An Anecdote of a Special Learning Experience...

"The only source of knowledge is experience"

I believe that one should fill the life with experiences, not things. One should have stories to tell and not only things to show. Experience is the the best teacher in life."

Every experience in life is being orchestrated to teach you something you need to move forward"         

-Brian Tracy     

I love to have different experiences in life, observe new things and learn from it. I would like to share one of my most recent learning experience.

Somewhere around in the month of November, I got an ad and a newsletter email stating that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay is organizing a technical event - Techfest IITB 2022. I was curious to know more about it and hence I visited the event's website and went through all the details regarding the event. The event was scheduled in the mid of December for three days. There were various minor and major events in the line-up. There were different technology-based competitions, workshops on technical trending topics, different international summits on topics like blockchain, industry 4.0 and media, lectures were to be delivered by eminent speakers and personalities, various international projects were to be displayed at the exhibition, and many more amazing events were planned.  Moreover, they had also mentioned that they would provide accomodation in the hostels on IITB. The event seemed to be an amazing opportunity to experience, learn and explore new things. I was excited to be a part of it and even my parents supported me to participate in this event as they always believe what I mentioned above that learning from experiences in life is way more important than formal education. But, there was one small hurdle to this plan. I had my internal exams of college scheduled on the next day after I return from the event. Nevertheless, this did not deter my enthusiasm and I was prepared to balance my academics as well as the event. 

This was my first solo trip in life and furthermore I had to stay in a completely different setup in a hostel in a different college in a different city. It was challenging for me but I wanted to challenge myself and experience this. My parents were a little worried for the trip, but looking at my confidence and self-belief they gathered confidence on me. I was mentally ready to face any kind of circumstances while on the trip. Also, I knew that this trip isn't going to be an experience just for visiting IIT, attending workshops, lectures, summits,etc, but the experience would begin the moment I set my foot out of my house. I was fully prepared to get out of my comfort zone, be open-minded to observe, learn, analyze and explore things at every moment of the experience. 

My flight was scheduled to land at around 8 at night and I had to report to the accomodation check-in desk before 10pm. Relative to any major city, the airport was quite near to the IIT campus but keeping in mind the traffic I reached in around an hour & a half. The campus is so huge as compared to 'normal colleges' that I was surprised to see that there were auto rickshaws ferrying people from one place to another within the campus. I entered the campus and reached the accomodation desk where I met my roommate who coincidentally reached just before me and the organizers were trying to find a roommate for him. We shared our experiences of registering for the event & travelling from our homes to the event. I developed a great bond with him over the next couple of days. 

 Hostel

It was not the first time for my roommate to stay in a hostel but for me it was a new experience as since childhood I haven't stayed alone ever. We were allotted a room in a hostel which seemed to be quite old. The rooms and the other facilities were reasonably fine according to a hostel. I was not used to live and particularly sleep in a kind of unmaintained or a little unhygienic surrounding. So, as soon as I sent the photos to my parents they were concerned about me and also felt if I could shift to a hotel. But, I was determined to not to stick to my comfort zone. I didn't feel any kind of uneasiness or problem in the new environment due to the psychology and mindset with which I went. Moreover, I really liked the experience at the end due to various kinds of minor and major learnings.   

 In the hostel, I interacted with a lot of seniors of the IIT and especially we shared an amazing bond with our neighbours. The seniors often came to our room to talk about various things about our colleges, the system, subjects, opportunities,etc. We discussed about their vision and thinking about IITB and also talked about the various pros and cons of an "IITian" life. Also, they described about various details about research, projects, studies, jobs, companies,etc. It was a great time at the hostel which facilitated the networking with the students of one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. It was great to experience their way of life, daily routine, pyschology and lifestyle.    

Also, I interacted with fellow students and participants of the Techfest from different parts of the country. I had an amazing time discussing and sharing about each other's college, life, vision and experience. 

Overall, it was an amazing learning experience holistically.

Campus

As I mentioned above, the campus is really vast and statistically its spread across 545 acres surrounding the expansive Powai lake. At the first impression, the vastness of the campus and its spread across the intermittent forested area seems intimidating. There are around 23 hostels in the campus of which a few have been closed as they were too old. The campus is divided in two unwritten areas - the residential area and the academic area. Personally, I loved the greenery around the buildings and liked the way the roads always shined by the sunlight falling through the dense canopy of the trees. Some of the academic buildings seem to old and dilapidated from the outside but from the inside, the lecture halls & classes are renovated nicely and equipped with modern facilities. There are a few auditoriums for different purposes as per the capacity and requirements. The campus felt to be a different planet situated amidst the hustle & bustle of Mumbai. Almost every student is used to travel by cycle everyday within the campus. Every hostel had a wide-ranging parking just for cycles. 

