The Freshie Magazine 2022

FRESHIE GUIDE: ‘INSTI’ LINGO! Don't understand what the others are talking about?

Turn to find out insti lingo PG 10

THE FRESHIE MAGAZINE The Fifth Estate

2022 DEPARTMENT STEREOTYPES Flip to read a satirical take on the different departments in insti PG 49

(G)OLDEN TICKETS: THE GRAND DESIGN How did we all come to be?

PG 4

MEET THE TEAM! PG 56

CONTENTS LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

2

(G)OLDEN TICKETS: THE GRAND DESIGN

4

FRESHIE GUIDE: INSTI LINGO

10

DEMISTIFYING THE CREDIT SYSTEM

13

WHEN IT'S THAT TIME OF SEMESTER

16

FACULTY ADVISORS

22

THE FUNDAE FUNDAE

25

FRESHIE 101: TOP 10 THINGS TO EXPECT WHEN YOU COME TO INSTI

31

INSTI WILDLIFE FOR DUMMIES

37

FRESHIE GUIDE: WHAT TO BRING TO INSTI

40

THROUGH THE GOGGLES OF A GRADUATE

47

DEPARTMENT STEREOTYPES

49

MEET THE TEAM

56

FIND US HERE

59

Letter From The Editor

Hi Freshies,

I hope this magazine does not find you buried in the numerous introductory smails you must be receiving.

We are The Fifth Estate (T5E), and this is not another… introduction. Well, at least not in the standard sense.

A

team

of

34

students

working

in

four

different

divisions - press, design, podcast and research - to report on campus events and activities and bring out content on a wide range of topics relevant to the IIT Madras

community,

be

it

students

(prospective

or

current), parents, faculty or staff, we are the institute’s official student news body. You might have already seen

a

summarized

version

of

our

content

on

the

fortnightly T5E newsletters in your smail inboxes. In a sentence, T5E is your best bet to excavate anything IITM.

On

the

occasion

virtually

and

curate

some

of

you

becoming of

all

one

T5E’s

having

of

us,

entered

we

IITM

decided

freshie-focused

to

articles,

the

rich

culture,

the

quick

know-hows

and

the

eccentric lifestyle of what we all dearly call insti. In this

special

edition,

we

first

throw

you

a

lifeline,

covering a few basic words in the insti lingo, and take

FRESHIE MAGAZINE | PG 2

published as far back as 2013, to give you a taste of

We then demystify the credit system, the faculty advisors and the fundaes you probably will start taking soon, followed by quick and fun guides on what to expect before coming to insti, what to bring to insti and how to deal with the wildlife in insti. To round it all off, we give you a quick peep into some of the best articles Through the Goggles of Graduates that will hit you right in the feels. As a finishing touch, you get a humorous article welcoming you to the world of department stereotypes.

Oh, and look out for comics, crosswords and podcast episodes sprinkled around for your amusement!

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did making it! Happy reading :)

Shreethigha Ganeshan Executive editor 2021-22 The Fifth Estate

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Letter From The Editor

a deep dive into how IITM came to be what it is today.

Deutschland meets Tamil Nadu

(G)olden Tickets: The Grand Design September 2019

He shuffled past the gates under the watchful gaze of a rather menacing security guard (whom we shall furnish with a handlebar moustache for creative reasons), trunks screeching along on the asphalt behind him. Much to his chagrin, his legs seemed to take him nowhere. Yes, there was a tarred road to take him wherever it is that he was going, but little else.

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ROHAN GOPAKUMAR

More than half a century ago, Fresher alighted at Central Station, half dazed. The train ride had been dreadful, just dreadful. The Sun bore down malevolently from high up above, and he stood there – trunks aloft – as he melted in its heat.

Right when he thought he’d swoon like a fairytale damsel – with considerably less grace, of course – a kind stranger asked him to board No. 19, which he did. A while later, when he got off at Sardar Patel Road, Fresher glimpsed a big black gate from afar, and that’s when he finally knew where he was.

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Little else but for the swimming pool (which was fenced in, by the way) and the Building Sciences Block, that is.

And Tapti, of course, where he took up lodgings during his first year at IIT Madras. So here’s the question: how did this (mostly) forest we call home grew and transformed over the years to become the rather vibrant community that it is now? How did we carve that perfect leg out of this gigantic Thanksgiving turkey? Hmm, I think I’ll have a go at it.

How It All Began First of all, I must apologize for beginning our story with a slight detour. But now that we’ve seen what IIT Madras would have looked like if you were alive and well and enough of a smarty-pants to crawl in here back in 1964, and now that we’ve established that we are all happy to be here now and not then, tis rewind time.

However, the Southern Regional Committee of the All India Council of Technical Education ditched that plan and bestowed IIT Madras with its own independent existence.

The Madras State Government, under the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj, lavished it with prime real estate as well: 632 acres carved out of Guindy National Park, straddling Adyar and Velachery, and that too, in close proximity to Raj Bhavan.

1966: IITM Road under Construction

Those of us used to the way things are would find it fascinating to know that IIT Madras could just as easily have been IIT

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Basics first. IIT Madras was the third IIT to be established in India. It had been the outcome of Pandit Nehru’s 1956 visit to West Germany, with the latter deciding to offer financial and technical assistance in setting up an institute. This institute would, unlike its predecessors in Kharagpur, Bombay and Kanpur, focus both on technical education and the humanities. Initial deliberations tried to assimilate the

proposed institute into institutions already existing at that point in time, such as the Madras Institute of Technology and the Anantapur Engineering college.

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Bangalore. In fact, the Germans had zeroed in on Bangalore, but then Education minister of Tamil Nadu, C. Subramaniam, gave them a tour and voila! The Germans were rather enchanted by all the deer herds and banyan groves, it seems.

Early Years: The Campus Without a Campus On 31st July, 1959, IITM was inaugurated, with the foundation stone originally being laid in the open space between the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) and Alagappa Chettiar College of Technology by Education minister Humayun Kabir.

Adyar river every morning to make it to class all the way from t Saidapet abound in the annals of IITM. Such attempts would be deemed heroic now, at least by the likes of me.

Waking up at 7:45 for 8 am classes has become a thing. All jokes aside, what I find remarkable about the whole affair is the systematic way in which everyone involved engaged in a herculean coordinating effort between Germany, the Central Government, the State Government and the various individuals and institutions that help bring IIT Madras into being.

In the interlude, while IITM lived off of such benevolence, we slowly began chiselling our way through Guindy National Park. The sixties was a frenetic

Until July 1961, when the institute shifted to its own campus, classes proceeded close by, mostly at the Alagappa Chettiar College, where classrooms, laboratories, drawingrooms, teachers’ rooms and the library were allocated for the time being.

1967: Library (now DoMS building)

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Two large rooms at the CLRI served as IITM’s administrative offices.

Workshops used to be conducted at the Highway Research Station nearby.

Two rented hostels – the Saidapet Hostel and the Guindy Hostel – accommodated the inaugural B.Tech batch of 120. Fascinating accounts about how they had to ride down the

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time indeed. Roads and electric cables vivisected pristine vegetation. Fresher must have been rather taken aback by it all.

Dankeschön Deutschland Meanwhile, buildings began coming up in the erstwhile ‘Deer Park’, thanks in large part to German assistance.

With construction going into full swing, the library was given prime importance. After all, of what use is a college if there’s nothing to learn from (though I am pretty sure that wouldn’t bother a lot of us)? Even when the library was located within Alagappa Chettiar’s premises, IITM ordered books worth 80,000 rupees, which was quite a huge sum back then.

However, as tangible as the pride was, the library felt out of place here too. It found a place of its own, in a brand-new building in 1967, where it remained for the next thirty-three years, after which it shifted to our present Central Library structure. The old building subsequently began housing the Department of Management Studies (DoMS).

The Growth Spurt Years The institute itself was initially envisioned for a paltry 2000 people, which seems minuscule in retrospect. The Board of Directors decided to establish ten departments – Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Metallurgy, Physics, Chemistry, Applied Mechanics and Humanities.

An Aeronautics department, which was not included in the original plan, also rose. Our first Director, Professor Sengupto, spearheaded this process with admirable vigour. The sixties saw IITM sprawling out over forest land. In fact, most of our landmarks are a product of these whirlwind years, be it the Taramani Guesthouse (then known as the Officers Hostel), the Bose-Einstein Guesthouse (then the Institute Guesthouse), Gajendra Circle, Admin Block, OAT, the current DoMS building, the Central Workshop,

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In addition to this, Germany was generous enough to gift another thousand books to the budding collection. In August 1961, however, the library secured more comfortable quarters on the second floor of the first building to come up on campus – the Civil Engineering block, which used to be the Building Sciences block back then (The BSB also holds the distinction of hosting the first classroom in the campus – BSB 105).

This library was a truly indigenous creation, even in the sense that every piece of furniture that filled it came from the IITM workshops (which in

turn, was a compulsory initiative propelled by the Germans – okay, maybe not completely indigenous).

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the Gymkhana, the Institute Stadium, Sangam Skating Rink and many more.

Soon after the first year had flown by, the Cauvery and Krishna hostels were built, and the men claimed dominion over (at least mostly) 600-plus acres until the women made their grand appearance back in ’68, when Sarayu rose up.

1967: Gajendra Circle and Administration Block

turn, was a compulsory initiative propelled by the Germans – okay, maybe not completely indigenous).

Hostel Scenes Wonly

Built in the early seventies, Brahmaputra became the gold standard for boys’ hostels, boasting rooms with ceiling fans.The rest of the plebs had to do with table fans they brought from home. A single power socket would mean that if you had an exam tomorrow, and your roommate happened to be an early-tobed-early-to-rise type of fellow, it was a question of table lamp (if you had the money to get one) versus table fan.

One can only hope that the occasional power cuts levelled the playing field, which they did apparently (Oh, the irony of studying for a Transmission and Distribution examination by candlelight…).

Talking about playing fields… When the nation’s best young scientific luminaries

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The second batch inducted into IIT Madras was the first to reside on campus, in the Krishna hostel. Not long after, the inaugural batch moved into Cauvery. Till the eighties came a-calling, an ancient power socket and a provision for a single lamp were the sole homages to electricity.

