Let me start with this: I never planned to publish papers at IIT. I wasn’t even aiming for it. But life—or the cosmos, as I call it—threw me into a whirlwind of algorithms, chai breaks, and midnight dhaba debates. By the end of 2024, I’d spent four days living on an IIT campus, surrounded by the sharpest minds in computer science and EdTech. And honestly? It felt like slipping into a pair of worn-in sneakers—unexpectedly perfect.
Here’s the backstory.
As a newbie, I stumbled into presenting at the T4E International Conference (Last Minute Call). Cut to walking into a room where every second person has a PhD and the air smells like ambition.
My knees shook. My slides felt inadequate. But then I cracked a joke about debugging life, and suddenly, I had a room full of IITians laughing. “Ghar ki shaadi” vibes, as one attendee called it. By the end, I wasn’t just surviving—I was thriving.
Three reasons this experience changed everything:
- Mentors > Certificates. Dr. Sameer, Dr. Shridhar Iyer, Dr. Sahana Murthy, and the GOAT Dr. Deepak Pathak didn’t just teach me—they unlocked me. One coffee chat with Dr. Pathak shifted how I approach problems. No textbook can replicate that.
- Firsts matter. My first Vande Bharat ride (sleek!), first midnight dal-chawal under a starry sky, first time presenting research to a global crowd. These “firsts” weren’t checkboxes—they were confidence boosters.
- Real growth is messy. I bombed a Q&A session. Hard. But that failure taught me more than any polished success story.
The icing?
The trip was fully funded. I walked away with a spot in the ALW cohort to train UGC MMTTC faculty. Turns out, showing up as your awkward, unfiltered self pays off.
Why should YOU care?
IIT isn’t just about cracking JEE or memorizing formulas. It’s a mindset—a crash course in grit, curiosity, and finding your tribe. Whether you’re coding in a dorm or debating philosophy at 2 AM, it’s about tasting that electricity in the air.
So here’s my ask:
Have you ever stumbled into an experience that rewired your brain? Or what’s your “IIT Ahaa moment”—that one thing you think everyone should try? Drop it below. Let’s swap stories, not LinkedIn platitudes.
P.S. Midnight dhaba meals > five-star buffets. Fight me.
For more unfiltered behind-the-scenes (including my chaotic conference slides and that Edtech cohort selfie), attaching here-
