Student Life in IIT Kharagpur

The life of students in IIT Kharagpur has evolved to include unique features quite different from those of their counterparts in other IITs. It has also evolved a rich slang language referred to as KGP Lingo.

The student life in IIT Kharagpur unique and is famous for the Illumination and Rangoli festivals, Spring Fest, Kshitij, Hall days and the General Championships.

Illumination and Rangoli

Main article: Illumination and Rangoli

Illumination (popularly known as Illu) is a festival unique to IIT Kharagpur. It gains inspiration from and is celebrated on the day of Diwali, the festival of lights. The competition was started by Azad Hall which has also won it the maximum number of times. Recently RK and RP halls of residence have been doing well.

It is organized in a competitive environment, with all halls fighting for the prize. As a part of the competition, the halls build vertical panels of bamboo (called chatais) on which thousands of lamps (diyas) are mounted forming outlines of people/things that illustrate an event or a place of importance. The chatais are sometimes even of the order of 20 feet in height, and overall some 20,000 lamps are lighted. Traditionally, themes from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat have been popular choices.

On the same day as Illumination, the Rangoli Competition is also organized. Gigantic Rangolis (around 12' by 12') of detail and shading are constructed using coloured powders, crushed bangles, pebbles, etc. Interplay of light and shadow and ambient music are part of the display. This is also fought for on an inter-hall basis.

Evaluation criteria

The Illumination and Rangoli competition's evaluation is done on the following parameters:

• Theme
• Narration
• Ambiance
• Aesthetics and skill

Traditional celebration

The winners get a potful of Rasgullas. Champions - 300, First Runner-up - 200, Second Runner-up - 100, Consolation - 100. This is followed by a series of Tempo Shouts, another tradition belonging solely to IIT Kharagpur.

Spring Fest

Main article: Spring Fest

Held annually in January, Spring Fest is the largest college fest in Eastern India and the second largest in the country. Spread over four days, Spring Fest hosts a variety of competitions and performances by professionals (individual performers and bands) in India. Most of the colleges from eastern India and other parts of the country participate in the fest. Major events are Star Nite, Wildfire, Fashion Parade, Nukkad (streetplay), Quizzes, Vocals, Dances (both eastern and western), Face painting, and Perpendiculars (presently known as Perpz - Live Dancefloor featuring DJ Mackling and DJ Dippy).

Kshitij

Main article: Kshitij

Kshitij is the annual techno-management festival of IIT Kharagpur. It has participation from colleges all over India and some from abroad as well as from the student community within the campus.

Kshitij hosts many events aimed at boosting the technological and managerial skills of students like technical competitions, workshops and seminars by professionals. Kshitij has played host to a number of celebrities like Shiv Khera, Arindam Chaudhuri, Alyque Padamse, Prof. Kevin Warwick, M.Kasturirangan, Richard Stallman and Subir Raha.

Previously started as Ideon, Kshitij took off in its present avatar in 2004, when 260 participants from outside the campus came for the Fest. In 2005, this figure increased to 1400, including participants from outside India. The Total Budget of the fest figured around Rs.80 lacs in 2006.

The Scholars' Avenue

The Scholars' Avenue is the campus newspaper of IIT Kharagpur. Founded in 2005, it is a fortnightly publication managed and published by students of the institute. Apart from the hard copy which is circulated in the campus, the paper also maintains a website for the alumni of the institute.

Hall Day

A Hall Day or hall social is an annual celebration day that every Hall celebrates sometime in the month of March. On this day, people of the Hall invite their friends from other halls for food and drinks and it usually ends with a rock music/eastern music show by some professional group.

Each hall names its Hall Day. For example, RK Hall's Hall Day is called RespecK, LLR Hall's Hall Day is called Elements, VS hall's is called VesuviuS and Nehru Hall's is called Zephyr. The most crowded of all the Hall Days is Essence, the Hall Day of the girls' hall (SN/IG Hall). Patel Hall's Hall Day is called Patel Utsav.

Halls of Residence

The Hostels (known as Halls for historical reasons) are laid out along Scholars Avenue, a road that runs from the Institute gates all the way up to the B. C. Roy Technology Hospital. There are eight hostels in all for Undergraduate male students and three for women. In addition, there are a few Post Graduate Students' hostels. Almost every hall has a canteen, a stationery shop, and a fruit stall.