They used to have separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian kitchens within the hostel itself, instead of the ‘super’-messes that we see now, but our scholars did not appear to be too happy with them, so much so that sarcastic quips such as these were a common sight in student-run newspapers: ‘For Sale: Unused chapattis from Kaveri, Krishna and Narmada hostels. Leather dealers please note.’

These two hostels were unique with regard to their open layout, whereas hostels that popped up later on, beginning with Tapti in 1963 had 64-rooms-perfloor-by-three-floors, with a quadrangle contained within.

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were not busy studying, they took to the hostel grounds to cool down over a game of volleyball or tennikoit or gathered around that solitary blackand-white television ever since the telly made its way into the Krishna common room back in 1976.

culture , a going-to-Mahabs culture…

To reduce IIT Madras to merely rick-andmortar would be a disservice to its legacy.

Have you ever wondered about the identity of your room’s mystery inhabitants over the years, before you came into its possession? What did they look like? Were they moody little things or were they too happy for this world? Did they have friends? Were they alone?

Where did they go on Sundays? What did they like to eat? Our little nook of green, it seems, is not so little after all. If you sit down and think about it, we are a part of an overwhelming legacy spanning six decades. It is up to us to carry it forward and tell our stories now.

Image and archival credits: IIT Madras Heritage Centre

1966: Early hostel buildings

All the Feels

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With time, many traditions and cultures flourished on our tiny nook of green, be it Saturday movies at OAT or Hostel Nights where one could experience a medley of Indian and Germanic singing, the curious phenomenon of sober regionalism, a restaurant dining culture (starting with the now extinct Knick-Knack in the seventies), late night walks, skipping breakfasts, two-minute baths, starlit naps on the Himalaya lawns, selfies with the deer and blackbucks, a going-toPhoenix culture, a going-to-Pondi

Freshie Guide: Insti Lingo August 2016

You pass by some senior students and hear them talking. You recognize it as English. But a few sentences into the conversation and you realize they don’t make much sense. Don’t worry, they are only talking in the IIT-M Lingo, a highly evolved melting pot of a language with some Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and God-knows-what-else thrown in. Most institute students speak it with relish and for a good reason: it is unique to the institute and can well double as a code language understood only by IITM students and alumni.

Freshies: Yes, that’s you.

Insti : That is the institute. No, not because we can’t be bothered to go all the way. We just like the sound of it.

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The list is practically never-ending. But here is a crash course – ah, but, you must know all about crash courses – to keep you going and help you get past seniors who love insti lingo much too dearly (which is almost all of us).

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Insti name: You will have the closest thing to a re-christening in insti, a nickname will usually be given to you by seniors which (they think) defines you and which curiously seems to almost always stick better than your actual name. Insti names can be anything and everything.

Junta: That is people- any people.

Factory: The institution where you got your JEE coaching from. (apt, surely?)

Intro: The act of introducing yourself.

Enthu: Lots of enthusiasm ‘I have enthu for coding.’

Dude : The same old dude Da/Dei : This means dude, too!

Machaan/Machi : This means dude.

Again!

Cup: It is the act of failing. Originated from the fact that the fail grade for any course is given by ‘U’, which resembles a cup.

‘He cupped in MA1100.’

RG: This stands for Relative Grading.

Many courses are graded based on the overall performance of the class. But

One of them is the act of distracting others from studying.

‘I swear, he RG-ed the whole class and became the only person to get an S.’ Thulp: To ace a test or hog on food.

‘She thulped the Physics quiz.’

Infi: Infinite; because infi sounds way cooler and less nerdy than infinite.

Lite: Stop taking things too seriously.

‘Take lite and sleep, da.’

Peace, Put Peace: Get this right. It does not refer to an elusive state of balance in your insti life where you are not too sad or too happy, though it is certainly a healthy goal to have. Peace is mostly used for saying you need not worry about something.

‘Put peace, tomorrow is a weekend.’

Stud: A person who, seemingly impossibly, manages many things in the insti.

‘That stud is a nine pointer and a four times gold in swimming.’

Maggu: A person who spends most of his/her time studying. They are also identified by dazzling CGPAs. ‘He reads all the time, a perfect maggu.’

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Crash: To sleep ‘I am crashing after three night-outs straight.’

Gen: General, random ‘I don’t want to do some gen course.’

RG is used for a good many other things.

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Gult, Mallu, Gujju, Tam: Because naming states is too mainstream. Gult is a Telugu speaking person or anything related to Telugu. Similarly Mallu is for Kerala, Gujju for Gujarat, Tam for Tamil Nadu etc.

There are a lot more words that you would come across like bog, arbit, crack…. the meanings and natures of which you would surely learn within the semester. Insti lingo is a defining and constantly maturing feature of the institute, a language developed by several generations of alumni. So remarkable that an exchange student even wrote her MA thesis on it! Feel free to experiment with speaking insti lingo, you would love it.

Vox Populi Vox Insti: What not to do in insti Click to listen

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Demystifying the Credit System Sankalpa Venkatraghavan August 2019

If you’ve taken a look at the Academic Curriculum and have charted out your academic pathway for your next four or five years here after wading through its intricacies, kudos to you! For the rest of you, here’s the CliffNotes version.

What is the Credit System?

The curriculum of any branch of the B.Tech programme at IITM is designed to have credit requirement of 432±2 credits, while that of any branch in the Dual Degree program has a credit requirement of 553 ±2 credits.

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Credits are a widely accepted and a commonly adopted mode of describing the workload present in a course. Students are expected to complete the prescribed credit limit before graduating from the university.

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The credit requirement of the Masters of Arts program for both streams – Development Studies and English Studies is 521 credits. For the Masters of Business Administration program it is 243 credits. In the M.Sc programs, Mathematics has a requirement of 208 credits, Chemistry has a requirement of 202 credits and Physics has a credit requirement of 227. The minimum credit requirements for M.Tech programs are highly course specific.

Dual degree students are required to complete a Dual Degree Project which spans the summer after the 8th semester, and the 9th and 10th semesters. This accounts for about 86 credits in most departments. Students can also decide to work towards a Btech Honours or Dual Degree Honours program. For B.Tech (Honours) the credit requirement is 459±2, and 570±2 for Dual Degree Honours.

Course Categories:

The following courses are defined as non-credit but compulsory courses: NCC/NSS/NSO, Life Skills, Industrial Training, Professional ethics, Ecology and Environment, and so on. However, the time spent in these courses will be accounted for while arriving at the limit on maximum credit hours spent in a semester. For example, if two hours per week are spent on Ecology and Environment these hours will be included so that an individual does not officially need to put in more than 60 hours for academics per week.

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All courses come under 4 categories: Science, Engineering, Professional and Humanities. The professional courses are typically those necessary for your core program while the sciences and engineering courses are the basic prerequisites for an engineer.

For example, MA 1101 is a common course for most freshmen and is placed in the Science category. On the other hand, courses like Digital Systems for electrical engineers and Hydraulic Engineering for civil engineers are placed in the professional category for students of that branch.

Professional and Science courses are further split into Core and Elective courses. ‘Core’ courses are a specific set of courses that need to be completed for the completion of the degree. On the other hand, ‘Elective’ courses allow students to choose from a wide variety of options from that particular category.

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IDDP’s: AInter Disciplinary Dual Degree programs (IDDP’s) were introduced to give undergraduate students more flexibility in choosing their M.Tech programs. Any B.Tech student may choose to upgrade their degree to include an M.Tech in the available IDDP’s, while a Dual Degree student may choose to change their M.Tech degree to an interdisciplinary one subject to their CGPA’s being greater than 8 after their 5th semester.

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When it's that time of the semester Jai Santhoshi August 2020

Disclaimer: All the courses were consolidated from a short survey conducted via the google form and the database handled by team Resonect. It is entirely based on the past experiences of undergraduate students.

Here’s our little something of an article, well maybe, that could help you narrow down the not-so-cryptic course codes, and let the SEAT algorithm do the rest for you.

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Choosing courses have become quite a task, and you can find yourself pondering and imploring over a thousand questions. While some search for lite courses, others choose to tread the path of wisdom and placements. For some, it’s sometimes just the mere monologue of engineering that makes them go in search of courses in management, philosophy, sociology and whatnot.

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When ''You are not a freshie anymore'' comes true The third semester is a total changeover. The ultimate transition into your respective department happens and this is when your mind is in a state of strategic dilemma. Which course do I take? Will it be an easy one?

What good can the course anyway offer? Well after what seems to be about 101 phone calls to your seniors, you still end up being on the same page.

HS Courses The most popularly voted course among the undergrad community in the Humanities department is HS3002, Principles of Economics.

The course has been a conventional go to, due to its course composition and the elementary economy etiquette it offers. It has been termed as a must-take course among the lot.

Course Code: HS2030 Course Name: Modern Governments and Comparative Constitutions Credit Count: 9 Perks: UPSC Examinations Other prominent courses that one can

take in the Humanities department are the language courses. HS1090A German, HS1100A French, ED1091 Japanese, HS4571 Introduction to Chinese Language.

Learning the German language has played out as a trump card for some during the Semester Exchange program.

French is a cakewalk for those who already know the language, and it is an enjoyable course for the newbies.

Introduction to Chinese language has been regarded as a joy ride, filled with complex Chinese characters, flashcards and games.

Another language course that is offered is the Japanese language under the course code ED1091. It encompasses the basics of the Japanese language and also introduces one to the country and culture.

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Course Code: HS3002 Course Name: Principles of Economics Credit Count: 9 Perks: Placements and Internships

A course that all the UPSC aspirants can look forward to is HS2030, Modern Governments and Comparative Constitutions.

The course comprises political ideologies

and functioning of constitutions across the globe. For all those who are up for a riveting discussion about ideologies and evolution of governments, then the course is a straight heads up.

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MA Courses A community-opined compulsory elective, there are a few elite MA courses that have been upvoted by the student community.

MA2040, Probability, Statistics and Stochastic Processes is one of the most popularly taken courses.

It holds out great advantages when it comes to Internships and Placements. The course is also enjoyable as it puts your brain to work, and who doesn’t love brain teasers?

