What are the Odds?
The 2024 season comes to an end… so does the semester. Spotify might have already wrapped this year for you and Reddit must have dug your undercover persona in bananas. Throughout this year, you must have witnessed the never-ending big fat Indian wedding and cruised through the Olympic medal hauls; some of you must have cast your first votes, and all of us doomscrolled these moments to be called ‘brain rot’ by Oxford. 2024 was indeed a loooong year (obviously with one extra day ;)) with moments and events to accommodate all the rooms of Hilbert’s Grand Hotel. But what are the odds that you had as much as an odd-ful semester? We have covered it all, from determining to achieve an academic comeback to pulling all-nighters before exams, headbanging in the concerts of Festember to being blinded by the deadlines, racing in the Sportsfete marathon to acing in the CTs. Let’s rewind the clock to glide past the events that defined the semester:
The institute reopened for the odd semester in the middle of July after two months of Sem break. Within two weeks of reopening, the deserted road and stone benches regained their liveliness with bicycle chimes and chatters. The campus received the students with a warm welcome with the weather showing no signs of shedding some degrees. The hot weather was accompanied by the infamous Aadi wind that knocked down one of the impenetrable OPAL walls. This was the time of the semester when students bustled with enthusiasm and spirit to sail the high tides of another semester of the grand academic voyage.
The convocation of the 2024 pass-out marks the first celebration of the semester on the 3rd of August. The ceremony honoured around more than 2000 graduates at the GJCH. The graduates celebrated their years of hard work for this one euphoric moment with their family and friends before bidding farewell to the campus one last time. Mid-August marked the admission season, with the arrival of newcomers from across the country and abroad. The freshers were excited to spend the next few years in one of the most prestigious institutions brimming with dreams and aspirations. The freshers’ fervour was matched by guest lectures, briefing sessions, awareness programs and events organised by the Orientation team in collaboration with various clubs.
But at the end of August, an unfortunate incident in OPAL shook up the entire student community. On the 29th, the students came together for a massive overnight sit-in protest. A technician hired to install WiFi behaved indecently towards a female student in her room. This incident took place in the wake of several sexual harassment cases around the country, with the most brutal being the R G Kar case. The students were utterly shocked, devastated and outraged to accept such a case in their surroundings. The incident also raised safety concerns and SOP followed by the administration. The overnight protest made headlines in the newspapers and was covered by the news channels in detail. The protest was eventually called off, with the Superintendent of Police assuring the administration would resolve the issue. Subsequently, a board was set up to investigate the incident, suggestions were taken to strengthen the safety and security measures of students and SOPs were revised accordingly.
September was packed with two back-to-back fests. With the winding up of the Paris Olympics a month earlier. Sportsfete embodied the spirit of the body electric with the ultimate showdowns and clashing of rivals. The inter-departmental event was kick-started with the Marathon on 11th September followed by a feisty weekend of eventful face-offs. With shoes laced up, balls smashing across the net, feet sprinting on the tracks, and faces cheering on the bleachers, set the mood for the event. The sports centre became the hotspot for the weekend, attracting crowds to participate and witness the sports festivities. Around 3000 students competed in various sports activities and upheld the spirit of being reforged in fire. After the fiery battles and head-to-head matches, the Department of Production Engineering topped the leaderboard and bagged the Sportsfete trophy for the year. While Sportsfete upheld and celebrated the spirit of sportsmanship, team spirit and unity, two tragic events clouded and darkened the atmosphere.
A visit to Pondicherry by a group of students took a devastating turn with the sudden and tragic loss of RK Aditya, the beloved overall coordinator of Orientation 24. The story of a brave lad who rescued his teammates from the unruly tides but sacrificed himself moved even those who didn’t know him. The heart-wrenching incident left a deep mark and reminded us about the ups and downs in the grown up life. Following a week, the disappearance of Ojaswi Gupta, an MCA student, added to the gloomy air. The student who left the campus after alleged bullying was never to return, even after months of disappearance. This incident also made it into the newspaper but remains shrouded in mystery. These two incidents make one ponder over and embrace the uncertainties in life.
