My IIT, My Story: Midnight canteens, sunsets and the other IIT Bombay

From sunrise at Sameer Hill to late-night study sessions and hostel conversations, a final-year Civil Engineering student's IIT Bombay experience offers a glimpse of campus life beyond academics and placements.

In Short

• He balanced coursework with student representation across several institute bodies
• InfoAbility brought scholarships, jobs and schemes for Persons with Disabilities together
• Weekdays followed a tight schedule of classes, self-study and projects

For many outside IITs, the image is familiar: difficult classes, demanding exams, laboratories and students constantly preparing for the next academic milestone. But at IIT Bombay, much of student life begins after lectures end - around Powai Lake at sunset, in hostel corridors late at night, over chai and Maggi, or inside the Central Library during exams.

For Sumit Yadav, a seventh-semester Civil Engineering student from Surhurpur village in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur district, these ordinary places have become an important part of his IIT experience.

If he had to show a visitor only three places on campus, he would start with Powai Lake. At sunrise or sunset, he says, the lake becomes one of the most peaceful corners of campus, where students walk, sit quietly or simply take a break from a hectic day.

“The view reminds you that IIT isn't only about academics; it's also about finding balance,” Yadav says.

His second stop would be Sameer Hill, where much of the campus can be seen from above. The monsoon makes the view particularly striking, with the surroundings turning green.

The third would be the hostel area. Not because it is architecturally remarkable, but because that is where he believes IIT Bombay truly comes alive. Students discuss startup ideas, prepare for competitions, play sports, celebrate birthdays at midnight and spend hours talking.

“Some of the strongest friendships and best memories are created in the hostels rather than inside classrooms,” he says.

That contrast runs through Yadav's experience of IIT Bombay. There is the structured academic routine, but alongside it is a less visible campus life that emerges after the day winds down.

FROM CIVIL ENGINEERING TO CAMPUS LEADERSHIP

Yadav's own journey has stretched well beyond his Civil Engineering coursework. He has interned as an Operations Intern at Godrej Properties and taken on several student leadership roles, including Institute Secretary, Hostel Affairs, and acting General Secretary of Hostels 1, 9 and 16.

He has also represented students through the IIT Bombay PwD Cell and Hospital and Health Advisory Committee.

Alongside these responsibilities, he founded InfoAbility, an accessible information platform that brings scholarships, jobs, internships and government schemes for Persons with Disabilities together in one place.

For Yadav, these experiences have broadened the meaning of an IIT education.

“My own journey reflects that diversity,” he says. “For me, IIT Bombay has never been just about earning a degree. It has been about discovering purpose, building confidence, and learning how to create meaningful impact.”

Yet some of the experiences he remembers most are much simpler.

After midnight, IIT Bombay looks very different from the institute visitors see during the day. Students continue working in 24-hour study halls, finishing assignments, preparing for placements, working on projects or talking in hostel rooms.

“The real heartbeat of the campus is inside the hostels once the day ends,” Yadav says.

WHERE CAMPUS LIFE SLOWS DOWN

Hostel life has its own rhythm. Between 7:30 and 8:30 am, students rush to the mess before classes. Dinner brings another busy spell between 8 and 9 pm. Later, the hostel canteens become informal meeting points.

A typical hostel floor has rooms along a corridor, along with spaces such as a gym, sports room, common room, music room and air-conditioned study room. For Yadav, the combination makes the hostel feel less like accommodation and more like a community.

During exams, the most commonly borrowed items are surprisingly mundane: calculators and geometry boxes. “Everyone suddenly needs one, and nobody wants to lend theirs just before the paper!” he says.

Food has its own campus politics. Biryani and special mess days draw crowds, while a new experimental dish can lead to a full hostel debate. After midnight, the hostel night canteen becomes the usual destination for hunger — and conversation.

For chai, Yadav picks 9Tea7 Shack, popularly known as Caf 97, a tea spot built and gifted by the Class of 1997 alumni under Project Evergreen.

And when an exam goes badly, there are two preferred places to disappear for a while: the hostel room or Powai Lake.

CLASSROOMS, LIBRARY AND THE WORK BEHIND THE DEGREE

Yadav's weekdays are fairly structured. He wakes around 7 am, has breakfast by 7:30 and reaches class by 8. Lectures in core and interdisciplinary electives generally continue through the morning, followed by lunch and another set of classes from around 2 to 5 pm.

Evenings are usually for self-study. By 6 pm, he heads to the Central Library, where he revises notes, works on assignments, prepares for exams and progresses on projects, often staying until around 9 pm.

During examinations, the library becomes even more important. When it fills up, students move into classrooms and lecture halls, sometimes studying late into the night.

His Civil Engineering courses, meanwhile, have made ordinary infrastructure look different. Roads, water systems and structures become examples of how science and engineering translate into everyday life.

One of the more striking machines he has encountered is an Advanced Universal Testing Machine, which he says costs around Rs 1 crore. It tests the mechanical properties of materials by applying controlled pulling or pushing forces.

But the project closest to him is InfoAbility. InfoAbility is an initiative focused on making opportunities and government schemes more accessible to Persons with Disabilities.

The campus also has its larger moments. Mood Indigo, Techfest and E-Summit bring culture, technology and entrepreneurship to IIT Bombay, while familiar spaces can feel completely transformed during festivals.

Yet when graduation approaches, Yadav says he will not miss just one building or one particular corner.

He will miss the entire campus.

“It has been my second home for the past three years,” he says. “From my hostel room and classrooms to Sameer Hill and Powai Lake, every corner holds memories, friendships, and experiences that have shaped who I am today.”

For him, that is perhaps the IIT Bombay outsiders see least: not the institute as a collection of classrooms and laboratories, but as a place gradually filled with routines, friendships and memories until the campus itself starts feeling like home.

- Ends