Course Code: MA2040 Course Name: Probability, Statistics and Stochastic Processes Credit Count: 9 Perks: Placements and Internships An alternative course that can be taken is EE3110, Probability Foundations for Electrical Engineers. It is a slightly more intricate course than MA2040 and implores into the depths of the theory and proofs of Probability leading up to Machine Learning.

Another popular course down the list is, MA2031, Linear Algebra. For all

MA2010, Complex Variables and Transform Techniques, a prominent

math elective, which offers a good theoretical engineering foundation required for one in mathematics. It’s a straight-S course if you are modest and dedicated.

Course Code: MA2010 Course Name: Complex Variables and Transform Techniques Credit Count: 9 Perks: Foundations for ML & DA, Internships and Placements MS Courses Another course which has been commonly taken up by the undergraduate student community is MS3510, Fundamentals of Operations Research. It is a prerequisite for the course 3530, Advanced Operations Research.

A course which requires utmost attention and dedication in class, it has been acclaimed as one of the best courses. It is built on linear programming and based on real-life applications and optimization.

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the Machine-Learning and Data Science enthusiasts out there, this is a must-take course. The course sets forth the mathematical foundation required for Machine Learning and Data Analytics.

Course Code: MA2031 Course Name: Linear Algebra Credit Count: 9 Perks: Foundations for ML & DA, Internships and Placements

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Course Code: MS3510 Course Name: Fundamentals of Operations Research Credit Count: 9 Perks: Exposure to optimization problems, Internships and Placements MS4610, Introduction to Data Analytics is one among the many pivotal courses the Department of Management Studies offers which is oriented towards Machine Learning and Data Science Enthusiasts. It also comprises a course project and requires your utmost diligence and brain at work.

Course Code: MS4610 Course Name: Introduction to Data Analytics Credit Count: 12 Perks: Internships and Placements CH Courses

The course is more about practical implementation and understanding and all those who hate plain texts and books would love this course.

Another Data Science Course that one can take up is CH5019, Mathematical

Foundations of Data Science. It could be taken up as an alternative for the MS4610. It introduces students to the fundamentals and tools that one requires to progress in Data Science and Analytics.

Course Code: CH5019 Course Name: Mathematical Foundations of Data Science Credit Count: 12 Perks: Data Science, Internships CS Courses A course that every Machine Learning enthusiast should look into is the CS5691, Pattern Recognition and

Machine Learning. Probability is an advised prerequisite for this course and it is quite a hefty course.

Nevertheless, it delves into the mathematical fundamentals behind the Machine Learning Algorithm and is a resourceful course when it comes to projects on Data Science and Machine Learning.

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CH2061, Computational Techniques is quite similar to the course MM2090, whilst here the major tool used in MATLAB. The course introduces one to various forms of numerical computation and techniques.

Course Code: CH2061 Course Name: Computational Techniques Credit Count: 10 Perks: Research advantage

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Course Code: CS5691 Course Name: Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning Credit Count: 15 Perks: Internships and Placements CS2700, Programming and Data Structures, is a well-established course and is a sure-do course for all the data-science devotees out there.

The course has certain prerequisites being a prior up-take of CS1100 and CS1200. The course is composed of both lab and theory. It is yet another course which strengthens your core skills required for Data Science and Analytics.

Course Code: CS2700 Course Name: Programming and Data Structures Credit Count: 10 Perks: Internships and Placements

Course Code: ED5018 Course Name: Business Excellence and Quality Management Credit Count: 9 Perks: Internships and Placements ME Courses ME6830, Principles of Product Design, is one course that all the product-design enthusiasts can look

into. Product Designing is a highly valued skill and also a sought after skill-set.

This course sets you on an onward journey in the path of Product Designing and also comprises real-life applications and examples being delivered. With a handson approach and analysis-based study, the course strengthens your skill-set.

Course Code: ME6830 Course Name: Principles of Product Design Credit Count: 9 Perks: Tools and techniques used in Product Designing MME Courses Heading to the department where they breathe metallurgy and materials, the best sought after course is MM2090,

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ED Courses ED5018, Business Excellence and Quality Management is a course which comprises real-life industrial analysis and delivers examples which one can learn from. With the course constituting major lectures based on the existing global competitive environment, product quality and different frameworks of business excellence, it also brings you to interact with different Industries and

their functioning. It enhances your skills in the field of business and management.

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Introduction to Scientific Computing. Opted by other branch students, such as mechanical undergrads, the course is said to have the perfect proportion of tools required for Scientific Computation.

Every lecture is a wisdom trip and the course is said to have its own perks like a headstart to multiple programming languages and tools which help you in research.

Course Code: MM2090 Course Name: Introduction to Scientific Computing Credit Count: 12 Perks: Research Advantage, Multiple Programming Languages and Scientific Tools BT Courses Another course which deals with Data Structures and Algorithms is BT3051, Data Structures and Algorithms for Biology. With python as the primary tool, it focuses on basic tools, algorithms, paradigms and patterns. It is a theory integrated with a lab course and comes handy during research.

Phasing into the next semester, a perpetual entity composed of Google Meets and Zoom, make sure you’ve buckled up with all the internet you’ll need. We also warn you, and this is quite an important one – you’ll never know when you’re on mute and when you are not, beware the signs. Godspeed and Google Meet!

A Gentle Spectrum, Filter Kaafi

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Course Code: BT3051 Course Name: Data Structures and Algorithms for Biology Credit Count: 11 Perks: Research Advantage and Introduction to Scientific tools in Python

And that’s a wrap. These are some of the courses that were voted upon and were ahead in line with the list of courses that could be taken before you graduate. This article was written to give you a heads up (also to avoid deliberation and dilemma) on the courses that one can take accounting one’s interests and also in due diligence of the credits-system.

Faculty Advisors

The allotment of faculty advisors follows a systematic process. A month or two prior to the commencement of the new academic year, every Department’s Consultative Committee, comprising the Head of Department and faculty members, convenes a meeting to chart the course forward. An important agenda of the meeting is the nomination of faculty advisors for students of the incoming batch. The nomination process is undertaken bearing in mind the fact that those already serving as advisors to a set of students are not considered during the process, given that they remain advisors to their wards until their graduation.

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August 2019

The course registration process is key to helping students sail smoothly through to the following academic semester. In this article, we look at the role played by the Faculty Advisors (Fac-Ads) in aiding this process and more.

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Once the faculty members are nominated, their nominations are, then, sent to the Academic Section, wherein each faculty advisor is randomly assigned to a set of students.

The faculty advisor, contrary to popular belief, plays more than just a nominal role. As suggested by the name itself, the position of the faculty advisor has been established in order for students to be guided in planning their course of study and receiving general advice on the academic programme. Moreover, the extent to which the faculty advisor carries out his/her duties is dependent on the students he/she has been assigned to, for if students do not approach him/her with queries, clarifications and problems, his/her ability to advise the students on such matters is reduced.

In this regard, the Advisor may recommend that students drop or add certain backlog courses, i.e. courses not completed in earlier semesters. At the same time, if a student finds that he/she will be unable to cope up with the demands of a particular course, he/she may be allowed to drop it with the written approval of his/her Faculty Advisor and the Head of Department, contingent upon maintaining a minimum attendance grade ‘G’ until the date on which the course is dropped. In addition, in the event that a student, who does not adhere to the minimum credit requirements, is struck off the rolls at the end of a semester, he/she may seek readmission to Dean, Academics with the recommendations of his/her Faculty Advisor and the Head of the Department.

Apart from these listed responsibilities, the Faculty Advisor may also play an advisory role in problems of non-academic nature, brought to his/her attention by the students. Shrilakshmi Ramachandran, Department Legislator, Department of

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"Shrilakshmi Ramachandran, Department Legislator , Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, believes that it is ideal for a student to apprise his/her faculty advisor, in the event that he/she has filed a petition with CCASH. The Ordinances issued by each Department, outline the official responsibilities of a Faculty Advisor, whose approval is mandatory in a few circumstances. The process of course registration is incomplete without the

courses chosen by a student being approved by the faculty advisor. The Faculty Advisor plays a key role in ensuring that students fulfil Department-specific credit requirements in a given semester.

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There are, however, key challenges towards ensuring interaction between students and their faculty advisors. On the personal front, students might not, at times, find their Faculty Advisors accessible, based on past interactions.

On the institutional front, despite the Faculty Advisors’ approval being a mandate in several circumstances, there exists no exclusive platform, that fosters interaction between students and Faculty Advisors. While there exists no blanket solution to these challenges, the institution of the Faculty Advisor is rendered effective only with interaction between the two parties. Moreover, the need for

students to be aware of the Faculty Advisor’s roles is crucial towards maintaining the relevance and proper functioning of the latter.

Privileges, Zeitoon Comic 9

Click to solve Fun 'n' Cheerful Grid

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Humanities and Social Sciences, believes that it is ideal for a student to apprise his/her faculty advisor, in the event that he/she has filed a petition with CCASH. In addition, the faculty advisor’s role, she believes, also extends to advising students, who wish to apply for a semester exchange programme with a partner institution.

She adds that Faculty Advisors play the role of guardians of students, given that students make an effort to establish rapport with their Faculty Advisors. Now in her final year, she shares from her experience that her faculty advisor has been a constant source of support throughout the time she has spent so far in the Department.

The Fundae Fundae Shreethigha Ganeshan October 2020

Now that you have successfully attended at least ten fundae sessions from home, it is time for the mother of all fundaes: the Fundae Fundae.

Fundaes are useful pieces of information extracted from seniors for PoRs, courses, placements, higher studies or even just life. Fundae sessions, which are arranged with a set objective, are useful for targeted advice about PORs and academic processes.

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But fundaes in themselves are, at their simplest, a function of interacting with seniors. An immensely useful source, it brings us in context with our aims and provides us with reality checks that we cannot imagine getting from the internet – be it apping, RGing or surviving. Being a thirdperson in the narration of a first-person experience by a second-person could go a long way in keeping us informed about the behindthe-scenes that no one tells us about.

