If you are looking for more information, head over to our official Freshers’ group of 2020 to have your doubts cleared.

Where do I buy new textbooks?
What clubs should I join?
Will EG ever be easy?
Is that Thai place near End Point any good?

Answers to these critical questions are often difficult to find for a first-year student in Manipal. Understandably, there’s no time for extensive research when one spends most of their time navigating through the campus and ensuring that their umbrellas don’t get blown away.

The nervousness and unfamiliarity that accompanies the first year of college in this small, bustling town is nothing out of the ordinary. Freshers often find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of things on their checklist. Having a readily available source of information is incredibly helpful. Thus, to make the winding hallways of the academic blocks feel more like home, enter MIT’s Buddy Programme.

Interested students can enrol themselves for the Buddy Programme here.
Second and third-year students can enrol themselves as a Buddy from 10th October till 15th October 2020.
First years can start enrolling themselves as a Bud from now till 21st November 2020.

What is the Buddy Programme?

This programme helps a fresher adjust to the ways of life in Manipal as quickly as possible. The freshman registers as a bud and finds their buddy in a senior student and can take their help whenever required. The buddy’s job is to provide guidance and support, whether it be soothing anxiety about academics at MIT or giving fast-food recommendations.

The bud will be matched to their buddy based on their shared interests, as entered on the website during the registration. This way, the buddy and the bud can connect on a more personal level. The buds can seek their buddy’s help regarding queries related to academics, extracurriculars, and anything else they feel unsure of. It is also the responsibility of the buddy to ensure that the no-ragging policy is upheld. The programme will last for one semester, and the pair cannot withdraw from the project before the termination of this duration.

How will the Buddy Programme be implemented?

The Buddy Programme will be entirely voluntary. Students from the second and third years can apply as buddies by filling a registration form that will record their interests. The freshers will also fill a similar form, registering as buds.

The bud and the buddy will then be matched according to the details entered. The assignment is done automatically by an algorithm that aims to ensure that every bud gets a buddy and the buds are distributed fairly among all the buddies. The assignment takes the interests entered during registration into account and randomises the assignment in case of no matching interests. In case the algorithm is unable to find a match, there is an option for manual assignment. The bud can report any problem faced with a buddy to the Student Council via their website or the contact provided.

Spearheaded by the Student Council of MIT, this year’s edition of the Buddy Programme aims to get a higher number of people registered. The project is also a certified one, and every senior will receive a certificate at the end of their tenure as a buddy.

If you have any questions, head over to the official Freshers’ Group 2021 on Facebook to have them answered!

An interaction ban is imposed on the incoming first years for a certain duration of time during which, no club or organization other than the student council is permitted to interact with first-year students, online or offline.

One of the most awaited aspects of student life is the opportunity to become a part of a fraternity on campus. However, the dizzying number of student bodies at MIT might seem overwhelming for a fresher. Confusion is bound to arise about which clubs are best, how one goes about joining a club, and what the process of club recruitment entails. This article aims to bring some clarity by answering some of the most frequently asked questions about clubs at MIT.

The Virtual Club Expo 2020 will take place in a three-part process in October. The first part will be a webinar to be held on 10th and 11th October, where the Student Council will inform the freshers about the various student bodies. The presentations shall be split into technical, cultural, and sports, and each presentation shall include information about the respective clubs under the specified domains.

For the second part of the Expo, clubs will have to prepare an introductory video containing all relevant information that will be uploaded on an online platform. This platform shall be open to all students at all times, and they can view it at their discretion. The clubs will be required to submit their video by 15th October, and they shall be made available for viewing sometime in the subsequent weeks. A question-answer feature shall be introduced on the events portal, and the most frequently asked question can be marked as an FAQ by the club.

The third and final part of the Expo will follow a pre-defined schedule from 9th to 12th November, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The clubs will be given a slot in alphabetical order. On the first day, 9th November, the Student Council associated bodies, along with the first half of the cultural clubs will be presenting. The second day is reserved for remaining cultural clubs and the first half of the technical clubs.  On the third day, the remaining technical clubs will be presenting, and on the fourth and final day, the student projects and sports clubs will be given a slot.