 

I loved the food facilities too. There is a mess in every hostel but as vacations were going on during my stay so only a few hostels had mess working. There are various other food options in variety of canteens and restaurants in different corners of the campus. The food in the mess was wholesome, tasty as well as reasonably priced. 

Techfest

 I had registered for three workshops in the Techfest 2022. They were on Web 3.0, Blockchain and Design Thinking. The workshop on the first day was on Design Thinking which was conducted by Google . It was a fun learning experience as it was a hands-on practical approach of learning the core principles of Design Thinking. Following day, WazirX conducted the workshop on the concepts of cryptocurrency, cryptocurrency trends, future of cryptocurrency, crypto trading,etc. It was an insightful session to understand the technological and financial concepts of crypto. Also, it was all the more interesting as it was conducted by the industry leader in that field and also as it was in the 'Financial Capital of the country'. The third workshop was a workshop based on the practical and theory of blockchain. The session was thought-provoking and gave much knowledge about blockchain & also helped in developing a clear understanding of the fundamentals. 

 

One of the most awaited part of the event by me were the lectures. There were lectures by eminent personalities like the Honourable Tarja Halonen, the President of Finland, Lars Rasmussen, the co-founder of Google Maps(Where2Tech),  Kathryn Leuders, Associate scientist at NASA, and many other renowned leaders of different fields. The lectures were really amazing which provided a lot of knowledge about various things. Mainly, I was interested in the lectures of the President of Finland and the Co-Founder of Google Maps(Where2Tech). The honourable President delivered a great speech on women's rights and also had a good question-answer session with the audience. Lars Rasmussen delivered an intriguing and insightful speech in which he described his entire story about the birth of Google Maps and the development of Maps which is being used by everyone of us today. I was keen to listen to his story in person and know about his life events in detail. I loved the lectures and it was a wonderful opportunity to be part of the audience and listen to such knowledgeable and experienced people in-person.

The international blockchain summit and the industry 4.0 summit had a amazing line-up of speakers from the tech industry who shared their expertise in various topics and enlightened the audience. In the exhibitions, there were a number of unique projects developed by the students of IITB and also there weer foreign delegations displaying their projects at the expo. 

There were other entertainment events like the robowars, light show, etc. On the final night, there was an amazing EDM concert in the huge expanse of the ground in the campus. There were three international DJs performing in the concert. Also, another major highlight of the night was the drone light show. The drone light show was first time done by IIT Delhi students around the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises in New Delhi. This was the first time that such a drone light show was happening in IIT Bombay. It was really mesmerizing to witness this in person. 

 

#mumtechup

On the final day of the Techfest, as I had some spare time, I decided to use this opportunity for the good and searched for any tech event being organized in Mumbai. I regularly attend and participate in tech events in Bengaluru but this was the first time I attended a tech event in Mumbai. The meet-up was really informative and a really memorable learning experience for me. I met a lot of inspiring minds, industry leaders, experts, professionals, fellow students and tech community members there. I got to learn about several concepts and insights of the real-world & the tech industry. It was overall a wonderful experience which helped me learn, explore, connect, network and grow. I look forward to attend more tech events and would love to meet the tech community members of Mumbai. Please check out my blog on the event : https://aninquisitivethinker.blogspot.com/2022/12/mumbai-technology-meet-up-mumtechup.html

Mumbai 

The indelible memory of the trip was, of course, of the city of Mumbai. Mumbai ,as we all know, is known by various popular nicknames and phrases like "Mayanagri"  or the city of dreams, city that never sleeps, B-town, etc. but I actually felt and experienced the city and its life for the first time. I had been to Mumbai earlier when I was too young, so I don't have those distinct remembrance of the minute details about the city. As they say in the colloquial dialect, "ghai",  which literally translates to haste and hurry, can be felt in the city's air. Every person in the city has its own story, daily routine, means of livelihood, way of living, etc.. Every person in the city seem to be on a mission to reach some destination, by which I mean literally as well as metaphorically. Every one is in a race of life in Mumbai. 