Ashutosh Mukherjee Hall

This Hall is named after Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. It used to host the students of Vinod Gupta School of Management, but since 2005, they have been shifted to MMM Hall. From 2007 the girls of Vinod Gupta School of Management have been shifted back here.[1]

Azad Hall

This Hall is named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, a freedom fighter of Indian independence struggle. It is one of the oldest Halls of IIT Kharagpur. It is located in PAN loop of IIT Kharagpur. The overall capacity of this hall is about 300. Azad Hall is one of the farthest hall of residence from the KGP educational campus. This Hall was the first to start the illumination festival in the campus, which gradually transformed into an inter hall event. Azad Hall organizes Khoj, the annual treasure hunt competition which primarily aims at increasing campus awareness amongst the freshmen.Famous alumni of this hall include Raj Kamal Jha and Arun Sarin.[2]

Bidhan Chandra Roy Hall

B.C. Roy Hall

This Hall was established in the early years of formation of IIT Kharagpur. Named after Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the first Chief Minister of West Bengal in post-independence India, this hall is exclusively for male research scholars of the institute. The scholars from different departments and centers find accommodation here. The hall, located just opposite the main gate of the institute campus, houses 160 boarders in its five separate blocks at a time. Each year, the hall organizes a drawing competition among the local children of different age-groups. The competition is attended by hundreds of participants.[3]

Gokhale Apartments

Earlier known as Gokhale Hall, it is named after Gopal Krishna Gokhale (a notable freedom fighter). It houses married couples studying in IIT Kharagpur. It has a private mess, as compared to government owned messes in other Halls.[4]

Homi Jahangir Bhabha Hall

HJB Hall

This is a hall named after Homi J. Bhabha. It is for vegetarian students with a capacity of 240 students. It is a hexagon-shaped building with an extension taken in from J C Bose Hall. It was inaugurated on July 24 1998 by R P Goenka, Chairman, Board of Governors. It is situated near Gymkhana swimming pool and stadium.[5]

J C Bose Hall

JCB Hall

This Hall is named after Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose (an Indian physicist). This Hall was also used to host freshmen till 2003-04 session. Now, it is allotted to M.Tech and Ph. D scholars.[6]

Lala Lajpat Rai Hall

LLR Hall

Christened after Lala Lajpat Rai (an eminent freedom fighter, scholar and educationist), this hall of Residence was founded on March 18 1967. LLR's motto is "Once a Lajpatian, ever a Lajpatian". This hall is distinguished for the maximum number of PGMs (President's Gold Medalists) it has produced.[7]

Megnad Saha Hall

This Hall was founded in 2003, with the inauguration done by Murli Manohar Joshi, the then HRD minister of India. It is named after Megh Nad Saha, an eminent scientist. Among all the halls of IIT Kharagpur, the M S Hall has the highest capacity of 400 students. It generally houses the 1st year undergraduate students along with some research scholars.[8]

Mother Teresa Hall

This Hall is named after Mother Teresa. It is a girls' M. Tech. Hall.[9]

Nehru Hall

Nehru Hall

Nehru Hall of Residence is named after Jawahar Lal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. It is located in a corner of the PAN loop of IIT Kharagpur, and is one of the farthest halls of residence from the KGP academic campus. The hall houses approximately 300 residents.

Founded in 1954, it is the second oldest hall of the campus. Nehru Hall's motto is "Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye". The slogan of the Hall is "Once a Nehruite, always a Nehruite". This hall is the only hall to be discussed in the Parliament of India for the opium that grew in its backyard.[10]

Old MBM Hostel

As MBM (Masters of Business Management) in the name suggests, it was the hall that housed the Management students when Vinod Gupta School of Management was founded.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall (MMM)

The latest hall in the campus of IIT Kharagpur is the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall of Residence. Pronounced "Triple M", this hall was started on the 27 February 2005 and completed by the time the 2005-06 students started on July 22. This hall can house over 1600 students with two people sharing a room. It is divided into four blocks:

1. The HK (Dr. Humayun Kabir) Block — Housing around 360 undergraduate first year students.
2. The SDS (Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma) Block — A hostel housing the management students of Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSoM). Currently houses 119 1st Year MBA students and will have an additional 85 2nd Year MBA students from 21st Nov. It was co-ed initially, but since 2007, as the girls have been relocated, it is no more co-ed.
3. The RR Block; Currently housing both undergraduates and postgraduates.
4. The DSK Block; — Housing around 360 undergraduate first year students.

The hall council of this hall is nominated by warden as against elections in other halls. The hall is confirmed to house all of the first year students from 2007-08 academic session.[11]

Patel Hall

File:Patelhall.jpg

Patel Hall Entrance

Patel Hall of Residence is named after the late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who is widely known as the Iron Man of India. Built in December 1951, it is the oldest hall in the IIT community. Housing over 300 students, it is situated in the PAN (Patel-Azad-Nehru) loop (officially called the Oval 3) near the Technology Swimming Pool.