A separate team will be created per domain. Every club will be provided with a channel on MS Teams, akin to an info desk, which will run parallelly and will be open for the freshers to join anytime. Clubs may conduct small presentations or activities to engage the freshers, which can be repeated after a specific time period once a new group of freshers join the channel. Freshers can also enquire about the club’s recruitment process, their events, or about the club itself, and interact with club members.

Another endeavour undertaken by The Student Council of MIT is the events portal. As stated by Samyukhta Raj, the Joint Technical Secretary, “The idea behind the portal was to make an interactive platform for students to participate in club events, especially since it’s a major part of every semester. Although it cannot replace the whole offline feel of being part of an event we hoped to at least bring back a sense of the campus through this. As of now, clubs can register their events on the portal and put up a poster and brief description about the same and go ahead with the registration for event as usual.”

Clubs are provided with separate admin access and once their events are approved they can start registering their events on the portal. Students can browse through events domain wise, that is, cultural clubs, technical clubs, student projects, and sports. If they seeking any particular event, date, or club they also have the option of searching for it. The events have a basic registration form to be filled out by the student and after which, the respective club will get in touch with the student regarding further details.

Students can register for club events and recruitment via the events portal or through The MIT Post app.

Which clubs should I join at MIT?

You can join almost any club that you want to! MIT has a vibrant student club culture that caters to a wide range of interests and skills. More importantly, all these clubs are eager to recruit a new crop of talented and enthusiastic freshers to take their legacy forward.

For those wishing to put their engineering skills to the test, there are several technical clubs that will help you further your knowledge of engineering subjects. From computer science and IT-focused clubs to the various branch-specific clubs—there are numerous opportunities to learn.

The Student Projects take it a notch further and allow you to fully immerse yourself in hands-on engineering.  Although the amount of effort and hours required to be put into these projects may seem taxing, you can rest assured that the results are rewarding. A lot of these clubs have participated in national and international-level competitions and brought many laurels home.

For the more artistically or culturally-inclined, there is music, art, drama, dance, writing, debate, designing, film, manga, fashion clubs, and more. With such a profusion of options to select from, there is a high probability that you will find your corner in at least one of them.  In addition to this, there are also a few public-speaking clubs and social welfare clubs. MIT also houses local chapters of international organisations that offer global exposure to students on campus.

There is no limit to the number of clubs you can apply for—therefore, you have the freedom to explore your interests through any of the clubs on campus. To get a head start, you can take a look at this handy guide about the clubs at MIT.

What is the ‘interaction ban’?

For the Freshers batch of 2020, the interaction ban will be in place until 15th November 2020. Apart from the Student Council, no club or organisation is permitted to interact with first-year students, online or offline.

To prevent any instances of ragging, and to allow first-years to settle into college life, formal interactions between seniors and first years are prohibited. This does not mean you cannot talk to seniors. However, most events will not be open to freshers for participation and attendance. The interaction ban lasts until the end of the first sessional test, i.e. 9th September.

When can I join the clubs? 

For the Freshers batch of 2020, club recruitment will commence after 15th November.

Most clubs hold recruitments after the first Sessional Test, that is, after the end of the interaction ban, in September. Clubs publicise their recruitment details through social media, class-to-class publicity, and posters. Some clubs may also hold events specially tailored for freshers in the week following the first Sessionals, where more details about their recruitments can be communicated. Student Projects, however, carry out their recruitments at different times around the academic year, and publicise them well, to make sure you don’t miss them.

It may be a good idea to keep a note of the recruitment dates and venues of the clubs that you are interested in, so as to avoid missing the recruitment since many clubs hold recruitments only once a year. Most clubs do, however, hold recruitments on multiple days so that you don’t miss out on any opportunity.

How many clubs can I be a member of? 

