Edition 50

- Pratyush Thakur, Managing Editor, 2019-20
It feels a little weird writing my last article for this
magazine, but as they say, all good things come to an
end. The old guard must always make way for new
blood. This article was written in quarantine, and all I
did was reminisce about my four years in the university
excluding these last few odd months taken away from
me because some guy in China decided to eat a bat.
They say that something good comes out of
everything. Quarantine gives you free time to think (or
overthink). I think I speak for all of my fellow fourth
years when I say that when we think about our four
years in college, the nostalgia train always starts with a
little kid, a bit nervous about entering this new world.
Like a train bustling through a curvy mountain track,
the memories come rushing to you. From your first GPL
to your first midsems, to doing your assignments, your
freshers’ night (and the subsequent freshers’ nights
you attended just to relive your time as a starry-eyed
fresher), the ethnic day which is a staple, and getting
used to Jatta Da Chhora playing at the end of every
event. It doesn’t matter what event - if there’s a DJ, this
song will play. Maybe that’s how the genetic code of
DTU is written. Don’t get me wrong; you might be the
poshest, most liberal, most woke millennial out there
who only listens to The Beatles, but when this song
plays, you like it. You may cringe or crinkle your nose on
the outside, but deep down, you’re going to miss this.
They never tell you that you’ll miss so many things.
Bhasad, GT, BT, Proxy, MechC, MicMac, Mall Road, Engi -
if I started writing about all of these things, I would
probably fill up this entire edition. You complain daily
about the excess of students, GTB Nagar is a second
home for the day scholars, and the rest of the cool kids
will go to Panditji. You’ve seen Chandan in all his
moods; tell me, do you think that anyone, other than
Chandan, can prepare you for a horrible, apathetic
boss?
The campus is eye candy. How can you ever forget the
beautiful sunsets that turned into nights? Nights that
filled the OAT with couples and made every single
person want to join the Bajrang Dal. I don’t know about
everyone else, but I am in love with the roads of DTU.
You’ll miss your juniors and you’ll miss interacting with
them. You’ll be separated from your juniors, especially
from all the cute ones you meet every now and then,
with whom you can chat just because she wants to
know “placement kaise lagegi sir?”
To my hostel fam, especially the animals that live in the
boys’ hostels, your journey is filled with life lessons
from wise “Old Monks” and trying to take “Pride” in
what you do. You undertake “joint” efforts and find
“stuff” to “advance” further in your life and go for
“high”er studies. Scientists say that if a nuclear
holocaust happens, the cockroaches will survive. They
forget to include the guy who lives next to my room
who hasn’t taken a bath for 42 days (true story).
Engineering prepares us for life. It may not make us
engineers in the true sense, except a minuscule
percentage whom we call ghissus. But for the majority
of us, it actually makes us exceptional at handling
pressure. From your syllabus not being complete
before an exam to the difficult time at the TnP where
everything seems lost. From “bhai company hi nahi
nikal rahi yaar” to “bhai lag gyi”, it’s a journey that
toughens you up. If you can survive TnP and the GPL
that follows on getting placed, you can survive
anything.
That’s the spirit of engineering - winging it. You put in
the least effort and somehow maximise your output.
No other course teaches this; it’s unique to
engineering, believe me. And that’s why I say that
maybe this is what engineering is all about - winging
things, making things happen. We have all undertaken
this beautiful journey; we’ve grown as people. To the
class of 2020, I’d like to say, “We are engineers now,
we’ve made it!”
Medhavi Thakur, Illustrator, 2019-20
DTU TIMES | February 2020- May 2020 | 32