Everyone's life is full of difficulties and problems at different points in time in different ways be it in any city, but it is not the same case as in Mumbai. Life in Mumbai is not the same as any city in the world, its unique in various terms. Moreover, even the city itself is divided in various areas which themselves define their own world and people in terms of the livelihood, culture, household, speed of living life, lavishness, difficulties and situations/circumstances. I haven't noticed such a contrast in the life of people living in the same city just a few kilometres apart. Its truly said that,

"Mumbai is not a city, its a different way of life"

Life in Mumbai as far as I observed is something on which an entire case study can be made and as there is so much to observe and learn from the city. Also, its not possible to view the city from a distant perspective as what one feels while being in the city is a totally different experience. People used to say that, once a person lives in Mumbai then he/she might never be able to cope up in a different setup of life in a different city. I couldn't comprehend the feeling behind this but now I totally get their point as its very difficult for a person living in the way of life of Mumbai to gel somewhere else and even viceversa. Mumbai is a different city which geographically might not have space to house people or expand but in reality provides a world of opportunities, way of livelihood even though full of struggle, space to dream & achieve, expand your world and grow. Its rightly said,

"Mumbai is like a giant piece of soul. Everytime a new person comes to Mumbai and attaches oneself to the city regardless of wherever you go after that, it travels with you, enriching you."

BKC

As I mentioned about the different worlds within Mumbai, the Bandra-Kurla Complex or BKC is one of the major hub of Mumbai. BKC is the financial hub of Mumbai and hence of the country. BKC spans over 370 hectares across the Mithi river and the Mahim Creek. Its spreads over such a huge area surrounded by and filled with tall skyscrapers and commercial "glass covered-buildings". I have seen huge tech parks in similar fashion in Bengaluru, which feel like their own small city, but BKC was both geographically and literally a region of Mumbai. It has the headquarters of all the major and minor international financial institutions & banks. As Bengaluru is called the "Silicon Valley of India" for various reasons known related to tech, Mumbai is rightly known as the "Financial Capital of India". BKC is a highly developed and ultra-modern area of Mumbai. I had gone to BKC to meet a good-old-close childhood friend and thus I got the chance to explore the vicinity as well as explore the surrounding areas & viewpoints.

Filmcity 

On the last day of my trip, I had some spare time before my return flight, so I planned to visit the famous filmcity of Mumbai. I had watched a lot of videos and documentaries online earlier about the shoot locations, shootings-behind the scenes, techniques of cinematography,etc. I was a always keen in understanding the working behind the scenes of any movie. The techniques, methods and plans which are prepared and executed for materializing a particular scene of a movie, serial, an ad or any content seem intriguing and thought-provoking. So, as I had already knew somewhat about the workings of how shooting happens in reality and what is shown on screen, it was the time to experience and have a look at the real locations and explore on-ground. It was a short tour but I observed and explored whichever parts which I knew about and was keen on. Also, there was a small "theme park" which showcased various shows on bollywood and methods of sound, VFX & lighting. This part was reasonably good, but for me it wasn't really a new thing as I have been a part of shows on similar concepts in the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. Overall, the main attraction for me was to see the working and locations on-ground and feel it. It was nice experience there.

Flight

This segment might seem weird and odd for many people but I would like to share my experience about my flight journey in this trip. This is because this was the first flight of my life. I had travelled by air when I was too young and thus practically this was the first time I was travelling by flight. 

Since many years, I had this fascination of travelling in a flight, but I didn't. I always had a keen interest in aviation. I am really inquisitive in the field of aviation too. I have been watching videos relating to aircrafts, airports, airlines,etc. I have watched videos of landing, take-off, cockpit operations, airport ground staff operations, air traffic control (ATC) operations, airline business models, airline workings, types of aircrafts, types of pilot licenses, construction of airports, airport security, investigation and so on. So, basically I am really curious & fond of learning & knowing anything and everything about aviation. Thus, being in an airport, following the processes of check-in, security & boarding was a "surreal experience" as I knew entire behind the scenes operations. I know many people would not be able to relate with me in this statement, who feel that travelling by flight is a just a means of transport, but given the awareness, knowledge, and curiosity I had before my first flight justifies the feeling.

 

 It was really fascinating to observe and notice the flight operations, crew operations, airport operations and behaviour & way of passengers in-person. I know that after this first flight experience, nothing would be so new and fascinating for me in various ways but I am sure that even if travelling by flight becomes a norm for me, some aviation observations will be intriguing for me to pay attention to. 

This was a great experience in itself.

 

This Mumbai trip will be a special trip and an experience of lifetime for me in various ways. It was really a memorable and enjoyable learning experience. I made a couple of new friends with whom I developed a great bond in a short span of time and I look forward to strengthening the bond in future. 

I will continue to gather new learnings and experiences by travelling to different places, being amongst different set of people and actively participating in activities which I feel would be valuable addition in my journey of life.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate that 

Experiences are Memories, 

Experiences are Learning  and  

Experiences are Invaluable.