There is no limit to the number of clubs that you can be a part of. However, by the end of their first year, most people find it possible to be active, contributing members of at most three clubs, while maintaining good academic performance and a healthy lifestyle.

What happens at club recruitments? 

This mainly depends on the type of club whose recruitment is being considered. A large number of clubs require you to take a written test followed by a round of interviews. On the other hand, certain clubs may hold rigorous interviews, group discussions, and tasks for applicants. The performing arts clubs will, in most cases, require you to give an audition on the basis of your skill. As a general rule of thumb, most Student Projects conduct a written test and successive interview, followed by a long-term ‘task phase’—which involves conducting research or doing projects based on the chosen sub-system and submitting the reports. Success or failure in such recruitments, to a large extent, depends mostly on your knowledge of the topic that is being tested, and your willingness to contribute to the club.

The Student Council has initiated a new event this year—The Fresher’s Fair—to familiarise first-years with the various clubs on campus. 

The Fresher’s Fair will be conducted after class hours from 31st July to 5th August and will give clubs the opportunity to present themselves to first years.  The first event of its kind in MIT, it is being conducted under the AICTE Student Induction Program and forms a part of the orientation for first-years.

The clubs have been divided into three categories—Sports and Cultural Clubs, Technical Clubs, and Student Projects, for the convenience of students. Twelve sections will participate in the Fair per day with four sections attending the slots for each category. In this way, the students will have plenty of time to learn about all the clubs that they are interested in.

Clubs participating in the Fair will each have their own stall and may also stage performances to publicise themselves. Students can explore the stalls and interact with the clubs in between performances as well as during them. They can also look forward to games and enjoyable activities as clubs put their best face forward to vie for the attention of freshers. This fair may also give them a chance to see demonstrations of the Student Projects for themselves. If they want to look back on the details of each club, students can refer to the Student Council’s website about student clubs at MIT.

In addition to this, students can also join the official freshers’ group on Facebook. There will soon be a round of posts with representatives of various clubs introducing themselves on the group. Students can use this opportunity to acquaint themselves with the activities of the clubs and take a first step towards deciding which club they eventually want to be a part of.

Manipal was familiar territory for me, with my sister graduating from MIT the same year I joined. As I reached Manipal, I assumed I knew plenty about the town already. I was pleasantly surprised, however, as my first year here was not only fresh and invigorating but also a transformative experience like no other.

The first couple of days in Manipal went by in a flurry of activity as I attended the numerous orientation sessions organised for us, and did some last-minute shopping with my parents. Early on, I realised that an umbrella is a valuable possession to be guarded fiercely, having lost two in my very first month here. The classes began after the end of the orientation week with students from all branches mixed up in twenty-four sections. There was a natural awkwardness in the first few classes, but that was soon forgotten as we got to know each other through the icebreaker sessions.

Rumbling clouds and downpours are constants in the odd semesters. (Credits: Rahul Manshani, The Photography Club, Manipal)

The absence of a freshers’ party was a vehement complaint among us first-years. The Student Council, however,  had something more exciting in store for us—the Talent Night. A few first-year sections assembled in the MV Seminar Hall where everyone got an opportunity to showcase their talents. Never having been shy of speaking in public, I got on stage and decided to deliver a famous speech by Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. While that was all I had planned, my friends persuaded me to sing before I got off the stage. It was the first time I had sung in front of an audience, and that performance is now one of my fondest memories of the first year. The experience of letting loose in front of others kindled a feeling of comfort and camaraderie towards my fellow first-years. A few of my classmates even staged a group dance while the rest of us hooted and cheered in support. These are the people with whom I eventually developed a deep friendship, and whose company I enjoyed as I set out to explore the town of Manipal.