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As much as it is useful, it is also easy to idolise these seniors and look beyond all the red flags in awe of the things they have done and the things they will do by virtue of being that awesome. It is easy because they have succeeded, and insti’s reputation shows that we can too. However, the entirety of the blame does not rest on us. After years of having drilled our way into this institution, we rarely know what we want to do with our lives. And then we see someone who has skills, background or an academic profile similar to us, successful.

What we don’t, but need to ask ourselves is why and how a certain decision works for us.

They do not just show us what we would want to do but also what we would not want to do. That line is what lies between listening and

The Road Less Travelled The irony in Insti’s fundae culture that gives us insights into the various opportunities available is that, more often than not, we close our minds to experimenting with new ways of getting there.

We hesitate to risk taking a new path because a traditional path has been laid out wide open in front of us, a path used by so many successful seniors (who also probably thought the same).

It is easy to accept the impossibility of an unachieved feat, because of a certain criterion not being met, as the gospel truth. But the fact is that there is no formula; there is no path. Status quos of impossibilities are changed time and again. There may be a hundred established ways, but there will always be a hundred more. A freshie captain, a first-year research intern or a good placement with low CG is impossible only until it is not. In simpler terms, fundaes give us perspectives, not directions.

But as much as asking for them is

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The successful ones who made them had their strengths, weaknesses, needs, skills, family situations, and the ultimate essence they are looking to squeeze out of their lives in mind. We might not want the same results they did nor might we have the same constraints they do. Nevertheless, no matter how invincible they may seem, they are in the process of figuring it out too.

deciding; between looking at something and seeing something. It is the fundae that we need and the fundae that is lost in sessions.

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important, the people we are asking is too. A heterogeneous crowd is quite important to get enough perspectives to craft our own decisions because homogeneity might close us off to the different opportunities available. But where are we meeting this heterogeneous crowd?

Fundaes Then and Now Once upon a time, there existed hostels that housed both freshies and seniors in the same building. In an effort to eliminate any form of ragging and create a safe pace for the newcomers, seniors and freshies were mutually divorced. By the time these freshies shifted to the senior hostels in their subsequent years, no one had cared about them anymore because, well, they were not freshies.

But hey, we have social media today, don’t we? We can always hit a senior up for fundaes, right? Right. Social media has been a part of junior-senior interaction in insti for a while now since the Facebook Freshie Forum served as a platform for freshies to put intro, seniors to comment and for both to ultimately interact.

But when was the last time any of us even checked that page?

The platforms we have shifted to today are more transactional and involve more stalking and less talking. Inevitably, the groups that are losing the most here are the juniors because if a senior does not know us well enough, they will not be able to give us a genuine explanation considering who we are and what we would want to do.

In the case that we do get our fundaes from seniors we personally know, how many of them should we ask it from?

Consulting many and more people can never be a bad thing because of the variety of perspectives we would be fed with, particularly in the case of PoRs that necessitate a good,

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Ever since this happened, it has more or less meant that freshies first limit their social circles to the wing, department or region they come from.

As this cements, their subsequent interaction with seniors also gets limited to these circles and at maximum extends to the teams they enter. Unless we have 15 PoRs to juggle, the opinions of seniors we interact with are bound to be biased and overwhelmingly similar. This is where LitSoc and TechSoc come into

play to help us meet random insti junta. Just to keep away from draining you of all hope, let us not talk about the fact that these are dying out too.

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standardised app.

The More, The Merrier?

However, when we are looking at a specific plan, consulting many people might be better, but simply talking would be useless. If we aren’t sure about what we want to do, talking to a huge number of people will, by all means, make it harder to make sense of the factors we would want to consider and the goals we would want to pursue.

On this account, it is not particularly pertinent that juniors need to consciously find and interact with numerous seniors. We are always going to meet them through our

Every single student in this 617-acre campus of ours has made mistakes: some simple, some that cost huge opportunities.

They have either been there and done that or heard there and escaped that. Talking to them gives us unadulterated pointers on how we can and how we should approach the opportunities there are and the opportunities they missed.

Apart from that, it is also good for our mental health when we are stuck in a narrow perspective that stresses us out about a grade, an internship or a project. As students who are as old but more experienced than us, they morph into guides who would show us what the bigger picture is and what we should focus on instead. However, benefits apart, it all boils down to the bond formed, because it is not friendship out of fundaes but fundaes out of friendship. It is what helps them help us better.

But if you are ever apprehensive about popping up in front of (or on the phones of) seniors you barely know, do not be. They may not know you, but they are always looking forward to

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It also does not mean that the opinions and perspectives of seniors are important for any decision – because most importantly, if we know what we like and subsequently what we want to do, the opinions we get from how many ever seniors we’re talking to might not matter at all. To give the simplest of examples, if you are doing your B.Tech. in chemical engineering but are really interested in something along the lines of mechanical core, even the opinions of the most successful chemical or mechanical engineering pass outs might not help you at all.

activities and teams. We will definitely not suffer if we do not create a rapport with them, but in all honesty, we will miss out on the benefits that may come with it.

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helping the younglings out. All you need to do is give your seniors the merit that they will always be able to impart something because they are where they are for a reason. Building a rapport with seniors could be a starting point but reaching out for just fundaes or help is justifiable too, considering that we are in the middle of a pandemic. Oh, right, the pandemic.

2020 Strikes Again – What Now?

It is important to understand that they cannot help you figure out what you want to do in life, the capacity of

In any case, senior-junior relationships require effort from juniors and the lesser the effort put in, the lesser the benefit gained.

Given the hive-like way we work in and the strong fundae culture we thrive on, it might not seem plausible to make a decision that is completely our own; it is a rather universal philosophical question.

But at the end of the day, it is our mindset that matters and not how many senior friends we have or how many fundaes we receive. Perspectives and opinions can always give a particular goal a false sense of importance, but the only path is not true; there will, by all means, be a new one tomorrow. At the end of the day, it still is our choice to make sense of a piece of information, and the decision does not have to be offbeat to be original.

Yet one of the biggest advantages of fundae sessions that are aimed at a specific end in a generalised perspective is that owing to its impersonal nature, it is easier to move beyond it. It is easier to accept or

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In the context of the pandemic, this article might have made you feel that the number of seniors you have a bond with is not good enough. But as mentioned previously, it is not a necessity.

More importantly, structured teams- which necessitate constant interaction- themselves have been finding it hard to form juniorsenior bonds even half as good as that of the pre-pandemic scene. Don’t blame yourself. But as far as online fundaes go, be mindful of the fact that the person you are asking it from has a life and schedule of their own and is probably fatigued by having had to answer the same questions multiple times one on one.

which branch councillors have. A little amount of basic research about what you want to know could go a long way in making seniors want to help you.

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decide that something is not our cup of tea when the fundaes are not customised for or genuinely with regard to us. But the negative end it serves cannot beat the positive end that casual conversations with seniors do.

That being said, this may not be a casual pointer-dropping conversation for you, but my sources were.

Therefore, it still is the mother of all fundaes. And the gospel truth. And the formula. Taking it is still your decision, though.

Across 7.QnA app used for GN1101 (5) 8.Some people go to a factory to get this? (9) 10.ane ane ane ane ane ane ane ane? (6) 11.The day to start an assignment - it never comes? (8) 12.He who should be joined in congratulating people (8) 13.List you make for 11Across (2-2) 15.Like ChintaBar's political inclinations (7) 17.Snakes that help in job interviews (7) 20.QC offering or a fair (4) 22.Designer, inventor, schemer and bridge maker (8) 25.Replacement for classroom numbers (and daily spam)? (4,4) 26.Shaastra vertical (6) 27.It's the season to buy a suit in insti (9) 28.Checkbox you can fill in a google form (5) Down

Insti Grid: August Edition Click here for interactive grid

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1.You never get the ones you want (9) 2.What Usha's and CoolBiz are to each other (8) 3.The grammar Nazis of T5E (7) 4.The technology that gatekeeps hostels (8) 5.Perhaps roll number or drug addict's name document? (4,2) 6.They are wow! in insti (5) 9.Responsible for you not getting the 1Down you want (4) 14.27Across feature - ever in wit (anag) (9) 16.Watsa is one of these (8) 18.These happen at CCD and Quark - tangos uh (anag) (8) 19.Movie screening day at OAT and its successor together (7) 21.It facilitates online learning (2,4) 23.Nerd (4) 24.You have them at Vindhya (5)

Freshie 101: Top 10 things to expect before you come to 'insti' Shiraz Khan Ananth Sundararaman July 2015

If you’re reading this as a prospective student of IIT Madras, hearty congratulations!

Allow us to introduce ourselves – we are “The Fifth Estate”, the campus news body, and we take pride in reporting about any and all topics that share a piece of the Venn Diagram with IIT Madras. We are completely studentrun, with all the editing, writing and publication managed by us.

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While MiTr will look after all the necessary paraphernalia for completing the admission process and also equip you and your family with the bare necessities for boarding and lodging near the institute, here’s a list of some in-frequently asked questions, with more frequently sought-out answers. It’s not a guide to prepare you for what’s to come as much as it is a list of WHAT you should be prepared for.

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Marco..?

You shouldn’t have much trouble getting here from the airport or the railway stations, as there isn’t an IIT Madras in every corner. You could either venture out, navigate through the devilish labyrinth of one-ways that make JEE seem like a slice of cake, or simply let an auto or a taxi do the job for you. The Auto drivers are also a good opportunity to hone your bargaining skills – may you ‘fare’ well with them. It might be a better idea to book cabs using the many apps available nowadays.

If you are coming down with the extended family, try booking the campus Guest House to keep them away from your messy hostel rooms.

I’m unable to accommodate my air conditioner into the luggage...

As you would have probably heard, Chennai is no sweater weather, unless you mean weather that makes you sweat. But whether you’re from within or outside the city, the evident 2 degree drop in temperature experienced as you step through the gates of the campus will come as a pleasant surprise. The heat and humidity, at its worst, can be comfortably beaten by spending a good number of afternoons indoors

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However, you might want to find out the nearest bus and train stops too, and all the viable modes of transit to campus from the same. The sub-urban train network (MRTS) connects Chennai Central (from the Park Town station) to a stop adjacent to the campus Main Gate, called the ‘Kasturbai Nagar’ station, while buses from the airport and the railway station halt at ‘Madhya Kailash’, which is within walking distance from the main gate. (Be warned: You have to travel almost three kilometers before you reach the interior parts of the campus. But there are free buses which ply within insti which are at your service.)

