Written by Amal Kumar Mandal, who passed out from the IIT Kharagpur batch of 1965. This story was written for the souvenir of their 2015 Alumni Meet, where their batch celebrated its Golden Jubilee.

It was long ago on the time scale, but is still nearest to my heartbeat: the vivid reverberations of the daily chores at IIT. These memories first seem haunted by the initial bitterness of ‘ragging’ by the seniors: bitterness that was kept alive right from the Asansol-Kharagpur Passengar Train to join IIT till the day of the Freshers’ Reception.

After a gala ceremony where each fresher was introduced to the Hall Wardens and seniors with a grand dinner, the bitterness simply vanished, promoting friendship amongst everyone. Oh, it was a heaven-sent gift, this loving protection-shield by all seniors, melting away all the prior bad feelings between us.

Only the A & B blocks were operational in the RK Hall building, the C & D blocks being under

construction posed a lot of hazards. But we were all happy in our makeshift rooms with steel cots,

tables & chairs. As the days advance, so did we, learning about tricks in helping each other with class

notes & ‘topo’ing of drawings. Batch mates with extracurricular potential had been spotted during

the ragging phase and promoted to the Gymkhana, where some really proved their worth.

I had the unique opportunity to enjoy the blessings of a few stalwarts of their fields: Dr. S R Sen,

Director (The second director of IIT Kharagpur after Dr. J C Ghosh); Dr. S Rakshit, HOD of the

Electronics & Telecommunication department; and Prof. K B Menon & Prof Keshavan (both

alternating as HOD of the Electrical department.) I was perhaps lucky to read about the unique

inauguration of IIT Kharagpur when in school, seeing Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s Prime Minister,

flanked by West Bengal Chief Minister Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy and IIT Director Dr. J C Ghosh amidst

professors from America, Russia and England. From that day on, I cherished a desire to study in IIT

Kharagpur, and I remain indebted to God for fulfilling my wishes.

I still recall the friendly association students and faculty members shared, enjoying weekly film

shows in Netaji Auditorium with their families, participating in Gymkhana events, celebrating Hall

Days. And the sparkling Diwali celebrations: the most spectacular event of the year! Every hall

assembled its food on earmarked spaces in the oval ground overlooking Azad, Patel & Nehru halls,

there were crackers all round, whitzers whizzing past the crowd, star busters depicting beautiful

blow-ups in the night sky, students and staff enjoying their fullest with the cool breeze swishing past.

Those were the days full of worries for exams but interspersed with joyful moments.

In my final interview, Prof. Menon happily joked, “From the way you beat around the bush, it seems

that you will be a Government Officer for your career!” which turned into a true blessing – I retired

as a technocrat!

As a farewell to my IIT Chapter, I went to pay my respects to Dr. Rakshit. He stated a valuable

sermon to me, “Amal, you have earned your IIT degree alright, it has moulded your brain to tackle

any problem in the world. But you will find that your common sense and your Reference Book are

much more useful.”

And truly, I found it to be so in my practical life.

I will certainly remember my alma mater with reverence till my doomsday, and give thanks to my

seniors, who by way of ragging, taught me the lesson of my life: “Country First, Institute Second, Self

Last!”