A fascinating thing I observed about Manipal was how the whole town had become student-oriented. A majority of the population here consists of students, and the place has developed with the university at its heart. It is no wonder that when you google ‘Manipal’, most links lead to MAHE websites. Having lived a fast-paced life in Delhi NCR, I was captivated by the peace and tranquillity of Manipal. Getting around in Manipal was never a problem. In the rare case where I couldn’t walk to my destination, there was almost always a long line of auto-rickshaws waiting to ferry passengers around the town. For travelling to Udupi, or the beautiful beaches nearby, my friends and I chose the local buses because of their reasonable prices and comfort. Manipal never felt lacking in options—from fast-food joints such as McDonald’s to fine dining restaurants, and from multiplexes to supermarkets—it has almost everything you would look for in a modern town. 

The road leading to Kamath Circle.

While the town of Manipal is pleasing and peaceful, it is the bustling campus of MIT that most students fall in love with. The greenery surrounding the well-trodden path from the hostels to the academic blocks offered much respite to dreary walks to 8 AM classes in the rain. The imposing structure of the Student Plaza comes alive and turns into the centre of student activity in the evenings. Students mill around the Plaza catching up with their friends, grabbing a bite at Just Bake or a sip at the Juice Centre.  There’s also almost always an event or publicity work for upcoming events in progress at the Student Plaza.  However, the best time to witness MIT in its true glory is, undoubtedly, during TechTatva and Revels.

Tech Tatva, the technical fest of the college, was one of the first instances in the year where we transitioned from being participants in events to volunteers and club members who contributed to the working of the fest. Wearing The MIT Post tag around our necks, my fellow writers and I ran around the campus covering events and at the end of the day, burnt the midnight oil with the staff of The Post to prepare the daily newsletters. The Manipal Conclave, held on the last two days of the fest, proved to be a star-studded event with its excellent speaker line-up featuring popular YouTubers like Jitendra Kumar and Shivankit Singh Parihar, and actors such as Radhika Apte and Jatin Sarna of Sacred Games fame.

Even more vibrant and exciting, however, is the college’s cultural fest, Revels, that is organised during the even semester. It was accompanied by another round of covering events, preparing newsletters, and participating in competitions. While the days were filled with an assortment of events and the joy of eating from the food stalls, the Pro-Show performances in the evenings provided a perfect conclusion to each day of the fest. It was only after a long and busy day that I would enter my comforting hostel room.

The Local Train performed during Revels 2019, for the third time in Manipal. (Courtesy: PAV, Revels’19)

Each student’s hostel experience is a distinct story in itself. From late-night birthday celebrations to waking each other up on Sunday for the special breakfast, the hostel life has been a journey with countless ups and downs. Small music sessions, a few games of cards, and a game of mini-militia after a long day of classes proved to be our source of relaxation. There were evenings when everyone on the floor would assemble in one room, with their laptops and phones, only to watch an IPL super-over together. Adding to the experience was the beautiful view from my room. Waking up to the scenic beauty of the valley was divine, and it made my first year of hostel life truly breathtaking.

The valley, as seen from Hostel Block 16.

Despite the comforts of my hostel, however, most of my time was spent in the college library. This wasn’t because I was solely fixated on academics, but was rather due to the fact that the well-equipped library gave me a peaceful workspace to finish all my tasks. With multiple study rooms in the building, finding a place in the library is not difficult, unless it’s during exams. On the day of an exam, the library is so crowded that at times I had to request my friends to reserve seats for me, provided they managed to get seats for themselves. With the group study room having more desks available than chairs, I’ve even sat beside the staircase to complete my last-minute revisions.

Looking back to the time I bid adieu to my parents, before the start of the year, I remember my excitement being coupled with apprehensions. Since I had never stayed away from them before, I had no idea what to expect thereon. However, as the year progressed, I realised that my time in Manipal had shaped me into a more responsible adult—one who’s capable enough of making his own decisions, instead of depending on others. Manipal provided me with ample opportunities to build upon my skills and personality and do something new and innovative.

Credits: Harsh Kumar Singh (The Photography Club, Manipal)

As I began writing this article, it dawned on me that despite having lived every moment of these two semesters, my first year of college appears to have passed by like a running train—with the assignments, exams, fests, parties, and outings being different stops on this journey. Continuing on the same track, it is time for me to get onto the next train in line, with fresh energy, added responsibilities and the new role of being the immediate seniors to the new freshers’ batch of the college.

