Anirban Mukhopadhyay

1.What were your most memorable moments at IIT? Could you describe any moments when you felt low at IIT and what you did to get back to normal?

Being a part of Blood Connect here at IIT Delhi, I remember donating blood to a needy patient in AIIMS a few months back. The gratitude, respect and love the patient showered on me afterwards and the feeling of saving someone’s life was second to none. Yes, there were moments when I felt quite low here at IIT. One such moment was at the end of 3rd year. I was doing my intern at CitiBank and I didn’t get work satisfaction there. I realized I had not yet figured out what I wanted to do in life and that many uncertainties still loomed in my academic/professional career. What I did to get over this was to start afresh. I realized that I shouldn’t scrape the past as what has happened cannot be changed. Yes, one thing which I can do is focus on the present and prepare for the placements.

2. What changes did you notice in your personality before and after IIT? How have your extra-curricular activities and internships been instrumental in causing the change?

Before coming into the IIT I was very shy to be honest. I was quite scared of any kind of public speaking. However, being a part of Blood Connect and Rendezvous here at IIT Delhi increased my confidence and changed me. The environment here at IIT is uplifting and gave me a lot of exposure. Internships helped me understand how big companies work and also in personality development which is required to adjust in the corporate world.

4. What words of advice would you give to your juniors- some things that they should do, some changes in the way of thinking, etc. Any specific advice for students of any particular year?

I would say that one should take care of their C.G.P.A. here at IIT Delhi. C.G.P.A. is like the first one and extra-curricular activities are the zeroes that follow. Without a good C.G.P.A., everything accounts to practically nothing. Be fully involved and passionate about any extra-curricular activities you do here but do not try to get involved in each and everything. Be selective in your approach to reap bigger rewards.

6. What projects did you work on during IIT? Any favourite research stream?

I did SURA at the end of 2nd year about Indoor Localization under Professor Seshan Sri Rangaragan. I tried many new technologies and read quite a lot of the published papers. It was all quite interesting.

7. Did you find Electrical Engineering branch exciting? Any specific advice for your juniors in this branch?

Personally speaking, I was not that much interested in Electrical Engineering Courses, although it was not like that the courses were not good. My interest was more into the research activities here at IIT.I also undertook a B.tech. project. A piece of advice which I would like to give to my juniors is that not all professors are good here. Even if you don’t like a course here doesn’t mean you would not work hard in it. Talk to your professors and always try to do your best.

8.Have you been to any other IIT in these 4 years? How was it different from IITD? Can we bring that change in IITD if the change is for the better?

Yes, I have been to IIT Bombay as I am from Bombay only and have many friends studying there. I found IITB to be more flexible as compared to IITD. A lot of focus is given on technical activities there at IITB whereas there is more cultural focus here. As far as I believe, technical activities not on forefront here.

9. Have you found your passion? Many people face a dilemma over “what is that they would love to do in life”. How did your time at IIT help you realise your future goals and what is it that you want to do in life?

If I talk about passion, I am not yet sure what I exactly want from life, and I bet many are the same. However, I am a lot fascinated by consulting and am really interested in it for the time being (currently placed in BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP). In the long run I am still kind of hazy in my views about a perfect life.

10. Many students find it difficult to balance academics and extracurricular activities. How were you able to achieve this balance?

For me it is all about ensuring the right balance between the two and I believe I am not the right person to answer this question. There were many of my branch mates who were much better in time management than me. Yes, but I can say that one should learn to prioritize things, that is, at any particular moment, one should do the thing which is the most important or has the most challenging deadline.

11. Any regrets from your time at IIT?

I personally believe I could have performed a bit better at academics. However, there are no specific regrets here as I have had a lot of fun here in these four years. IIT offers a lot of opportunities and facilities which are usually not available at any educational institute of our country and we should consider ourselves very lucky. One word of advice for my young juniors is to explore everything you can as no other places offers you such plethora of options.