The motto of the hall is lux et veritas vincant (translated as “Let Light and Truth Prevail”) and the residents and alumni, better known as Patelians, live by this motto.

Patel has four blocks, the A, B, C and D comprising of 23 wings. Student life in Patel hall is diversified and fun with different academic, socio-cultural and sports activities.

The Hall Council manages the hall under the warden's guidance. Headed by the Hall President, it has six General Secretaries, 15 Secretaries and 8 nominated Council Members. Captains head activities related to each socio-cultural, sport and technological event.[12]

The hall has its own website.

Radhakrishnan Hall

RK Hall

Radhakrishnan Hall of Residence, or commonly known as R.K.Hall, is named after Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (a renowned scholar and statesman), and second President of India from 1962 to 1967. This hall has won 20 Sports GC (General Championship) and 22 Social-and-Cultural GC's, more than any other hall. RK alumni occupy some of the most important positions in industry and academics like: Vinod Gupta, founder InfoUSA; Prof. PP Chakravarti, Dean SRIC, IIT Kharagpur; Sandipan Deb, Editor Outlook Weekly Magazine; Prof. Prem Vrat, Director, IIT Roorkee. The gigantic messtop structure of "Geetopadesha" during Illumination festival (2002) in RK Hall is the tallest student-made structure in the history of IIT KGP (35 feet from the ground).[13]

Rajendra Prasad Hall

RP Hall

The Rajendra Prasad Hall of Residence (commonly known as RP Hall) was founded in 1954. It is situated nearest to the gate of the institute. It is named after Rajendra Prasad, the first president of the Republic of India. The Rajendra Prasad Hall is one of the oldest halls on campus at IIT Kharagpur.[14]

Rani Lakshmibai Hall

To do away with the pressure of increasing number of students each and every year, construction of some new hostels are in progress. Rani Lakshmibai Hall is one among them. It will be solely a girls' hostel. It is located just to the left of Jnan Ghosh Stadium. Construction has been completed and will be used for accommodation from the 2008 batch. This hostel is named after famous patriot from Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai.[15]

Sarojini Naidu Hall

Gate of Girls Hall Complex

The SN/IG Hall named after noted freedom fighter and "Nightingale of India", Sarojini Naidu and ex-prime minister of India Indira Gandhiis boarded by the B.Tech, M.Tech and M.Sc girls of IIT,Kharagpur. The Hall firmly believes in its motto: Sanskrita Striya Parashakti. Despite its feeble strength, the SNites have lived up to the names of the two legendary woman achievers of Indian History and have been actively participating and winning accolades in all the Inter Hall Events. Just last year(2006), it had won second position in Rangoli and had also put up a commendable job in illumination. Notable alumni of the hall include Dr. Parvati Dey who had been the Director of the Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Nina Saxena, Dr. Chaitali Sengupta.[16]

Vidyasagar Hall

VS hall is an M.Tech and Ph.D. Hall. Vidyasagar Hall of residence was the fourth hall on the campus, conceived in 1960 and named after Pundit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (a noted scholar and social activist). The Hall started functioning from 28 September 1965, the birthday of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Its existence started with a U.G. batch, then a mix of U.G. and P.G. and then completely Ph.D. scholars. Since 1995, VS has been a complete P.G. Hall. The hall has 365 single rooms and two single seated guest rooms. The Motto of the Hall is "Sheel Sanyam Vivek".[17]

Zakir Hussain Hall

This Hall is named after Dr. Zakir Hussain. It houses mainly the research scholars.[18]

Wing culture

All the Halls of IIT Kharagpur have internal sub-divisions which are described as follows (please note that this naming convention is specific to IIT Kharagpur):

• Blocks - A part of the Hall that belongs to the same building is called a Block. Most of the Halls have 4 blocks: A, B, C and D, although in recently constructed Halls, naming is also done on the basis of location within a Hall or even historical personalities.
• Wings - The part of a floor of a block that has around 12 rooms lined one after the other (with optional double/triple room as the corner room).

Most of the halls have a student room of 12 feet by 9 feet. Additionally, there's a balcony of 9 feet by 3 feet in many halls. For most of the students, the life is confined to their own rooms or wings. This special attachment of boarders to their own wing is known as Wing Culture. This culture is reflected in many spheres of life, be it the daily chat sessions (known as Bhaating), the intra-hall competitions and even in the various treats given by the students. In the absence of a metropolitan environment, the wing-life in Kharagpur is pivotal in shaping the personalities of the young men and women who come to Kharagpur (undergraduate). The wing often becomes a surrogate family for its respective residents.

