mkdir memories…
It’s four in the morning, and it has been a rather long and eventful night. I gaze around the lab, surrounded by a dozen people programming arduously, ‘coding’ magic out of thin air. I was in a weird kind of high, (under the influence of caffeine and the terminal :] ) and my mind drifted away backward, around one year ago, when my life took an amazing turn. I take this chance to pen my thoughts down about the experiences I have had so far in this wonderful journey.
It’s been a year since I joined the Information Management Group, (IMG in short), a unique place where professionalism meets love, where anarchy meets harmony, and where dreams meet reality. We are a student-run group, devoted to making the digital lives of more than eight thousand students comfortable. We work in a wide range of topics, web development, information security, Open Source, game development, are just to name a few. Channel i is IMG’s ‘current’ magnum opus, which is a collection of web applications catered to the needs of our fellow students.
Rewind to a year back, my first semester had just gotten over and the spirit of recruitments was in the air. Being passionate about coding, I decided to try for IMG. One important thing that sets IMG apart from other technical groups is that all are equal in front of its eyes. When it comes to recruitment, don’t discriminate between a veteran and a newbie, as IMG values thirst for more knowledge over pre-existing ones. The written round was a combination of interesting puzzles and some simple HTML/CSS questions. Then came the technical round, followed by the HR interview, in which I came to know about the level of dedication and passion one needs to have to be a member of this revered group. To be frank, I was pretty scared wondering whether I would be able to handle the responsibilities of being an IMGian, but if there is anything my one year journey at IMG has taught me, it is that “help is always given at IMG, for those who ask for it” (yay harry potter! :-} )
After being initiated into IMG with a blast of a Chapo (think we are going to be best friends soon …..), we began to climb the steep slope of development, standing on the shoulders of giants. A series of lectures followed, each more challenging than the one before. Each lecture was followed by a fun assignment, which made us feel accomplished and thirsty for more at the same time. Soon we became familiar with HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Django, basic designing, thanks to the help of our wonderful seniors. To get our juices flowing we had game development assignments. And not to mention, the numerous chapos we had along the way! My first semester in IMG is easily the time my development skills grew the most. The first years are treated truly as children, with the seniors showering knowledge upon us, and helping us earnestly whenever we needed it. Remember the harry potter poster? Apparently, they aren’t just for decoration, you know! Another notable poster you will find is the one saying “Deadlines amuse me”. When passion meets dedication and hard work, you can’t expect anything less. There was not a day you could leave the lab, without learning anything new. I always used to be a lone wolf when it came to working, but IMG taught me otherwise. I slowly learned to code collaboratively, and that is what IMG in all its simplicity is about — it values teamwork more than anything else. After an hour of simultaneous coding with two or three people and then combining the work through the power of Git, the result you get is a magical thing. Similarly, you have Channel i, but on a much larger scale.
In the second year, every student is given his first major project, which will later go on to impact thousands of lives in this campus. And the tools used to accomplish the targets are no slack, from Raspberry pi’s, Oculus rift to dual Gtx 1080ti SLIs, the lab has got no bottlenecks. At any moment in the lab, several events keep going on, hackathons, discussions on information security, cryptocurrency, CTFs, competitive coding and what not! The lab is active 24/7, and its no wonder several of us pack our toothbrushes for the next day!
‘We work hard, we play harder’ — With the numerous chapos, the gaming nights, the dance parties, we don’t leave any accomplishment unattended to! The Annual IMG trip is a grand event during the second semester, which took place last year in Nainital. It is followed by an even memorable (albeit a sad one) farewell, when we bid farewell to our loving seniors, though we keep the memories forged, in our hearts forever.
With this, I would like to put my pen down and return back to the terminal. And in case you need us, you know where to find us!
