Those were the Best Days of my life... Review on Manipal Institute of Technology

Aankhon Mein Hazaron Sapne,

Dil Me Liye The Armaan -

Asman Ko Chhuna Hai,

Honge Hum Kalki Buniyaad...

Yaadein Hai Saath Hardam

Manipal Ke Woh Mithe Pal...

Shararat Ke Woh Din,

Masti Aur Yaari Ke Din

Woh The Suhane Din Apne...

(Lines from the Manipal rendition of Summer of '69)

Can check the video at:

https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1408078798057876623&q=manipal

Manipal - the sweetest dream for me on earth. The beautiful University Town of India, the place where I met life... Those were definitely the best days of my life!!!

In general, would just run you through my love for Manipal before I get down to the College details... I had never known there could be heaven on earth or at least never seen one. Situated at the feet of the Western Ghats, Manipal turned out to be full of surprises for me. As to my tenure, I was there from 2001 - 2005. And again I feel like saying that those definitely were the best days of my life! (Excuse my obsession!!) Its strategical position is what makes you feel good at the very first go. The nearest Sea Beach is a 15 minutes' ride from the campus. And the highest falls of India, Jog Falls is a mere 4 hours. Goa too is just 4 hours away by train. Experiencing one of the Highest Rainfalls in the country, Manipal boasts of its lavish greenery, clean breathable air and pleasant weather almost 365 days of the year. The summers become a bit too humid but other than that there's hardly any drawback... Since the entire place belongs mainly to the campus area, I'll come to the details when I write about the campus.

Manipal Institute of Technology was under VTU till a year before 2001. Now it's a part of the Deemed University MAHE (Manipal Academy of Higher Education). Known mostly for its KMC (Kasturba Medical College), MAHE is a trust with the likes of Mr. N R Narayana Murthy on the Board.

Infrastructure: MIT can boast of a good infrastructure both in terms of administration and facilities. As long as I was there, at least, there hadn't been any major administrational hitch that could upset us. Fairly transparent in their rules and policies, MAHE was strict enough on occasions that demanded a tough handling. There were a few failures but there never was a repetition at least. As for the facilities part, we always had well equipped laboratories with enough number of experimental set-ups or machines to accommodate the entire batch. The Laboratory equipments were pretty up-to-date and very much usable. Especially, the presence of well trained assistants used to make our pains lesser on many occasions. Classrooms were pretty well maintained with enough space and good aeration.

Faculty: The faculty is one area where MIT needs to work hard like hell. It's somewhat plain and clear that MAHE hasn't as yet been able to attract quite a few well bred Professors or Lecturers. However, there's another aspect to this problem too. Manipal's remote location sometimes makes it a less preferred place to be in, especially for families or even bachelors. Life other than that on-campus is rather dull and that does keep away a lot of people. However, whatever amount of faculty I faced, and in particular the young generation was pretty willing to take up teaching as a learning process. So there was a definite share of give-and-take and that helped us students to a large extent.

Campus: The campus, in the simplest of terms, was magnificent. The tall buildings (there's one Old Building and a New one...) or the green surroundings, everything seemed to have been painted by the perfect painter. The entry to the campus is nowadays marked by a huge "Pai", symbolizing the founder Dr. T M A Pai. The hostels are well located and well maintained. The new 10th Block Men's Hostel is the largest on-campus Hostel in Asia as of now. The mess facilities were pretty good too. Though food there could never have matched up to home food, it definitely was better than many other places. A variety of caterers in fact, made things a lot easier. There was a Hostel Library, BBC (Basket Ball Court), Cricket Ground, Swimming Pool, Indoor Stadium, etc... The Night Canteens added to our joy of living in a hostel and having unlimited junk food!!:) MAHE had its own ICICI Branch with about 5 ATMs strewn all over the place. A branch of Syndicate Bank operated within the MIT Campus (incidentally Syndicate has originated from Manipal only). The Library catering to us MITians, was a huge structure and was a store house of innumerable books of various interests. Powered by a separate section for journals as well as one for all previous year Projects carried out in all streams, this was a hot favorite spot for all the book-worms.

On-Campus Recreation: Loads of College Fests and Clubs were a big advantage for MIT people. Revels, various others programs by the Clubs or the MAHE Festival UTSAV were a welcome relief for the students. There were a few so-called Movie Theaters too. With their small screens and pirated versions of all Hindi and English movies, they were fun and headache sewn into one!!

Surroundings: When I had left Manipal, there were more than enough rocking chill out spots: Dollops (the hot favorite eating joint), Cafe Coffee Day, Baskin Robbins, Shack Point (one of my personal favorites), Big Daddy, Valley View International, Hot 'n Cool, Hot Spot and many many more. There were also quite a few discs like Sphinx and a Bowling Alley + Pool Joint. Cool typical college clothes were available in plenty in many shops like "Change", "Cotton World", and “Grass" etc. There were loads of small places offering good Softies, Tikki Chaats, Samosa, Jalebi, Halwa etc... (Ummmmm...)

On the whole Manipal can be termed as the place to be in!! But the money factor does matter. Middle class can afford to pay for its high tuition fees but then again, it's not for everyone. The high amount of fine that used to be imposed on us did succeed in keeping us away from doing a lot of intentional or unintentional mistakes, but sometimes a true strict atmosphere can lead to a mental breakdown.

You can build a beautiful career if you so wish to, in a place like Manipal. However, the recreations might also become distractions which might eventually lead to academic failure on part of a student. Manipal can either make you or break you. For me, Manipal was the stepping stone. Staying in a hostel, meeting people from round India and even the world taught me a much broader perspective of life. My performance, with the able guidance of my Profs, made me more self-reliant. It has definitely made life a lot worthier for me...

Thanks for the reading...