The IITian Spirit is something that is difficult to define. It's primary indications in a person are:

These three traits pretty much describe your average IITian.

The picture of an IITian in the mind of a normal person is of someone whos is obsessed with academics.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Your normal IITian ( who is anything but normal, though ) has several more important things to do than waste his time studying. That is left to the class topper, who is the fountainhead of all knowledge and wisdom the night before the examination.

Now how do you identify an IITian on the IITB campus, ie. how do you distinguish him from the Campus Taporis ( slang )? It's quite easy. Your normal IITian is normally among the scruffiest and most seedy-lloking characters around. He is usually clad in a faded and/or torn pair of jeans, a pair (?) of very dissimilar bathroom slippers, which have probably been cannibalized from several different pairs, and a faded T-shirt which proudly proclaims "IITB" on one or more parts of it's anatomy. The taporis, on the other hand, are much better dressed, having a rep to maintain with the local girls.

An IITian's habitat

What are the normal haunts of the IITian species on campus? Well, the most likely place to find him will be in the wing of his Hostel ( usually in somebody else's room ) or in the Mess Hall/Common Room, where he will be devouring the newspapers and magazines which are lying around ( Those items being more easily digested than Mess Grub ).

If he is not there, then he is probably at the Coffee Shack with his buddies, or at the Staff Canteen.

In the extremely unlikely event that he is nowhere to be found, you might try and go to his Department, where he might be attending a lecture or working on his dissertation ( both acts being done only under the extremely strong driving force of the concerned Professor's threats).

Hostel Life

An IITian's Hostel is the focal point around which his life revolves. It is his castle, and he defends it's honour with all the power at his command. Hostel spirit is one of the first things which a freshie is taught when he enters IIT, along with the Hostel/IITB pledge, which contains too many X-rated words to be displayed here.

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email : uday@grove.ufl.edu

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