Featured Image Credits: Rishi Raj

There is no dearth of choice regarding engineering colleges in India. Every year over a hundred thousand confused freshers seek admission into the best possible colleges. For the lucky few who end up in Manipal, this place proves to be unlike any other. After much deliberation and enquiries, the one thing that eventually persuaded me to come to MIT was a rather grand claim made by a school senior, who is currently an alumnus of the college. He said that coming to Manipal was the best decision of his life, and as my first year here comes to a close, I think I can wholeheartedly back that claim.

While I made countless memories in my eight and a half months at the college, the first few days that I spent in Manipal remain the most cherished. From staying up late with my hostel-mates playing bluff, exploring MFC (that’s Manipal Frizzled Chicken, for the uninitiated) and TC (Tiger Circle), to waking each other up for those early morning classes, we did it all. It would be unfair if I did not mention that like most other freshers, my early days in Manipal were marked with the infamously unpredictable monsoons, so carrying an umbrella at all times was a must.

My first experience in an MIT classroom came during the orientations and through my TG (Teacher Guardian); a concept which is novel in MIT. The classrooms themselves threw me back a year as they bore an uncanny and uninvited resemblance to all my previous coaching classes. Nonetheless, we went on to make some insane memories in these rooms in the months to come. The many positives about the college are often left undiscussed among the more sensationalist and scandalous rumours surrounding the town. What makes the town of Manipal unique, however, is its culture and its people.

The MAHE Administrative Building.

Being a university town, a majority of Manipal’s population is comprised of students and is a true melting pot of cultures from all around the country. One meets and interacts with people from all over India and even the world, and lives the fabled college life to its fullest. The hostels are far better than what one expects from an engineering college. A little pro-tip for boys would be to opt for the seventeenth block over the sixteenth, as the majority of MIT students reside in the former whereas the latter also has a few of the DOC and FOA students. Another helpful advice would be to opt for the x15/x16 rooms as they are significantly more spacious than the others. The caretakers at sixteenth block can be a bit strict with the freshers but they hardly ever give anyone a difficult time aside from imposing the perm. The seventeenth block, however, has the most relaxed and friendly caretakers. While an ‘in-time’ might seem like a frustrating rule, especially with the freedom allowed in all other aspects of the college, it is there for a reason and only serves to safeguard the student populace.

The view from Block 16.

Aside from the mess, people mostly eat out at various local eateries, which are all hardly ten minutes away from the campus. Manna Roll, MFC, Red Kitchen, and Hit and Run are relatively inexpensive and sustained me through an entire semester during my abstinence-for-the-mess phase. Shawarmas are perhaps the most consumed item on the menu and are present at every corner of the town. A growing trend has been ordering food online, with Manipal attaining the highest order frequency in all of India, through Zomato (keep an eye out for the 50% off offers). Despite the various offers one comes across while ordering online, the restaurants in Manipal are relatively much cheaper than in other cities across the country.

What makes Manipal unique is it’s geography, with many beaches and hills at an easily accessible distance. Weekend getaways are typical in the even semester with multiple bike rental services also available. It isn’t advisable to venture near the coast during the odd semester, however, as the weather is less forgiving with a six-month onslaught of unpredictable monsoons.

The road leading to the Student Plaza through the Academic Area.

As a piece of parting advice, I’d like to say that it’s the people that make a place truly memorable and some of my cherished memories are not around the town itself, but all the friends I made. I remember one unfateful morning when a close friend had to rush uphill to the academic block in a record 8 minutes to make it in time for a lecture, failing which, he would have had to drop the course. We had stayed up late into the night (morning, rather) playing Fifa, and the sorry soul had to brush in the lecture hall’s washroom the next day. A video of him caught in the act made rounds on Whatsapp all through the following week. My roommate and I were conspirators of another such marvellous display when we made the climb to the Academic Block in under twelve minutes to save our semester. Needless to say, we were both in our pyjamas and were fresh out of our beds. Neither of us remembers what lecture we had that morning, nor do we recall what was taught that week; but the image of us trying to scramble up Temple Run in our slippers will be with us for a long time.