There is also a handy “insti bus” app which notifies you about the bus timings and their location. In case you do get lost outside the campus with light wallets, fret not. Insti is well connected by public bus services, and this will help you find your way home.

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under a well-functioning fan. A special pick-me-up in the form of a chilled fruit juice from Gurunath (the most frequented student canteen) can always be counted upon to not leave you high and dry.

Come October and November though, you’ll almost certainly need reinforcements, during monsoons – be sure to invest in a functional umbrella or rain coat for those unexpected early morning showers, (and don’t forget to keep a watchful eye over it.)

As far as your wardrobe is concerned, an essential set of daily wear (preferably cotton, and easy to wash and dry clean in the hostels’ washing machines) will do the job. If you have a favourite bedspread and pillow covers, you can bring them along too – or else you can always buy them here and ensure a light and hassle-free travel.

My mother insists on moving in with me...

Various canteens, window shops and even a mobile “Gramyodak provisional store” dispersed across the campus ensure different tastes of the tongue are catered to without changing the weight of your wallet too harshly. The inauguration of the newly renovated “Quark” also promises to host a delectable choice of new eateries and is scheduled to be functional once the semester begins.

But my home WiFi signal extends only up to one block away.

The internet, yes, a 24-by-7 connection (with a recommended 1 GB limit per user per day) will be made available in your hostel rooms through ethernet ports, as is your vested right. Go ahead, use it for good, and make history. The usage of personal laptops is not recommended by the administration, at least for the initial month of the first semester, and we suggest you make any new purchase concerning laptops only once you’ve adjusted to life in the hostels. Not only will it help you select a gadget best suited to your needs, you will also be

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While you might have to compromise on your mom’s cooking, the mess isn’t really a mess at all. Mess food is mostly hygienic and hot, and the various other alternatives for food around the institute cater to a good variety of tastes. From a dedicated Jain mess to a mess that includes non-veg in its

menu, a 24-by-7 canteen operated by IRCTC, an air-conditioned indoor “Kickstart Cafe”, the Campus Cafe, and the student favourite “Gurunath Patisserie”, the options are numerous.

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saved from turning into a zombie by interacting with the outside world a lot more.

The Departmental Computing Facilities (DCFs) and the Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) in the Central Library are capable of satisfying the internet needs during your initial days here.

For your first semester too, you can make do with just a smartphone (The Central Library has WiFi and can be conveniently accessed from your smartphones), albeit a laptop will prove useful in your subsequent semesters, to view course notes, email, PDFs and adorable cat videos.

weekend to end up being boring.

The sports culture is also thriving with state-of-the-art facilities and many inter-collegiate tournaments. Come December, we look forward to being the proud hosts of the 51st inter-IIT, with a record history of being crowned champions 18 times (last in 2011). You can use your first year to explore all those hobbies that you have lost touch with during your preparations and even pick up new ones! Be sure to participate in Shaastra and Saarang (the institute’s technical and cultural festivals) , in the month of January, a week when the institute buzzes alive with activity and becomes a temporary camp for over 50,000 people.

Could I just join after I’m done with my trombone classes?

What in the depths of hell is ‘lite’, and how do I take it?

“Lite le” are probably the first two words that you’ll hear in your first

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The institute houses a wide range of clubs, from Astronomy, Robotics, 3D printing et al (Check out the Centre for Innovation) to Music, Arts, Literature, Choreo, Design, Media, Oratory, Word Games and even a Cooking club. This list may be finite, but the activities that are conducted by this vast number of clubs are endless. As a trade in return for merely your enthusiasm, you will be provided with opportunities to seek out new hobbies, sharpen your skills and never allow a

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conversation with any senior, though the general student demographic hasn’t attributed a solid meaning to what “lite” means, yet. You may also be subjected to other queer terminology like “put, pack, bulb, macha, etc”. But don’t give up yet.

There exists a crash course for it, and one which is a good enough workaround for getting by in your first few weeks in insti.

Much is the fame of insti’s very own tongue that a graduate thesis was written by a foreign exchange student, which serves as the primary documentation of this insti tongue.

“Don’t buy everything.” is easier said than done. Nevertheless, in the one or two bags that you will be towing behind you, here’s a list of stuff that

Lock(s), mug(s), bucket(s), matress, bedsheet(s), SIM card(s), stationery, cosmetic(s), broomstick(s), footwear, notebooks can be purchased at Gurunath, located inside the institute.

That’s right, welcome to Diagon Alley.

The institute’s Central Library has an excellent collection of textbooks which you can borrow and use.

If you feel you can’t live without a supermarket close to you, the Shopping Complex, next to the lake, has a well stocked departmental store and fruit store, along with a quiet little bakery and an electronics store. Since its a large campus (over 600 acres), it is prudent a cycle be your companion in your adventures here. The institute administration arranges a temporary cycle shop to be set up on campus grounds to allow you to buy the same once you reach.

I can’t find IIT-M on Google Earth, it sends me to a forest instead...

Carved out of the edge of what was a 1300 acre reserve forest way back in 1958, this 700 acre campus has grown over the last half a century into one of the greenest areas in the heart of Chennai. IITM also boasts of a dedicated ‘Wildlife Club’, Prakriti, that

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I still can’t fit my air conditioner into the luggage...

are best bought AFTER you come to insti.

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organizes Nature Walks and concerns itself with monitoring the demographics and well being of the flora and fauna of this institute. From witnessing the loitering deer and monkey turf-wars to nurturing pet cats as mascots for your ‘wing’ – you are assured to feel a part of nature under insti’s grand old banyan trees.

It’s a jungle out here after all.

week of ‘Quizzes’, is something to watch out for, and also a great platform to showcase your talents.

Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer...

Once again, welcome to insti – your home away from home!

After the gruesome months of slogging for Board exams, JEE, and the veritable plethora of other entrance tests that have been thrown at you by the education system, rest assured for your labor has borne fruit.

The next few years will undoubtedly play a formative role in your life and are meant to be cherished and etched in your memory for decades to come.

P.S. : Keep calm, don’t panic and continue reading T5E!

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All affinities and rivalries for the artists, tech junkies and the athletes are channelled through the interhostel events, Lit-Soc, Tech-Soc and Schroeter, the year-long competitions among the 18 hostels of IIT Madras.

Lit-Soc (or Literary cum Social Interhostel Activities), is the series of interhostel competitions spanning a wide array of cut-throat contests in art, literature and music (Yes, IIT can get as competitive as JEE) throughout the year. Tech-Soc, the inter-hostel championship on tech glory, comprises of competitions like robotics, contraptions and quizzes.

There even exists a “FreshieSchroeter” and “Freshie-LitSoc” that serve as a prelude to the actual competitions to allow you to get a taste of this tradition. The Freshie Night, that takes place after the first

Insti Wildlife for Dummies July 2013

How do I begin? Well, I’m certainly not going to yammer about the wonderful biodiversity we have with all those hundreds of species, like the palm civets (which kept mysteriously popping up, dead, outside the Elec department), golden jackals (I don’t think anybody in insti has seen them yet), gerbils, chitals and Indian Star tortoises, not to mention the insects and reptiles and birds. There have been enough lectures and books and signboards already.

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The “birds” are a matter of gross suspicion, though. In spite of the boards at every corner advertising all these unique birds, I have yet to come across any avians other than the crows, kites, and the occasional owl, in spite of all the long walks all over insti at various times of night and day. Sometimes I think the students of the BT department have a hand in this. Maybe there’s a secret facility deep within the forest creating mutant birds (yes, I’ve been watching too much Sherlock).

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If you’re a student, you would have come across monkeys, cats, deers, blackbucks and cotton-stainers. For those who are unfamiliar with that last name, cotton-stainers are those spotted red insects that most of us have dubbed orgy-insects (faithful readers of T5E will remember this from an article by Liza. It’s how I know the fact, admittedly).

These red-colored critters settle in cotton bolls, where they feed on the cotton. They cling on to these bolls, and get crushed during the harvesting process, staining the cotton red. Hence the name.

And cats, OhGodWhy. Those of us who aren’t cat people don’t enjoy their persistence in our lives very much.

Also, I find that they are experts at employing emotional blackmail, especially when you have food in the immediate vicinity.

I don’t like them, but I have come to respect this talent of theirs. Especially because I have been trying unsuccessfully to get free food for myself for quite some time.

It has to be mentioned though, that our hostels (especially Sharav) have been monkey-habitats for a very long time, since before insti really came up, even. And monkeys apparently have long ancestral memories, which is why they refuse to move away from these particular hostels.

No matter what methods are employed, the monkeys cling faithfully to their old homes. It’s we who have ransacked their homes and settled in.

When you see it that way, you can’t help but feel a little (just a little) guilt and sympathy.

Which leaves us with the deer and blackbuck. What’s to say? It’s surprising how quickly we move from delight every time we see one (Oh,

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They do that whole Puss-In-Boots thing with their big innocent eyes, and if you turn your head away they just walk over and stare at your face till you give in.

This leads us to think, naturally, of the monkeys. Oh, the stories. The number of times we (especially Sharav-ites) have dreamed wistfully of blowtorching the whole lot of them.

They’ve ransacked our rooms, scared the hell out of us, surrounded our means of escape from hostel in multiple ways, held choir sessions exactly at 3 am, waking everybody up, and cavorted around with each other (putting this extremely extremely mildly) a little too often, and too in our faces, for any comfort.

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those early freshie days!) to the apathy that settles in soon enough. I should probably write about a analogy that I heard comparing the albino blackbuck to the kind of guys girls would like to date in insti- difficult to locate, with some people wondering if they are a myth. (No offence to anybody, although I agree this sounds a little sexist).

I was going to have an elaborate comparison centered on us students and how we could possibly classify as another breed of wild animals (I am sure a lot of profs would concur), but I find myself out of time and space. ‘Til next time!