October, November and Conclusion:
The spookiest month per the calendar was rather colourful at our college as we celebrated 50 years of Festember. It began with an inspiring inauguration, graced by NIT Trichy’s Director, Mrs G. Aghila, founding member Mr. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, and Chief Guest Mr. S. Selvakumar. Their reflections on Festember’s evolution set the tone for the celebration. Day Zero concluded with an electrifying performance by our very own Dance and Music Troupes. Day One featured vibrant competitions across literature, music, dance, art, drama, and gaming, culminating in a high-energy EDM Night with DJ Holy C. Day Two saw unique additions like the Major’s Golden Jubilee Quiz, engaging workshops, and guest lectures by luminaries like Gouri Kishan and Mari Selvaraj. The evening ended with a mesmerizing Fusion Night by The Lost Fireflies. The final days crowned winners, including Mr. and Ms. Festember, and celebrated grand events like Choreonite. Festember 50 ended on a euphoric note with a phenomenal performance by Karthik, truly living up to its tagline, A Fest to Remember.
As we finished celebrating our cultural fest, something technical was just around the corner. TransfiNITTe, our flagship hackathon, was back bigger and better than ever. From having changed venues to new domains, it sure had evolved from its past. The event saw a footfall of over 600 people, with over 100 teams spread across 4 domains, competing for 42 hours to give the best solution and win the prize. The event fostered innovation, teamwork, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, with projects ranging from AI applications to IoT prototypes and business strategies. Judges praised the depth and impact of the ideas. TransfiNITTe 2024 was a transformative experience, equipping participants with technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and practical insights for addressing real-world challenges.
As our month was culminating towards its spooky climax, we decided to embrace our own culture and celebrate Diwali, the festival of light. It’s a marvel how Diwali and Halloween fell on the same day this year, where a small girl could be trick-or-treating dressed up as Cinderella in the West and a small boy here in India could be bursting crackers decked up in traditional wear. The commonality here lies in the fact that both of them were enjoying sweets. We also celebrated Diwali during Culfie as the month ended. We sure needed a lot of light, for what was about to come was really dark, the end semester examinations.
While classes had ended by the first week of November, the end-sem fever quickly took over. Caught up with deadlines and submissions, it became hard to keep track of where we were headed. It was overwhelming, especially for those experiencing it for the first time. As we approached the end-sems, it became evident how far we had drifted from academia, and it was time to pull through. The first hurdle was the lab end-sems, where we often wished for x-ray vision to read through paper. In one of the country’s top engineering and architecture institutes, students placed their faith in lucky numbers from across the number line. Some blamed the TAs, others the equipment, but we could all agree that these lab end-sems were a game of luck.
Once one battle ended, another began: the theory exams. The generous gap between the two was, more often than not, misused. Shows we couldn’t binge-watch during the semester became our daily routine, and academics were relegated far beyond the backseat. The regret after finishing each season briefly fueled motivation, resulting in an hour of studying, which we felt needed to be compensated with a “tiny” break—starting the next season. As exam days arrived, we scrambled for resources, be they PPTs or PDFs, trying to absorb everything at once. The storm passed one day at a time, and as sleep deprivation took over, we woke up regretting falling asleep because we hadn’t studied enough. On such days, confidence came from filling as many pages as possible in the 32-page booklet. However it went, the collective sense of relief once the end-sems were over was truly a sight to behold. Emerging from Orion, watching people discuss plans unrelated to studies felt like Freedom Day.
This semester was a first for all of us, and not just because of the previous events. Some of us got to experience college for the first time, some of us got to experience more than 20 credits for the first time (most of them being unbearable to the core), some of us got to sit for Online Tests and Interviews for the first time, and some of us got to experience their One Last Time for the first time. If you have made it so far in this article, then you have most certainly made it through the last semester, and you will make it through the subsequent ones as well. And no matter the oddities you might’ve encountered this semester, it all evens out by the next.
