Recently we shifted from our transit campus in Chandkheda to the IIT Gandhinagar permanent campus in Palaj. We are the only MTech batch that has had the opportunity to experience living in both campuses.
There at Chandkheda, in the VGEC campus, we had several necessary and recreational facilities available like the PVR, 4D square, Reliance Fresh, Cafe Coffee Day, Cakes & Bakes, mobile showrooms, shopping malls, DMart, ice-cream parlours, banks, ATMs, etc. There were unlimited options for food, shopping hang-outs, movies, markets and transportation. Every weekend, we used to have a party in some restaurant. But, the biggest drawback was that we didn’t have our own hostels unlike the students in the bachelors programmes.
Having hostel facility within the campus provides convenience to students. Once a lecture gets over, we can run back to our rooms and have a nap before the next boring class begins. All we’d have to do is walk a few steps from our hostels inside the campus and to the classroom. At Chandkheda, our flats were about 15-20 minutes by foot from the classrooms and during summer, taking an auto was a daily routine.
Here at Palaj, since it is a village area, there is no provision for movies, restaurants and markets in the vicinity. For a long time, we felt isolated from the world where we used to live. The only plus point was that we were now accommodated in hostels within the campus. Gradually, we got accustomed to life here, schedules got busier and we starting liking the new place. We now have a night canteen, an Amul parlour, general store shop, gym, library, faculty housings and a lot more things at our new campus. Living together in a hostel is a lot more fun than living in flats away from your classmates. At night time, the stylish and beautifully designed campus buildings, hostels, panchayat-circle, gardens, pathways, academic blocks, shine pretty in the elegantly designed night lights. If you stand on top of the mess terrace, you’ll get an outstanding view of the whole campus, lit by classic and decorous lights all around.
Classrooms at IITGn Palaj campus
The new campus at Palaj, is so classically designed, with smart classrooms and corridors, smart washrooms with sensors to detect human presence and switch lights accordingly so as to conserve electricity. In fact, the roof tops and windows of classrooms are designed specially to ensure that the class is well lit during daytime and there is no need of wasting electricity over artificial lights. Although, we do miss the air-conditioners that we used to have in the classrooms in the transit campus, especially during summers.
The speed and the manner in which the shifting and construction work has been done is really worth appreciating. Everything happened so smoothly just like spreading butter on rough bread. I am proud to be a part of IITGn and also glad that I have seen both phases of IITGn campus life. I am sure that within a few years, the new campus will also have shopping malls, pizza centres, restaurants, PVRs and almost everything we used to have there at Chandkheda.