Insti Grid: June Edition Click here for interactive grid

Across 1.The final boss- 60% of your grade (6) 5.The cultural club committee, but also the ground (6) 7.Dear departed- Anti-zoo (anagram) (7) 8.Bring these to hostel vending machines (5) 10.Don't worry, take ____ (4) 11.Reach new heights in this branch (4) 12.Social media app- I stan (anagram) (5) 14.Blessing for a Monday 8AM (5) 15.How hostels are allotted (9) 17.Club stalls are put up at SAC for this (9) 19.You'll want to hear from this club (5) 21.___ __ of your fears and visit Aerowell (3,2) 23.Class ____ tell you class is cancelled (4) 25.Don't miss this milk at CoolBiz (4) 27.What crowds do at Proshows (5) 28.Chance ey illa <3 (7) 29.Stay out of this swim team's jaws (6) 30.Freshie girls go here (6) Down

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2.No freshies, __ _____- Or no NIT? (anagram) (2, 5) 3.What you do to 4 Down (4) 4.Worst enemy on campus? Reject civilisation; return to _____ (5) 5.Sport your hostel colours here (9) 6.Property- we are the fifth (6) 8.No real estate agents at their open house (3) 9.A distant memory :( (5) 13.____ insti up for the batch of 2020 (4) 15.You don't want these- sadder bag (anagram) (3,6) 16.Missing insti- ____sick and sick of ____? (4) 17.Football team that attacks as a pack (6) 18.All you need (5) 20.IITM's age in 2029 (7) 22.Movies every Saturday (3) 24.Leaves or shelves (5) 26.Spotted on campus, Saarang (4)

Freshie Guide

What to bring to Insti?

Freshie Guide: What to bring to Insti?

Abhishek Kumar November 2021

Here is a quick list of things you will definitely need on campus. The sections are divided into multiple categories. Unless there’s an “OR” or “/,” when there are two things mentioned, you’ll need both. Please keep in mind that most items for daily use can be purchased on campus, so travel light! The marts on campus are extremely well-equipped for your needs, so do not clean out a supermarket shelf while packing at home.

f you’re buying luggage bags now and don’t already have some, you can use this section.

You might be travelling multiple times a year, by train/plane/cab, not just back home, but also to your internships/foreign trips. So it’s better to buy one good set of bags to last 4–5 years, as a one-time investment.

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Backpacks/Luggage bags

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Documents 1. The following will be necessary: Birth certificate, 12th standard grade card, offer letter and Aadhaar. Apart from these, remember to bring everything you have been asked for by the administration.

2. Always carry the originals in one folder, photocopies in another folder and one set of attested or “true copy” stamped photocopies in a third folder, and store them in separate places. Keep the originals in the bag closest to your body, e.g., laptop backpack when traveling. Once you are registered, you won’t need the originals unless you’re applying for a passport, PAN card, etc.

3. Always keep your Institute ID card with you. You never know when you will need it. If someone asks for an ID, always show your Institute ID card.

Body care/Hygiene All of the following are available inside the campus at Prime Mart and other shops. However, it’s better to buy the first lot at home; it might get hectic in the initial days of return.

Nail cutter Shaving kit, scissors Handwash, sanitizer

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1. Hard luggage large check-in bag: Most durable bags, can handle all the train/plane/cab travel you will do. Buy the 76′ to 78′ versionthat’s the maximum allowed in planes as check-in luggage. Even if you don’t plan to travel by air now, it also should be lightweight. [e.g., American Tourister, VIP] Don’t buy it online, it is advisable to buy in stores, test the durability, check weight, etc.

2. Backpack cum trolley bag (optional): Buy in the cabin bag dimensions, even if you don’t plan to travel by air now. I take mine on every long/short trip, which can be used for one-day trips, oneweek trips, and supplementary to the large bag on longer trips. But its real uses are endless.

3. Backpack: A small onecompartment bag to take to classes. You don’t need to bring books to classes, and not many notebooks either.

4. Separate laptop backpack: you can also use the laptop backpack as a college bag, although it is not recommended unless you’re taking your laptop to classes every day. You can use the small bag for classes and the laptop bag for going to the library during exams.

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Cleaning spectacles: Liquid and cloth/cleaning tool. It’s very sweaty and oily in Chennai during summers.

Cleaning laptop/mobile screens: liquid and cloth, because life is simpler when you have cleaning liquids for everything.

Set of toothbrushes and toothpaste Comb, hairbrush Optional sanitary items: Mouthwash, Floss, tongue cleaner, loofah, body/face scrub Soap case Small pouch in which you can put toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, and face wash: A lot of us brush our teeth on our way to the morning lecture/mess and some brush in the washrooms of the lecture hall complex. Also, easier for train/plane travel.

Room freshener Small mirror (Optional because all bathrooms and most rooms have mirrors) Medicine kit/First aid box We have a hospital accessible 24*7, with an ambulance service and pharmacy. However, here are some things you could keep on you, just in case.

Bandaids: Buy ten at least. There are minor cycle accidents every day.

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Sanitary napkins Have 7-8 masks- N95, surgical mask, cloth mask, etc.

Shampoo, conditioner, hair oil: You’ll need all three because most people on campus have tremendous hair loss.

Body soap OR wash OR gel Facewash Moisturiser OR body lotion Vaseline OR lip balm Face wipes: Chennai summers are very hot Deodorant and Perfume: Deodorant for exercise, sweatinducing activities, and when you don’t bathe. Not taking a bath sometimes is okay, but not masking your smell is not. Spare thy neighbor! Perfume for your clothes, when you shower and want to feel fresh, and for fancy days.

Odomos: there may be mosquitoes on campus during spring All out/Good night plugin for your room Laundry: Both bar and detergent powder/liquid. Buy one that has a measuring cup [e.g. Surf Excel bar, Surf Excel Matic detergent powder/liquid].

(There are economical laundry services outside campus that are often quite efficient and helpful.)

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Paracetamol: Paracip for fever Gelusil tablets for acidity Crocin Pain relief Pain relief spray [e.g.: Volini] Antiallergic medicine: Cetirizine (very cheap but sleep-inducing for some), Allegra (not sleepinducing, very effective but expensive). You never know what you’re allergic to.

ORS for low BP, fainting, when you feel weird, diarrhea.

Soframycin for applying to cuts, scratches Savlon to clean wounds (doesn’t hurt as much as Dettol) Never self-prescribe antibiotics or special drugs.

Clothes: Personal Bring a decent number so that you can manage missing laundry on one weekend. There is no dress code on campus.

Raincoat and umbrella: It rains for a few months in Chennai. You’ll have to cycle to class during the rain.

Casual: Shirts, T-shirts, tops, kurtas, cotton leggings, skirts.

Stick to light and airy clothes. Buy clothes with pockets large enough for your mobile phone and cycle keys!

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Electronics/Appliances Casio Fx991ES plus Calculator: Don’t buy second-hand. You’ll need one in all branches (except HS, of course), in almost all courses, in all lectures in the first and second year, in all exams.

What if it stops working in the middle of a test? So, don’t compromise on quality.

Laptop + charger: If you don’t have one, it’s okay. You don’t need one if you have a smartphone that can open PDFs. Buy one after coming to Chennai, say in your second year by consulting the internet and friends.

Power bank: Can order online.

Study lamp for when you study until late at night/don’t sleep at all.

Extension cord (optional) Iron and kettle: You will find them in your hostels Optional but very helpful: Kindle.

Your eyes can get strained due to the overuse of laptops and mobile screens. But since Kindle uses eink instead of an LCD screen, you won’t experience a strain on your eyes or headaches. You can transfer books and PDFs to it and study from a Kindle.

Don’t bring high voltage appliances, such as air coolers or hair straighteners. They’re not allowed.

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Fabrics: Room Mattress cover: Even though you put on bedsheets, use a mattress cover, because you can’t wash mattresses.

Double bed bedsheets (2 sets, with pillow covers): Buy double bed bedsheets, so you can tie them behind your bed, and you don’t have to tuck them in every day.

You will need 2 sets because you should change and wash bed sheets every 2 weeks. Also, with matching pillow covers, you’ll appreciate the presence of a wellmade bed when you have crazy sleeping hours. It makes you feel closer to home too!

Mattress: buy in Prime Mart/order online. Box-shaped, foam on top, medium-hard are the best (Nilkamal, Kurlon). Also, a tip: a mattress has a top and bottom side. The top should face you; it’s the softer side, meant for sleeping on. One of my friends was sleeping on the wrong side of the mattress for three years!

Pillow: buy in Prime Mart.

Hand towels for wiping hands.

Don’t wipe them on your clothes.

Ewww!

Towels: Two for drying your body, one for your hair.

Microfiber cloth: one for spectacles, one for mobile/laptop screens.

Cleaning cloth: one for tables, cupboards, and semi-dirty room stuff, one for cleaning dusty/dirty stuff, one for shoes, one for when you spill something on the floor, one extra because who knows what dirt the future has for you?

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Formal: 1 set of one white shirt, and black bottoms. I don’t think it’s needed in the first year, although it’s good to have one set.

You don’t need a blazer in the first year.

Shorts: IITM summers are hot and humid + Global warming. Your jeans will stick to your legs.

Pullovers, sweatshirts, hoodies: November-February nights will be windy and chilly.

Tracks/gym clothes: running shorts, track pants, cotton round neck tees OR sweatshirts. We have grounds, various sports courts, stadiums and gym too! Also, exercise/playing a sport is a must for everyone. Even if you’re healthy. Even if you think you don’t have time.

PJs: cotton pyjamas, comfortable cotton tees, night suit.

Swimwear: we have a huge swimming pool!

Ethnic wear for Garba Night, Diwali and Ethnic day.

Lab coat: required for the firstyear chemistry lab: if you have one from school, bring it, otherwise you can buy it here.

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One set of cutlery: Plate, spoon, fork, knife (blunt for sandwiches, sharp for fruits and carrots), mug and glass for having food in the room. Also, some hostels don’t give mugs for milk. You can buy it in Prime Mart, but if you have a favorite plate or spoon at home, get it.

Footwear You don’t get good footwear on campus. It is better to order them online or buy them from phoenix.

Floaters/waterproof sandals for rain.

Sports shoes: You will definitely need them for NSO (some sports require non-marking shoes, so don’t rush into buying all-use running shoes). They will be of great use otherwise as well.

