Nikhil Rai

Meet Nikhil Rai, Nickname: Turner, a technophile who was a DD UG student in the Electrical Engineering Department. You name it, he has done it all, sports, culturals or tech. Read on to find out.

Q. Tell us about your journey leading up to IITB.

I belong to Patna and did my JEE preparation from there as well. I stepped out of my hometown for the first time when I came to IITB in 2018. I was enchanted by the skyscrapers of Mumbai, the famous Taj and the Gateway of India. I was also drawn by the videos of IIT Bombay and was really happy that all my hard work paid off in the end. I was interested in CS but came in Electrical at the end because of the IITB tag.

Q. What clubs were you a part of during your insti life?

I had a fun first year. I participated in Pixels and in the ad-making freshiezza. I remember hustling from one hall to another to attend different club orientations. Overall, most of what I did was exploring new things. We made a spoof of a professor as a reading app because all he used to do was read slides in class, so that was a lot of fun. I am a sports enthusiast and was selected for NSO hockey and also later represented H3, in the GC. In the second year, had to shift my focus to Acads but still took part in the silverscreen GC in my second year. I had a hostel PoR, and was the tech councillor of H3, and during that time, H3 was 4th in the Tech cup in GCs.

Q. An interesting incident that you’d like to share with us?

I don’t think I can share anything here since most of such incidents are about getting caught or reprimanded and are embarrassing, I think it’s best if they remain a secret. 🙂

Although I do remember, back in my first year, I, being an ICSE student, was the only one of my wingies who knew how to code. They couldn’t comprehend anything about it. This was a really confidence-boosting experience then.

Q. Do you have a message for your fellow batchmates?

You’ve all been pretty good, every one of you whom I’ve met. It’s been wonderful interacting with people from all across the country and making friends with them. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this space with all of you guys.

Q. Any mantra for your juniors?

Juniors, explore as much as you can in the first year itself. I live by the motto of trying everything, even if it seems daunting, push out of my comfort zone.  DON’T PROCRASTINATE. Time flies faster than you think, and you don’t want to regret not doing anything at the time of your graduation. 

Q. Do you have any regrets from your insti life?

I remember that we used to sneak into the swimming pool at night, but I regret never learning how to swim. Also dance is something that I was always interested in learning but didn’t get a chance to do that either.

Q. If you could turn back and change one thing?

I never completed the AIDS bucket list as I was busy with internship and outside insti for the most while. I would do a little less partying and participate more in dance – AIDS and other stuff. 

Q. Insti favourites?

My favourite places were the VMCC terrace, Ananta, Energy Building, and tennis court near the convocation hall

Q. If your life were to be depicted in a movie, which one would it be?

I would love for it to be a musical or romance movie, with every instance and every accomplishment depicted beautifully using music. Something similar to La La Land would be best.

Q. What are your plans for the future?

I’ve been offered a PPO by Amazon. I’ll work in software development for a year and then think about whether I want to pursue UPSC (please don’t make UPSC – Patna jokes now). Initially, I wanted to settle in a peaceful country, but now I really want to try and make our country better, and I feel that by giving UPSC and becoming an IAS, I will have the opportunity to do so.