Mohit Bansal Reminisces about his Time in IIT-Guwahati's First Batch, with NCERT Books, a Makeshift Campus, and Playing Cricket with Boys; Check Details Here

New Delhi: For Mohit Bansal, an alumnus of the first batch of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-Guwahati), those days were marked by a unique blend of academic rigor, friendship, and the thrill of building something new. Mohit Bansal’s life has changed a lot since he joined IIT Guwahati from playing cricket together in a yard with his batchmates to becoming the head of enterprise compliance and operational risk technology at a financial services corporation.

Mohit Bansal was a student at IIT Guwahati’s first batch and is currently the institute’s alumni association president. He was studying B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering and graduated, and was aspiring to pursue a master's degree. 

When Mohit was in high school at Roorkee, he got to know about IIT Guwahati “I knew there was a University of Roorkee, but back then, I had no idea that IIT and Roorkee (university) were two separate entities,” he said.

Also Check: IIT Guwahati Courses & Fees

He remembered that in 1995, there was only one entrance exam to enter into IIT and now there are JEE Main and JEE Advanced. Bansal recalled “We only had IIT-JEE, which was conducted to get admission in six IITs. We used to write the exam in one sitting — a three-hour long paper — for physics, chemistry, and mathematics. From what I remember, the minimum eligibility was passing marks for 10 + 2.”

He said that JEE Main was always very tough, he elaborated on an early 90s paper, where the exam was pretty outrageously tough for physics, chemistry, and math. So students that time need to have an understanding of the subject to be able to answer those questions.

These days JEE aspirants get lots of guidance and visit coaching centers for preparations but back then the scenario was totally different, Mohit relied on self-study and cleared JEE on the first attempt. He also mentioned that back then there was no online resource and students used to rely only on books. His school library had a CSR competitive success magazine that used to publish interviews of the toppers. From that, he used to get motivated and that's what made him land at IIT Guwahati.

Also Check: IIT Guwahati Admissions 2024

IIT Guwahati was the sixth IIT, established in 1994. However, the first batch was admitted in 1995 on a makeshift campus. Mohit recalled that since it was the first year of the IIT and the campus was yet to be made, some hotels were converted into makeshift hostels in the middle of the town.

He said “Our classes were held in the building of the Institute of Engineers. For our practical sessions in the first year, we used to go to Assam Engineering College as well as Cotton College. But as we progressed to the second year, we needed an electronics lab, etc. So, IIT Guwahati built two or three floors in the Institute of Engineers building.”

Also Check: JEE Main Cutoff

The institute has started its first batch with 65 students, who came from different states of the country. Most of them were living away from their families for the first time. Meeting and living with people of different cultures was a unique experience that Mohit had witnessed at that time. 

“This helped us all create a bond with each other. Within a few initial days itself, it started feeling like we were one big group and not people who had met a few days ago,” he said. 

He added “Since there was no campus, we used to just play cricket outside the yard. It was a small yard, and there was a little water body (more like a drain) near that area. Our ball used to fall into that, so we used to bounce the dirty ball on the hostel wall to remove the dirt. The wall became so dirty that our warden confiscated our bat and ball and told us that he would return it only after we cleaned the wall. All of us pitched in Rs 5 to buy some paint and then within an hour, we painted that portion of the wall.”

“Studies at IITs are rigorous — from the first to the final year. The kind of effort you go through daily is intense, and we are taught a lot of advanced things. But that prepares you to be successful in your chosen career path,” he said. 

Mohit has mentioned that skills one gains from IIT are like priced jewels that one can treasure lifelong.

Also Read:

•  IIT Guwahati Placements 2023

• IIT Guwahati Cutoff 2023 

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