Slippers for the room.

Slippers for washrooms. Don’t wear your room slippers to the washroom, it’s not very clean, especially if you’re living in a boys’ hostel.

Covered shoes for labs. You won’t be allowed otherwise.

Stationery Don’t bring anything from home.

Prime Mart is an awesome shop, it has everything you will need.

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Accessories and Miscellaneous Belt(s) Cap Spare spectacles: There is no spectacle repair shop inside the campus, so it’s better to have a spare.

Wrist-watch for exams, and to be on time everywhere.

Safety pins: Can be bought in Prime Mart.

Sewing kit: (some thread rolls, buttons, hooks, safety pins, and needles) You can learn sewing from Youtube (I did that) when some clothes get torn or your button falls off, but you still want to/have to wear that piece of clothing.

Earrings, bracelets, pendants, and whatever else you want.

Clips and pins of all kinds. You get a variety in Chennai.

Badminton racquet OR whatever sport you like. Buy it online or from decathlon, which is 15 min away from campus.

Water bottle and flask: Can be bought in Prime Mart.

Keychain: It’s weird how difficult it is to find a normal keychain in Prime Mart.

Lock and key: Can be bought in Prime Mart. I highly recommend giving the spare keys to your friends.

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Snacks You won’t be short of this on campus.

However, considering that you will be quarantining first, bring a small stash from home to avoid getting hangry.

Other Random Tips 1. Be minimal. Having everything you could possibly want can quickly become a pain when you have to vacate your room or fight an ant infestation.

2. Many hostels have a fridge, microwave, kettle, iron, and hair dryer (in the girls’ hostels) for common use.

3. Remember you will be on campus for a while, so you will have enough opportunities to buy/order online anything you didn’t realize you would need.

4. All shops and eateries in campus take digital payments, it is recommended to set up UPI instead of depending on cash and risking an appearance on Lost and Found.

5. Each bathroom has one geyser/heating rod where you can fill hot water before entering the bath. The stalls have a tap and a shower nozzle.

And one more thing: welcome to insti.

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Upon Arrival Buy these items inside the campus or from nearby places. Some of these items may have already been listed above.

SIM card: Jio’s network has been the best inside the IITM campus, I ported from Vodafone to Jio for that reason.

Cycle: MUST. It’s easy to learn cycling, a lot of people do that, but you are at a MAJOR disadvantage if you don’t have a cycle. You won’t have time to learn cycling in later years. There are buses but, usually, they are too crowded and easy to miss. Usually, the institute has a bicycle sale inside the campus at the time the freshies are admitted. Whether this will be the case in December is unknown to us. Regardless, there are cycle shops right outside campus near Phoenix. If you want to buy a second-hand cycle, you may want to check out the “Buy&sell iitm” FaceBook page.

Bank Account: SBI IITM Mattress and pillow (described above) Bucket, mug, and soap cases

Hangers, clotheslines, clothespins, laundry basket Stationery, dustbin, dustbin covers Laxman Rekha Ant repellent chalk (optional) LAN cable (for connecting your laptop to IITM’s internet)

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THROUGH THE GOGGLES OF A GRADUATE Through the Goggles of a Graduate (TGG) is an annual series where graduating students reminisce and share stories of their time in the institute. Find them all here.

Here are a few excerpts for your perusal:

“I entered as a wannabe corporate who thought a bar of Magnum cost ₹20, didn’t know how to catch an auto and passed on boarding an insti bus because “it was full”. I graduated as a physicist in the making, who not only navigated peak hour Mumbai local madness, but figured how to properly paisa vasool an intern salary, and even managed to make it to a random Swiss glacier through a very extemporaneous, solo journey on a series of trains and cable cars after maybe oversleeping and missing the original train with her lab group. But hey, what matters is that I made it.

And you will too!

PS: Don’t miss your trains in Europe, Shah Rukh Khan won’t help you catch them – and the doors close automatically :/”

S Gayathri, HS16

Niharika Gunturu, EP16

“During the infinite time I had for introspection, I realised how the people I met made all of this worth remembering and cherishing. I loved how the Akka at Usha cafe knew exactly the amount of sugar that had to be added to my coffee, how the Chetta at K Gate would inquire after my friends and me if we hadn’t been there for some time, how the Zaitoon Anna knew I was speaking bad Malayalam to get food faster but still humoured me, how the lady guards and Gymkhana staff ask after me even now. I hate that I couldn’t say goodbye to any of them for their small kindnesses that made insti a better place.”

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“What I find really funny about my time in insti was, I knew I wanted to app for a PhD ever since my second year, but my motivation or primary goal for each year was sports-centric.

This year around I was hoping to finally play at an Inter IIT, and it was an even bigger occasion since we were hosting it again. With the memories of my sophomore year still fresh, I just knew that I had to be part of the Meet once again. Just when I thought that the third time’s a charm, I did manage to get injured, yet again. What made it worse was that it was during the main camp!”

Guhan Narayanan, ME17

Shaswat Mohanty, ME14

“As I walked by the now-strange streets of IIT Madras, a bittersweet realization dawned on me. For all the magic that I had ascribed to this place, it was the people here who made it what it was. I started off talking about the power of serendipity at IIT Madras, and how, if you give in to it, it takes you and makes you, you. Now that I think about it, this sense of serendipity always came from the people that I was surrounded by. It was the inspiring people around me – the seniors with their fundaes and gyan, my batchmates and the brilliant work they were doing, the activity filled SAC where you can find some music or theatre practice happening – that propelled me to the right places at the right times, and gave me the motivation and courage to take my chances. Having come full circle, I am beyond grateful for insti’s greatest gift – its people.”

“But in the end, the most cherished moments are those late night walks and cycle rides, sometimes in the company of your loved ones and other times alone, just you and your music and the cool breeze. I’d definitely say that don’t be under the pressure to go out there and do what all the other people are doing. When one day you do find something that motivates you a lot, don’t let labels or norms hold you back. There might be people who scorn you for the path you choose. Choose what you want to do and shamelessly pursue it without caring what others are judging you to be.”

Bhavik Rasyara, ME12

Department Stereotypes

Humanities and Social Sciences If you have been in insti even for a few hours, you will have familiarised yourself with the basic protocol for any functioning brain around here: target the HS people. Why?

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Niharika Gunturu Aneesh Salelkar Nihal Pranav Bhargav Shweta Venkatesh Rohitha Nraharisetty November 2016

“It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humour” That being said: “How many HS students does it take to change a lightbulb?

None, because even the bulb is brighter than they are.“ If this joke sounds or feels familiar to you, welcome to the world of departmental stereotypes. In this article, we decided to compile a non-exhaustive list of few of the most well known, albeit infamous stereotypes that the students from various departments face on a regular basis.

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Because they don’t science, of course.

And what are they doing in an Indian Institute of Technology anyway? Over the years this has become a part and parcel of life here in insti, with the victims often taking it in good spirit and with a pinch of salt. What we have come to learn about our perception however, roughly amounts to this: HS junta starter pack- a thesaurus for a brain, seven hundred different ‘ism’s and ‘ist’s, an antenna for picking up and attacking political incorrectness, fond of jargonising simple statements and quite capable of hauling you over the coals for addressing simple statements like ‘guys’ to a mixed group.

PS- I, an HS student, just made up the first joke to prove a point.

When an Austrian goes abroad he’s often told ‘Wow! You must have Kangaroos in your backyard!’ To which the Austrian replies, ‘No, that’s AustraLIA, not Austria.

The Austrian is then met with a blank face. When an Austrian goes abroad he’s often told ‘Wow! You must have Kangaroos in your backyard!’ To which the Austrian replies, ‘No, that’s AustraLIA, not Austria.

The Austrian is then met with a blank face.

Change Austria to EP, and Australia to ED, and you have a similar conversation in IIT Madras. ‘EP not ED!’. We often find ourselves stressing on the ‘P’ too much, which makes for a highly awkward situation. So most of us just say ‘Engineering Physics’. No, it’s not just ‘Physics’, that’s a different course altogether. Also, no, we didn’t just scrape our way through JEE and into IIT Madras. I remember one of my friends once asked me, ‘Why don’t you try to slide to something better… like CIVIL?’ Let us all have a moment of silence (Civil people please don’t get offended).

There is, however, a silver lining to every cloud. Most of those who have

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Not to mention, of course, the everpresent question- What do they actually DO for five years here? What do they study? And even after explaining in detail what you do study- ‘How on earth is this going to help them get a job? And of what earthly use is it, learning about people and events which happened centuries ago?’ Of course, by this, the entire course and its various nuances and aspects are vaguely termed as coming under that subject- ‘ History’

Engineering Physics

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written the JEE have been scarred by Physics for life. So, the mere thought of voluntarily putting yourself through 4 more years of the same is torturous.

And for that reason, we are saluted for our courage and greeted with, ‘Wow! Physics aa?!’ Not Physics, EP! But we’ll take the compliment. With all the main Electrical courses along with some really tough Physics courses, we’re right up there with the Elec junta as the most ‘paavam’ people in Insti.

It’s difficult to have stereotypes for a branch that isn’t even recognized. The fact that EP intake is only 30 people a year makes us as rare as the blackbuck in Insti. We occupy most of the (ironically named) ‘Humanities and Sciences Block’, where if you ask people on the ground floor for directions to the B. Tech Physics Lab, they say, “No this is the Humanities Building”. And if this is our case within Insti, imagine it outside of Insti.

‘Wow Beta! You go to IIT Madras? Which branch?’

‘Engineering Physics uncle!’

‘Engineering… Physics? There’s a branch like that also?’

Mechanical Engineering: A mechanical student walks into a bar, only to realise that he destroyed his experimental setup.

Forever ‘pained’ with courses and labs, mechanical engineering is one of the most competitive departments in the institute- where days spent without being called RG and maggu are days which are wasted. If the EP students are as rare as blackbucks, the mechanical students can be said to be as common as… well there’s nothing more common than mechanical students. With around 140 guys and 3 girls in the department the chances of dating a girl in mechanical are tougher than that of getting into the department and landing a 25 lpa job after that.