Ritviz performing at Revels ’19.

All this still doesn’t quite encapsulate all that Manipal has to offer. Liberating and welcoming, Manipal embraces one and all and is a feeling one has to experience for themselves to truly understand it. With the vacations coming to a close, MIT prepares to welcome a new batch of freshers to this chaotic yet serene lifestyle, as I prepare to survive another semester of barely reaching class on time in my slippers.

Featured Image Credits: Rishi Raj

My Manipal Experience, the biggest stride in my life so far, began with disaster. Being as lazy as I was, my packing had begun at the very last minute, and the train arrived and left surprisingly on time, without me on it. Having been left without any other options, I ended up on an overnight bus and discovered, unpleasantly, that I was incredibly susceptible to motion sickness. Thus, began my first day at Manipal.

My first month in this town brought with it the nervous enthusiasm that is often experienced when thrown into a new situation. Having never been particularly introverted, I often found myself randomly engaging in conversation with absolute strangers. Not finding an empty table at the ever-so-crowded food court, I’d usually scan the rows of tables for the source of the loudest ruckus and join the conversation with a cheeky one-liner. This especially came in handy during the perpetual rains of Manipal—I always found someone to share an umbrella with. It also made me better understand the wide range of outlooks that students here held, thus influencing my subsequent interactions with people.

The food court

The one statutory fact about life at college is that everything happens at breakneck speed. The combination of classes, sessionals, club meetings, and fests meant that there is never any time for oneself. Adjusting to life at college, which I had until then been very apprehensive about, took place ever so seamlessly, owing to the fact that I never really had a lot of time to introspect or reminisce. Adjusting also meant mastering the art of time management that, up until then, had completely eluded me. The lack of my parent’s watchful gaze made me painfully aware that any time I wasted would have very real and tangible consequences.

The time spent at college coincides with the period of one’s life when one must grow out of their childhood woes and insecurities and enter adulthood. This makes the time spent here crucial towards shaping the personality that one takes into the peak of their life. While it’s often impossible to ascertain growth, I can safely say I am considerably different from the fresher that was on that bus a year earlier. From adjusting to unpleasant situations to learning to make tough choices, I have had to fit into the responsibilities needed to be taken as I step into this phase of my life.

With my second semester came a feeling of control. Having gone through the gruelling process of adjustment the semester before, I had a much better idea of the challenges that lay in wait. Preparation for sessionals, which earlier felt frustrating, now seemed manageable. Having had a hard time managing attendance the last time, I was much more careful about how many classes I could skip without risking consequences. Balancing work and fun also got a lot easier as I got a sense of how to navigate the unique stress brought about by college assignments.

Innovation Centre

While some find their passion amongst the subjects deemed relevant by the Indian education system, I found myself drawn towards topics that the curriculum deemed irrelevant. However, being a student lost in a colossal sea of incessant assignments and deadlines, I eventually had to accept the fact that moving on and focusing on the challenges at hand was the only practical thing to do. College at Manipal however, pleasantly surprised me in this aspect. With over ninety student clubs and projects, students here were actively encouraged to follow their passion.

My parents always urged me to grab any opportunity that may come my way. So, when the time came to join clubs, I threw myself into the experience. I attended multiple overlapping recruitments each day, held all across the college; the true challenge was making it to all of them, lest a prospective future be lost. I ended up making the cut in over fifteen clubs, leading to a truly harrowing experience as I tried to juggle work for each. However, the feeling of satisfaction and pride that I felt as I let my passion drive my work was like nothing I had ever felt before. At one of the many clubs I was part of, I found some of my closest friends and most of what I learnt through my first year of college.

