Who doesn’t like an unexpected holiday being declared, especially students pleasantly surprised when a  snow day or a rainy day is suddenly announced at a school or a college?

“…those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day…” as sung by Mary Hopkin (1968). We easily recall this wonderful…

The first memory has to be of the first entry into the hostel in blinding rain. Since I had not yet studied engineering, I knew how to fix a bulb…

IITB was my first experience of community living. There was very little of ‘this is mine’.

Arun Kaul H4, C76 Aero is famous for: Riding to classes on horseback and “parking” the horse in the cycle shed. Creating and singing brilliant parodies on the fly. Remember…

The yellow bike was an abomination. Its owner, who was named after the mating call of the Rana Tigrina, was contemplating the despicable act of making money from a hand…

When I joined IIT Bombay in 1974 the first piece of “publication” that I got was an introduction to the Students’ Gymkhana. 

The first week of January 1972, we had returned to the Institute after the winter break.

IITB was a very special place. H10 at IITB was an even more special place.

As background, I had the honor of serving as General Secretary (GS) of Hostel 4 in 1968-69 1 . During my H4 GS term, we broke all norms for a hostel…

Long, long ago, in 1965, archeologists were scandalized to find a stoned student in the bed of Powai Lake (surname first), who pretended that it was routine matter.

Wings also invariably brought together students from different years, thus acting as the passing of the baton of stories and folklore.

The first girl to join the B.Tech. program of IIT Bombay was Tejaswini Saraf (now Kanvinde).

Somewhere in the second semester, we were told that we need to have a field trip to gather the mandatory 100 hours needed for social service in the first two…

I am Bankim Biswas and what I write is a lot of bunkum and wishwash. I write about “then” and “now” scenarios. I am from the “then” generation. Mercifully so.…

Once upon a time, there was a magazine called the Debonair. It was famous for its nude centrespreads. Nobody knows what else there was in the magazine.

I don’t exactly know, but let me tell you about some start-ups that occurred in the late nineteen sixties.

It happened suddenly. Messmates started shouting and there was chaos. Demands were made as to who prepared aloo subzi for the dinner. 

About a week or two after I became a resident of Hostel 4 on the campus, for some reason I was a bit late getting to the mess for dinner.…

There is a widespread belief among hostel inmates that you would not feel homesick if your hostel served good food. This belief is likely true as most of us enjoyed…

I was visiting H5 after over 35 years. My wife was accompanying me and I was keen to show her my room and relive memories of some of the best…

This was our fifth year.  Knowing that we’d disperse the following year, we maximized the fun aspect of our hostel and wing life – in the silliest of ways (looking…

When Ali sent a message via Ashok Kamath wanting a piece about the ‘literary life’ of IIT Bombay during my time there, I had to dig into rapidly dissipating memories,…

Interviewers: Adil Khan, Samyak Shah This interview was conducted as part of Department of Electrical Engineering’s “Alumni and Corporate Engagement” initiative. Check out the Department’s official student newsletter at this…

I usually never bunked lectures but it so happened that I was down with fever and felt too delirious to attend that day.

We used to have a common Freshie’s night in LT for all hostels, in which freshers exhibited various skills .

Arun Kaul wrote, acted in, directed and produced plays, skits, entertainment programs. One of his outlandish media adventure was the production of a “magazine”.

I had to miss my B.Tech convocation due to my stupidity on Janmashtami in 1973. 

This was in our third year. We had just won the Institute Treasure Hunt. Our joy knew no bounds. Jitna daru ka stock tha pee liye. But yeh Dil Mange…

One night, four students were playing till late night and could not study for the test which was scheduled for the next day.

The MI rock show took place in the SAC amphitheater, and the sound check would go on for what felt like hours (especially for the headlining bands). 

There used to be, and maybe there still is, a quota for foreign students. The IITs used to attract students from all over the global south.

Jimy Uranwala and Sapnon Ki Rani I could hardly believe my ears when I heard someone in my hostel wing strumming his guitar and practicing singing “Mere Sapnon ki Rani,…

I always recall the eclectic collection of professors from all over India who taught us various subjects during our years at IITB.

Nostalgia time! For some fundoo hostel memories. Pondies. Gaalis. Water fights. EPs/PAFs. Cult trophy. Sports trophy. Inter wing tourneys. Bridge. Carom. TT. Footer. Basketball. Volleyball. Chess. Antakshari. Chayageet. Dumb Charades.…

In mid-2019, one of our classmates (C’77) posted pictures of our hostel 5 on WhatsApp. There was an uproar. 

It has been 30 years since we graduated, and yet the thought of my wing brings an instant lifting of the spirit and a bubble of laughter in my throat.