The quite accurate stereotype “There are no girls in Mechanical” is often understandably misconceived by a vast majority to be “Mechanical Engineering is not for girls”. And so the branch is caught in a vicious cycle, where the original stereotype is bolstered by its common misinterpretation. Girls are often discouraged by the lack of peers of the same sex, and parents less likely to

FRESHIE MAGAZINE | PG 51

A typical conversation with an over enthusiastic factory child’s parent goes like this:

*awkward smile* Oh, you can only do so much.

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encourage their kids, however willing, to go to a branch that is “not for girls”.

This probably stems from the fact that people believe mechanical engineering has a lot to do with physical labour.

While it’s true that this particular aspect is more prominent here than in other branches, being a mechanical engineer doesn’t mandate hard labour.

Mechanical engineering also has a lot to do with intuition, intellect, creativity, and all the other more “refined” traits people assume are not required. Especially as an IITian, you have a better-than-average chance of successfully going for research, design, teaching, consulting and such work that a woman can do just as well as a man. Leave the brute force for the stragglers.

But that said, mechanical engineering also receives a healthy respect for the broad spectrum of opportunities for study and work it provides, as the “evergreen” branch. So we probably come off on the lighter side of things, as far as stereotypes go.

‘I didn’t know they engineering in IITM’

had

marine

‘No, it’s actually Naval Architecture and ocean engineering’

This is followed by a long paragraph of explanation only to be met with a Blank stare by the person at the receiving end. So the Navarcher quickly swallows his pride, and replies, ‘Yes, so I guess it’s very close to marine engineering.’

A smirk follows.

Welcome to the life of a Navarcher.

There was that one kid in every class, whom most of the classmates looked down upon, because he wasn’t particularly good in one single thing and would go off doing whatever he wanted- but still manage in the term exams. Navarch is exactly that, coming from the middle-bottom tier in the unwritten department hierarchy.

The quite accurate stereotype “There are no girls in Mechanical” is often understandably misconceived by a vast majority to be “Mechanical Engineering is not for girls”. And so the branch is caught in a vicious cycle, where the original stereotype is bolstered by its common misinterpretation. Girls are often discouraged by the lack of peers of the same sex, and parents less likely to encourage their kids, however willing, to go to a branch that is “not for girls”.

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Naval Architecture

‘What’s the difference?”

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Regarded as the ‘Mallu Hub’ of IITM, Navarch is probably the only branch in insti where you find more Malayalis than Telugu speakers. So many that if we assign every branch a country, Navarch would take up all the Gulf countries. This is often regarded as the most ‘peace’ B-Tech stream. With people going as far as to equate easy courses with Navarch level courses, one certainly has to wonder if ‘your branch is so peace macha’ is really an insult or a compliment.

Civil Engineering One year into engineering, if your relative walks up to you and asks you if you could draw a plan for a building he wants to construct while you stand there weighing out the odds of getting out of that situation with minimal embarrassment- congratulations, you are in civil engineering.

It is high time the motto of civil engineers was changed to ‘Civil Engineers, NOT ARCHITECTS,’ because we cannot remodel your

Electrical Engineering A wise man once said ‘You can’t spell geek without EE,’ only to cause a major stir among current electrical engineering students who joined the resistance in order to fight the stereotype that was latching onto them.

Destiny prevailed and no matter what they accomplished past their potential, apart from a few occasional ‘studs’, the word ‘geek’ would always fly at them- a disadvantage of having perfect hearing, some would say.

With students taking the branch after just missing out on computer science, the first semester for most electrical engineering freshie is spent in mugging for a branch change to the best, only to realise that old habits die hard. So deeply dug into their books, by the end of their term at the institute

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‘At least you have girls in your branch’ comments by your mechanical friend have become a part of your daily life.

From procrastinators to maggus, techies to thinkers, athletes to ‘Netflix and Chill’ one can find every kind of species in the pandora’s box that is civil engineering.

dining room to make it more aesthetically appealing, despite you constantly asking us to. That’s just not what we do. Having said that being called an Architect is far better than people picturing you laying out bricks and concrete in a construction site.

Caught between being called an architect and a construction worker , the life of a civil engineer is always in a mesh. But that doesn’t stop them from making really bad puns.

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an average EE geek is said to have explored only a couple of the innumerable opportunities that come their way.

Known for being one of the most reputed branches of the institute, the saying ‘time is money’ isn’t followed a lot here, though an altered version ‘time is grades’ has been the motto they live by. It is only sensible to sympathise with the poor ones when their 2 credits labs are conducted as if they were 5 credit ones (Rumour has it).

Did someone say analog circuits?

Engineering Design “What exactly do you do?” An ED student is often asked.

“You see, a product has a form and a function. Engineering Design deals with both, with an added emphasis on function.”

“So what is it that you do again?”

Often trolled for that one 1st sem course: Creative Drawing, ED students are ridiculed for spending their days

ED freshies are the most content souls in Insti. The entirely different syllabus rules out the prospects of a branch change, and thus they live content lives- devoid of the rat race to catch that ‘S’.

Computer Science and Engineering “How many programmers does it take to change a lightbulb?

It can’t be done, this is a hardware problem.”

Have you ever come across students who haven’t slept for the past two days owing to a blunder in their code caused by that one syntax error between lines 2600 and 3500?Is this a practice that they repeat every week?

Don’t judge them or even think about sympathising with them. These students have achieved what many dream of doing, getting into the most prized department of the institute, the Computer Science and Engineering Department; albeit never being able to get out with the exits in CS being harder to find than the Chamber of Secrets.

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At this point the ED student gives up and says, ”We play with Play-Doh! And get grades for it!” Far from the truth, but that’s what everyone wants to hear anyways.

drawing and moulding and doing all sorts of artist-y things, which, most definitely is not the case. Only they know the pain of trying to make clay grapes look like clay grapes, before being doomed by that one RG in the class who made a bust of a deer.

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With almost a cent percent assurance that life is set once they enter the department, one of the major challenges they face is navigation through the CS department. Known for being intricately adopted to resemble a labyrinth, rumour has it that the department has intentionally been made the way it is in order to constantly keep the students thought process active.

As the placement season comes closer, CS junta who have never left their rooms in the past 4-5 that they spent in the institute can be seen loitering around the campus, living life and RGing fellow batchmates; many with a PPO already in hand and the rest confident about the day one placement they will be getting. At the end of the day though, the CS department being top of the food chain, they have earned it all and they deserve nothing but the best. Or so they seem to think.

are the butt of jokes for not being too popular on the placement side of things.

Aerospace Engineering An unfortunate consequence of being a student of this department is the tendency to fail US visa interviews because of a fear that you will hijack their planes; thus putting an end to the Great Indian Dream of IIT being a one way ticket to the American Dream.

And all you other branches thought you had it bad.

Disclaimer– This article is not meant to offend anybody and is meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. It is not intended to be exhaustive or representative.

The Real Slim Shady, Zeitoon Comic 3

A FAQ from the CS students is a must here “Maccha Maccha, what is non-core?

Please tell me maccha!!”

Biotechnology/Biological Sciences Seriously, is there any difference?

The students from these departments

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And last but not least, here are two honorary mentions:

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Meet The Team Editorial Board Shreethigha Ganeshan

Jai Santhoshi S

Executive Editor

Editor

At some point you need to stop worrying about the end of the world and tend to your watermelons.

"This girl is a gun Before you know it, it's done."

Rohini Dikshit Editor

Neha Anand Editor

in a state of comatose from adding commas

Tumbled into the Seine.

Neha Cherian Editor

L Calvin Editor

Where do yesterdays go?

I love deadlines, I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.

Press Team Ridha Shemil Press Correspondent Gazing at the moonlit stars

Anish Kumar Press Correspondent

Life is like a box of chocolates, the monkeys will certainly attack. Carpe diem.

Lakshya Singh Press Correspondent

Devika Deevasan

Don't forget to take a well deserved break after writing the title of your assignment....

"The faintest ink is better than the strongest memory"

Press Correspondent

Nalli Sai Soumya

Aenakshee Roy

Press Correspondent

Press Correspondent

Don't rush me, let me overthink this endlessly

I swear, it all made a lot more sense in my head.

Meghna Narayanan

Vibhhu Sharma

Press Correspondent

Press Correspondent

Fundamentally flawed🥴

If it is to be said, so it be, so it is.

Pranoy K P

Akash Haridas

Press Correspondent

Press Correspondent

"Words are futile devices" - Sufjan Stevens

*Googles "funny quote generator"*

Sandilya Angalakuditi

Sahil Halarnkar

Press Correspondent

Press Correspondent

Everything looks good when you are good :)

One dad joke away from being exiled.

Yatin Satish Press Correspondent

Sadhana Nadathur Jayakumar

Do Trousers Matter?

Press Correspondent "What if we die and it turns out God is a big chicken?? What then?!"

Research Team Sri Vathsa

Sarthak Bhavesh Vora

Research Head

Research Head

Stay on the top of the world

Fake it until you make it :*)

Akash Haridas

Ishank Jain

Research Analyst

Research Analyst

*Googles "funny quote generator"*

When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.

Sagar Panchal Research Analyst Good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow

Design Team

Niharika Choudhury

Siri Chandana Gera

Design Correspondent

Design Correspondent

The inside of my head is an endless loop of tiktok music (help).

Don't try to be what you are not.

Elakkeya M

Prashanth K

Design Correspondent

Design Correspondent

Everything you can imagine is real

Pr0shanth, like a pro

Devika Deevasan

Reshma R

Design Correspondent "The faintest ink is better than the strongest memory"

Design Correspondent bright smiles, pop music, sparkle and pastel aesthetic.

Bhushanraaj Kutte Design Correspondent It's not what you see, it's what you feel.

Lakshya J

Podcast Team

Podcast Head Why are we?

Anamika Nair Podcast Producer A vintage soul trapped in a millennial bodydidn't know when retro became metro!

Niharika Choudhury

Anamika G

The inside of my head is an endless loop of tiktok music (help).

It's always about knowing exactly how long to wait - before it all melts away.

Podcast Producer

Podcast Producer

VOX POPULI VOX INSTI T5E IITM VOX POPULI VOX INSTI THE FIFTH ESTATE, IIT MADRAS @T5E_IITM @T5E.IITM

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