Electrical Engineering Society

   

IIT Delhi

Shashank Kedia

-By Vipasha Mittal and Harsh Verma.

As a part of the ongoing interview series, the Electrical Engineering Society presents you an interview of Shashank Kedia, a 2015 EE graduate. He is currently working as an analyst in Goldman Sachs. He counts his time at IIT Delhi as a journey of immense personal growth. He advices his juniors to carve their own paths, like he has, rather than follow others blindly, in this inspiring interview.

Image Of Shashank Kedia

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?


My most memorable moments at the institute were always spent with my friends.

Yes there were times when I felt low due to the excess pressure I had put on myself. Hence I was not able to give my best to anything which was very disappointing personally. Also my habit of procrastination used to aggravate the situation. I think these experiences taught me valuable lessons one of them being that, we bring lot of stress onto ourselves. Pushing oneself is nice ,but overexertion is not.

A person in IIT always has friends to help him out in tight situations. Also since most of these situations were due to the high expectations I had set for myself, lowering down my own expectations also helped. (Note that I did not say I stopped procrastinating :P . It is something I am still working on)


2. Do you have any regrets from your time in IIT?

Yes, a couple (not related to myself though). But I couldn’t do much about them then and I don’t think even now I can do something about it.


3. How was your overall experience at IIT?

I still miss those days.


4. What changes did you notice in your personality before and after IIT?

IIT teaches you a lot; one thing it taught me was being able to have opinions about things and not being afraid to be vocal about them. I am now much more open minded and sensitive than before. I am also not afraid now to ask questions and disagree and debate (I may be wrong, but that is not the point) even when everyone else feels otherwise.


6. How has your life changed after graduating from IIT and how do you feel about this change?


Ah a lot. There has been a massive change. It is not a hostel you live in and suddenly you start to have responsibilities and work. No one likes this change, everyone wants to go back to college and have fun.


7. What words of advice would you give to your juniors- some things that they should do, some changes in the way of thinking,etc.

One thing that I realized in IIT was that it is Sincerity and Dedication that shall help you realize your aim in life. True, one may say passion is necessary but even if you have to do something you do not really like, it is sincerity and dedication that shall help you.

Everyone should explore around, get new experiences, travel a bit. Talk and have a rational debate on things that affect them. Be passionate about something and actively pursue it. The effects are not instant but they help a lot.
As I was leaving the college I felt a growing aura of Crab mindedness and petty squabbling. One should move away from crab mentality of pulling someone down and focus on one’s own growth instead. Please stop blaming luck and politics for someone’s hard work. Don’t judge that a person did not put in the required effort and hard work just because you seem to feel so.


8. What are some things that you would advise juniors not to do?

Do not follow someone blindly especially if you are flattered by his/her achievements. You have no idea what a person has gone through. You have an identity. Be yourself and create your own path.

I have also seen people running after “chill” courses and professors but later not seeming happy with their decision. I believe that if you like the contents of a particular course and you find out that you shall learn from that particular course under the professor, you should go ahead and take it, rather than learning something random which you want to forget as soon as the semester ends. And this philosophy has always worked for me.


9. What activities were you involved in and how have they helped you?

I tried to get involved in almost all of the activities, thereby becoming a jack of trades and master of none. That is one of the reasons why, despite being a part of a huge number of Inter Hostel events, I never made a mark at the institute level.

Though I would seriously advice against this, it also has been an immense learning experience. One of the things it taught me was that I should advice everyone against taking this path. On the positive side I came to know about a lot that happens in IIT and having taken part at a rudimentary level I gained a lot of knowledge in different areas which helped me develop a different mindset than conventional wisdom.


image with friends


10. What projects did you work on during IIT?



Primarily I worked on two projects. On a very high level, one was to try and find the distance of an object using a single 2-D camera. The other was to design a circuit which can capture power from Radio FM signals around us and store it. I would love to discuss this with anyone who is interested.


11. Any favourite research stream of EE branch?If yes, why?



I liked electronics primarily analog electronics. “WHY” is a difficult question, the area just appealed to me. I liked the math at first and then the instincts and challenges and constraints.


12. Have you found what you love (your passion)? Many people face a dilemma over “what is that they would love to do in life”. Anything on this issue? 



This is a difficult question. I don’t believe passion is something constant. It can change with time. You may start disliking something you liked earlier and start liking something new. Speaking from experience, people generally do not face dilemma over what they would love to do, the dilemma is generally over whether to do it or instead do something else. I shall very subtly or blatantly (whichever way you put it) ignore the first part of the question.