there. 

In the technology domain, I was actively involved in the aeromodelling club. I used to mentor two teams every year for the RC Plane competition. I used to bond well with my mentees. I always say that the aeromodelling club gave me good bachchas. 

In my fourth semester, I went to a Krittika stargazing session with a friend and became a regular since then. 

Coming to sports, I was not deeply involved. I didn’t even get my swimming card made. Ironically, my UG roommate was the adventure club manager. It was a huge regret on his part that he could not take me on any treks because I would always refuse 😅

Could you elaborate on your experience in Insight?

When I was pursuing my B.Tech, Insight’s editorial board used to float a form to know which topics the students wanted to be covered in articles. They would then broadcast the list of topics on which they intended to write articles. They would do a call for panellists across the institute, and these panels would be headed by editors. I contributed to three major Insight articles as a panellist. In my fourth year, my best friend, Aparajeya, became the chief editor. He was succeeded by Varun Sule. Since he was in Aero and Literati, he had been a good friend. I am still in touch with him. Also, Muskaan, the chief editor three tenures back, had been a Literati Convener, so I knew her. Hence, due to my close association with the chief editors, I indirectly remained connected with Insight. 

post-Covid, students applying for positions on the editorial board would come to me for groundworks, due to my close association with the body in the pre-Covid era and the fact that I was physically present in the institute.

What were your expectations before coming here and how well were they met?

I did not come to the institute with pre-defined expectations. Everything was new and I adapted gradually. I tried out a lot of new things in the process. It has been interesting to see how people have been doing things and how things have changed over the years, for better or worse, especially the big difference between the pre-Covid and post-Covid era. I have also witnessed the tenures of three deans. 

What are the most significant changes you have seen in IITB over these 11 years?

HOSTEL SYSTEM

When freshers’ hostels became separate, from 2013 onwards, freshers were allotted their parent hostels within the first two weeks at the institute. When Freshiesta/ Freshiezza used to happen, freshers’ points were added to the GC points. So, the seniors from the parent hostels had an incentive to approach the freshers. They would invite freshers to their hostel fests, tell them about their hostel culture, their achievements in tech, culturals and sports, and about their ‘machau’ seniors. This resulted in a good junior-senior bonding and acted as a push, especially for those students who would not explore avenues by themselves. 

Post-Covid, the entire system changed. Towards the end of the freshie year, the bidding system happens and the entire hostel allocation gets linked to insti elections. Girls are always given H15. And you stay in the parent hostel for two years. And now, with the construction of Hostels 7, 8 and 21, fourthies will be shifted to 7 and 8 and thirdies to 17 and 18. There will be no interchanges between different batches. You cannot interact with seniors in the mess, you have to attend specific events to explore specific opportunities. 

Another point is that if you are living in one hostel for 3 years, then you will naturally develop some senti towards it, and that used to be the case till 2019. But now they have made this separation, students won’t have any senti towards their hostels, and twenty years down the line, there might be no alumni funds dedicated to hostels. 

CONSULT PLACEMENTS

Consulting companies are the single driver of change in the campus culture. Till 2019, major consulting firms used to come for placements. A good third and fourth-year POR, a good third-year intern, and a good CPI would typically be the requirements for a good package. 

In 2019-20, the consulting companies started an intern process and stopped coming for placements. They hire some interns and give them PPOs. So now, the requirements for getting that job are a good second-year POR, a good second-year internship, and a good CPI. That has shifted the insti culture by one year. So now, towards the end of the first year itself, the students are worried about their prospects. 

Describe your insti experience during the lockdown.  

INSTI DURING LOCKDOWN

To give some background, my parents shifted to Dubai in 2019. In March 2020, the lockdown was imposed. By the time I decided to fly back from insti, the international borders were closed. And the initial circular mandated only a 2-week shutdown of the campus from 14th to  29th March, which would then be updated as the situation unfolded. So I decided to stay back. But then the lockdown persisted, and I had no choice but to stay in insti. 

There were only 70 students on campus, and we had to shift to H12 and H13. Overall, it was a fun experience. The AQI was below 50  everyday for months because no cars or planes were flying in the city. From the Sameer Hill Top, you could see the entire city without any haze. I curated a Google Photos album of 500+ photos of campus from lockdown. 

Also, there was an Italian university whose student media body was doing an article on campuses around the world during Covid. Since I was in the institute at that time and had been associated with Insight, I wrote the article. It was great to see my article get international coverage. 

