BITS-Pilani

I had never thought that I would get stuck at this tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere near the sands of Rajasthan but fate had this in store for me. I had never even heard of this place before I landed up here (that is because BITS-Pilani doesn’t sell itself enough unlike many engineering colleges which are not even half its worth and also partly because of the IIT-centric mindset of the city I lived in.) If you are wondering, why the stars were so kind to Pilani, it was because G.D. Birla was born here.

A tiresome five and half hour expedition from New Delhi gets you to Pilani. The first sight of the Pilani campus came as a real shocker (especially cause I had been transferred from the ultra-mod BITS-Pilani Goa campus). The buildings made me wonder if I was in the colonial era. The Pilani campus of BITS was setup way back in the 1950’s and not much has changed since then. The hostels look like pre-independence forts sans the extravagance. Although the institute is a totally privately funded institution, its administration and functioning resembles that of a government college (nominal tuition and hostel fees, comparable to the IITs). I thought I was sacrificing a bit too much for the brand tag of a good college.

After a few initial hiccups and some mild ragging sessions, Pilani started suiting me fine and now I am totally enjoying my 4 year prolonged vacation.

Now I am not going to bore you with stats and facts about Pilani that you’ll inevitably encounter. What really sets the system of education at Pilani apart is the degree of independence that the college confers upon its students. “Freedom of Choice” is implemented in totality at Pilani itself. Right from the first day itself, the system in place lets you make all your decisions right from choosing the people you live with to choosing the courses/electives you opt for. The independence we get from the start of our college lives really helps later on (that is according to the seniors, I am in no position to verify this statement). Doing away with the system of compulsory attendance at the lectures and tutorials is also a first at BITS.

Also the gamut of activities that goes on in BITS-Pilani cannot be easily matched by other institutions. Everyday we have an event or two going on in the Audi or elsewhere which keeps the junta engaged. Here engineering students who share a common interest gather together in forms of clubs/departments and assocs and channel their creativity in a positive manner. The numbers of clubs and departments is about two dozen, which shows the interest of the junta for these societies. These also serve as a good platform for interaction between seniors and juniors of different branches at very close level.