The best time of the year at Manipal is during the college fests. It is a time when your passion and conviction to your craft is really put on full display. As clubs scramble to put together events that attract and delight participants, members put in their very best into their respective categories, sacrificing sleep, attendance, and often grades, all for the sake of passion. Even exams take a backseat, in spite of them taking place only a week after. It was at one of these fests, as I sat working through the night on the fest newsletter, that I realised why I loved Manipal so very much.

Change is the only constant and change can often bring with it a host of fear and trepidation. But a future built by following your passion and doing what you love is a future to look forward to. While what the future holds is yet unknown, a continued commitment towards encouraging students to follow their passion and honing their interests gives every student in Manipal a reason to be proud.

Photo credits: Sujay Gupta for The Photography Club, Manipal
Featured Image: Vartika

I was welcomed into this ‘campus town’ with heavy rain crashing down onto my car’s windshield as my parents sought to see me off. For a person who loved the rains with an unparalleled passion, it seemed like the town was beckoning towards me with open arms.  As I would later come to realise, these short outbursts of rain were a classic feature of the odd semester—a feature that left everybody clambering for their umbrellas in a failed attempt to keep their books dry.

One of my fondest memories would come two weeks into my life as a hosteller. I was sitting in my neighbour’s room, a person I barely knew at the time, and inexplicably the two of us wound up singing old Bollywood songs at the top of our lungs. In a matter of minutes, a few other friends came over and suddenly, we were a large group of tone-deaf acquaintances singing cringeworthy songs with the help of someone’s borrowed guitar. This would soon become a tradition for us; we got together every Saturday evening to relish in each other’s awful singing. I’d love to say that our vocals got better or that we finally learned to play the guitar, but none of that happened. All we accomplished through this tradition was a sense of companionship and a misplaced confidence in our ability to sing. I guess that’s what hostel life is about—accepting each other for who we are and cherishing the moments we spend in each other’s company.

Another memory that comes to mind when I think of my first year in this town I’ve learned to call home, took place during TechTatva (the technical fest of MIT). College fests are the times when Manipal bursts to life with events in every corner of the college campus. What had relatively been a quiet fest suddenly changed its course on the third and final day. Something that started as three people dancing amidst themselves to peppy music quickly became a huge group of people going berserk with their dance moves. Once the rain started pouring, the enthusiasm of the dancers just grew exponentially—a few even ventured into dancing on top of the tables! At that moment, with heavy rain pouring over me and Bollywood songs playing in the background, being surrounded by strangers didn’t seem as daunting as it would have a couple of months earlier. That’s the beauty of Manipal—it brings together people from all walks of life and unites them, almost as if they’ve known each other since their childhood.

From going to sleep early for the sake of classes, to switching off the alarm and going back to sleep despite missing classes, a lot has changed over the course of my time as a ‘fresher’. The only thing that’s remained constant is the long delivery time for Apoorva Mess and MFC (that’s Manipal Frizzled Chicken, for those wondering).

It’s this journey of change and self-discovery that truly encompasses the roller coaster that is the first year of college at MIT. Before we notice it, amidst the sessionals, assignments, parties, and fights, we become seniors with a newfound longing towards this quaint town called Manipal.

Photo Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal

The changes that one year of college have  brought about in me, are like none from ever before. I cannot claim that I have grown as a person, but one thing is certain-I now have a heightened sense of awareness about the ways of the world.

For a child who’s spent nary a night away from his parents, there can be no experience more unnerving than that first night in your hostel room. It was a stroke of good luck, then, that I’d decided to venture out for some stationery that night. I chanced upon a fellow first year donning a shirt of my favourite band. That was my very first glimmer of hope that perhaps my prospects here would look up.

The typical milieu on campus during monsoon season. Credits: Manipal Blog

The days to come would teach me to break out of my shell and embrace my country’s diverse culture. Having been predominantly around south Indians for a considerable part of my life, I was initially sheepish during my interactions with those hailing from other regions. My desire to establish companionship in this land far away from home, however, overpowered my diffidence and I began mingling with my classmates. It gave me the reassurance that no one regarded me as any better or worse than himself or herself for being from another end of the country.