Apurv writes in his article, “ It feels pretty privileged to get a different taste of food every week and be offered 4 meals a day with differing varieties. There were days when we had only biscuits and tea for tiffin, but there were days when we had 2 vegetables for dinner, complete with doodh sevain or halva.”

Check out the full article here : https://insightiitb.org/global-edition-one-pandemic-fourteen-stories/) 

M.TECH PROJECT

My M.Tech project was experimental. All M.Tech students tend to procrastinate for the first few months of the second phase of the project (even semester). Following the same trend, I effectively started working on it from March 2020 onwards, even though I was supposed to start in January. Unfortunately, after 24th March, the department was closed due to the lockdown. Even the technicians weren’t allowed. From mid-May onwards, the labs were opened. But some stores, from which I had to get my components manufactured, were closed. Due to these limitations, I could not complete my project as I had originally planned, and I could not get a research paper out of it. The professors were conscious of the difficulties being faced by the students and were lenient in their grading policies, so I was awarded a 9-point grade. 

S GRADE

An ‘S grade’ had been introduced in lockdown. It was a Pass/Fail grade, and if awarded in a course, then the course would not be considered for CPI calculation. During the online semesters, many people had several problems at home, especially in 2021, when the situation across the country got severe. At the same time, some students were very insistent about getting the course considered in their CPI. Then the S grade was made optional. In core courses, at the end of the course, the professor would float a form, asking the students whether they would want an S grade in their course or not. 

Having done both B.Tech and post-graduation at IITB, what are the biggest personal and academic challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

ACADEMIC LIFE

There was always this one course in every semester that used to give me some trouble. But the rest of the courses used to be fun, and I like Aero, so I used to study properly. Some profs taught well, and I used to attend lectures regularly. All these factors helped me obtain good grades in most of the courses. 

PERSONAL LIFE

There were a lot of challenges in my personal life. I have been experiencing problems related to mental health, and handling that with academics was challenging. There were days when I did not feel like doing anything. Eventually, after my undergraduate, I got more time to introspect. In 2023-24, I had all the psychological diagnoses done. I started seeking help in 2023. Now it is much better. When the therapist told me about the ADHD and autism behaviour patterns, I realised why I used to get angry about small things and remain calm about big things. My mental health journey on campus has been an interesting one–from not knowing what’s happening in the first year to knowing every behaviour pattern while graduating. External psychologists and therapists offer student discounts, and I got the institute stipend to support myself. At the same time, it became clearer to me that if I am not interested in the project anymore, I should rather focus on my mental health journey. Some days it is difficult, I know why I am angry, but it does not help. I have realised that the best approach is to first focus on things that are troubling you every day and make your mental health stable.

What advice/message would you like to give the fellow batchmates?

You should have an exploratory mindset throughout your college life. The first year is too short and insti has a lot to offer. Even after the first year, you can try to explore something that is not so intensive, like stargazing sessions, MnP discussions etc. During college life, the stakes are very low, and even if things do not work out or you end up in embarrassing situations, it is fine. Only the institute society will judge you, and they won’t even remember after some time. 

Try doing wacky stuff–something that you want to do but are not doing because of fear, for example, climbing the infinity corridor. Try identifying low-risk-low-reward situations to have some fun. There is a board “exit from lakeside” kept near the lakeside exit. My friend and I took that board and kept it at the library, turning. It was not that big of a deal, but whenever we would stop by the library, we would laugh at it, and it became a core memory for us.

Moving ahead, what are your plans?

I realised that I did not want to do commercial research. This was also one of my reasons for taking an exit from the PhD. 

I am looking for lecturer positions right now. Lecturers only teach, while professors teach and research. I like teaching; that was my primary motivation behind pursuing a PhD. Some professors are not good at teaching, and their sole focus is research, which causes inconveniences to students.

Joining NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories), the research body under HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), is another prospect that I am considering. 

I have also applied for translation-based roles. IITB Monash has an English professor who helps students convert their Indian English accent to a neutral Indian English Accent. I have got in touch with her for a similar job prospect. 

I am fine with freelancing for a few months or years until I am sure of what I wanna do. Right now, I need to focus more on myself. My aim is to have enough disposable income to spend on food, OTT subscriptions and a stable internet connection.

Will your little self from the past be happy to see you where you are today?

100%.