General Championships

The various halls of IIT Kharagpur compete against each other over four types of General Championships (GCs). They are GC (Sports and Games), GC (Social and Cultural Activities), GC (Technology) and GC (Hall Affairs). Various events organized throughout the year are grouped under either of these accordingly. Each event contributes to the overall tally of points in a weighted manner based on the importance of the event.

GC-Sports and Games

Following competitions are organized under GC (Sports and Games):

• Cricket
• Football
• Basketball
• Lawn Tennis
• Table Tennis
• Athletics
• Hockey
• Badminton
• Swimming
• Water Polo
• Volleyball
• Chess
• Bridge
• Weight Lifting

These inter hall events are for men only. As the number of girls is far less, no separate women-only events are organized. However, an institute-level girls team exists that competes with other IITs.

GC-Social and Cultural Activities

Following competitions are organized under GC (Social and Cultural Activities):

• Antakshari
• Debate
• Dramatics (English)
• Dramatics (Hindi)
• Dramatics (Bengali)
• Sketching
• Cartooning
• Painting
• Modelling
• Dumb Charades
• What's the Good Word
• Creative Writing (English)
• Creative Writing (Hindi)
• Creative Writing (Bengali)
• Collaging
• Just-A-Minute
• Instrumentals (Eastern)
• Instrumentals (Western)
• Vocals (Eastern)
• Vocals (Western)
• Postering
• Elocution (English)
• Elocution (Hindi)
• Elocution (Bengali)
• Groups (Eastern)
• Groups (Western)

GC-Hall Affairs

This GC differs from the others because it requires the participation of the whole hall, rather than a select team from each hall. It includes the following events:

• Illumination
• Rangoli
• Gardening Competition
• Cleanliness Competition

GC-Technology

This is the most recent General Championship added to the triplet already present. It started in the session 2003-04 to reflect the technical aspirations of the students. It includes the following events:

• Mathematics Olympiad
• Product Design
• Ad Design
• Biz Quiz
• Tech Quiz
• Hardware Design
• Chem-innovation
• Open-Soft
• Case Study

Disciplinary Committee

Disciplinary Committee (or DC) on the IIT Kharagpur campus oversees all disciplinary violations. The committee comprises several members of the faculty and inquires into the nature and conditions of the violation of the institute code of conduct and has the authority to impose punishment.

Technology Students Gymkhana

"Technology Students Gymkhana" is the center of all the extracurricular and co-curricular activities ranging from sports to social and cultural activities. The Technology Students Gymkhana (TSG) is run by an elected student committee. The president is a professor nominated by the Director of the institute. The student head is the Vice President (VP) followed by the General Secretaries (G Secs). There are 6 G Secs in 3 categories - G Sec (Soc. & Cult.), G Sec (Sports and Games) and G Sec (Technology). Then there are a group of secretaries whose functioning is supervised by the G Secs. The VP speaks on behalf of the students in the institute senate. He is a part of the institute administration where he represents the students. The G Secs are responsible for conducting Gymkhana Events, Spring Fest and Kshitij.

Gymkhana elections

The elections for the gymkhana committee are held in the last week of March, one month before the end of the academic year. The nominations are filed over a week and then displayed on notice boards. The students are allowed around three days to withdraw their nominations after which the campaigning period starts.

The candidates go from hall to hall campaigning and they have to present everyone with a calli chotha (a short manuscript describing their ideas and intentions). Soap Boxes are held for the major posts where the candidates are grilled on their knowledge about facts, figures and how things are done in the institute.

Chhedis

Chhedis is an eatery in a thatched hut, located right by the railway tracks, close to institute. Its claim to fame is that this 24 / 7 shop has closed only twice since it started in its present location some 27 years ago - once for 4 hours (when the owner fell ill) and once for a day (after Indira Gandhi's death and subsequent riots), before Kharagpur police warranted that Chhedis be shut down from 12 AM to 3 AM every night. Now this bar has also been lifted.

Chhedis is known and loved for its late night tasty menu of a variety of specialties. Chhedis has a unique tradition of naming customized recipes after the people who invented them. Examples include the JJJ Sandwich,Tinku burger, Jassi burger and Mohile.

Other Eateries of Fame

Nikhils - moved to right side approaching the Cheddi railway crossing, Waldorf (now not frequented), Anarkali now renamed as Park Hotel are some of the other well known eateries around the campus. Ramdas, the kulfi joint, has closed. Billoos is known to provide the best food in campus. Billoos has opened a night canteen as well as fast food joint outside the campus (near Waldorf). Little Sisters (LS) and Midtown are some places where one can find decent food.

External links

• Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur
• Spring Fest:The annual cultural fest of IIT Kharagpur
• Kshitij:The annual techno-management fest of IIT Kharagpur
• Scholar's Avenue Official Website
• Official Website of IIT Kharagpur