The days went by, and soon, the pieces slowly started to fall into place. Getting drenched in the rain on the way to class taught me never to leave my room without a checklist. It was no longer merely my backpack that I needed – I now had a wallet full of valuables to be heedful of. The newfound responsibility of checking my bank balance and typing in a PIN at cash registers instilled a sense of maturity within me.

After counting down each day from fifty at the back of my diary, the sessional examinations blew by and with them, brought a much-needed teaching break. There was a slight spring in my step as I strolled along, suitcase in tow, to the taxi that evening. I felt like I was beginning to learn the ropes of getting by in an engineering college. Lack of club recruitment meant that we had ample time after lectures to study and socialise.

Upon my arrival, my mother’s cooking tasted more sumptuous than I had ever recalled in all my nineteen years. I was a child that had grown accustomed to having a steaming hot lunch everyday. It was served to me at the time I felt convenient, under an invigorating breeze blowing out from the air conditioner over my dining table, whilst I watched television shows.

My first month in college elapsed in trudging up a hill at specified times for each meal. I soon grew wary of this and lived off whatever the campus grocery store could provide me for the rest of the year. This taught me to be grateful just for having my mother there to put food on my plate – the culmination of an entire day’s effort gone by toiling away in the kitchen just to feed me.

Upon my return, the moment I had been so eagerly awaiting had arrived – club recruitment. At the outset, I was more concerned about which club would look better on my resume, rather than pursuing my interests. It was thus quite a tough decision to make when I was faced with attending the recruitment of a coding club or that of the college’s official media body. There was nothing at all appealing to me about writing programs other than the chance to be hired by a lucrative IT company. Writing, on the other hand, has been my go-to avenue of expressing myself since I was a child.

That moment was perhaps the very first time in my life that I had followed my heart over mind, and it was the best choice I ever made. Having arrived from home merely hours earlier, I tackled the written round on an empty stomach, letting nothing but my experience guide me. I poured my heart out onto the paper, without even a passing thought that whoever corrected it could be a colleague in the future. In all candour, getting selected did not even seem a minute possibility to me.

It was nothing short of a surprise when I got the call to attend the interview round at the Quadrangle. This was only the second time I had ever been interviewed in my life, which is why my heart was quite understandably in my mouth. Knowing how imperative it was to make a good impression, I did all I could to answer the questions posed at me with clarity and confidence. It seemed to do the trick, because when I opened my e-mail the next afternoon, my Acceptance Letter was waiting for me in all its splendour. Congratulations began to pour in from friends and family alike – and it will forever remain etched in my brain as one of my fondest memories.

Ever since then, there was no looking back. TechTatva was looming around the corner, and preparations to make the best daily newsletter the college had ever seen were in full swing. It was during one such night, when I was typing away at an album review I’d been working on for pleasure – that I was approached by a fellow writer. Over the course of our future conversations, we soon discovered that we had similarities in interests as well as our sentiments on a variety of things.

My budding friendship with him and his roommate whom I happened to share a class with, turned out to be the highlight of my second semester. Being introverted meant lacking a friends circle to be eager about returning to at the end of my first semester break. It was during the second semester, however, that this duo showed me how much more enjoyable college could be if I had people to share my days with.

Courtesy: The Astronomy Club, Manipal

I forged a bond with them as he introduced his roommate and I to the wonders of melancholic prog rock virtuosos, Porcupine Tree. Music has a way of bringing two souls together with a power unlike that of anything else. My plans for every evening had gone from lying in my room, to accompanying them to dinners or adventures that ended just in time for curfew. Perhaps the highlight of my entire year was going stargazing to Hiriadka one night with The Astronomy Club. That was the first time in my life I had gone camping. Sitting there huddled up with close friends learning about constellations and narrating scary stories to one another was an experience I will not soon forget. In all, my first year in college was a riveting rollercoaster ride from start to finish.