THE DASA LIFE (2)
(Part 2? Well actually more like the male perspective of things)
Be it in a party, a concert, a funeral or the local bus stop, if the person talking to you is in an Indian, 10/10 times the topic of education will creep up, and let’s say that you have the unfortunate luck of belonging to the deadly trident, classes 10 through 12, nothing else shall ever be discussed. We Indians put a lot of emphasis on education and the one common motto that seems to be drilled into every NRI parent’s head is “Beta undergraduate ke liye India is best, post grad ke liye bahar chale jao”.
I don’t know if you were forced to come here or if you came here on your own free will, but I do know this, you will come out of these 4 years a changed person. If you are an NRI and if you can afford the extravagant 7000 USD per annum price tag then you most certainly belong to a certain type of household many would call ‘spoilt’. Life in NITK changes you, it grounds you and teaches you lessons you couldn’t possibly have learnt under the care of your parents. Many of you will be worried about how you are going to adjust with the low meat, low cleanliness, no western toilet or AC standard. Don’t be. Use this opportunity to grow and experience new things. All of your seniors have gone through the same things you are going to go though and you will come out of your experience here at NITK smiling, wishing that you had a bit more time, just as they did. What I’ve said above doesn’t come from a place of lack of sympathy, it comes from a place of understanding and trust; we know that you will pull though. The DASA community at NITK is pretty close knit so rest assured, we’ve got your back if you need it, Jack.
DASA is a central government initiative started in the year 2001 and every year about a hundred students belonging to various parts of the world (*cough*gulf*cough* ;) ) are admitted into NITK through this scheme. The admission procedure is simple, write the Math, Physics and Chem SAT Subject test, score high, Apply though www.dasanit.org, and wait for a month. If you are applying for
an upgrade then add praying that some soul is stupid enough to give up NITK.
Okay so now you’ve got your acceptance letter, Congrats!! Wohooo !! So what do you do next?
Pick up your phone and be sure to book a room preferably at Sai Suraj International, the admission process takes a lot of time. Suraj has cheap rooms for the standard they provide and have very good
dining establishments. It’s close to the college too so you won’t have to travel all the way back to Mangalore. Pack only clothes, chocolates and electronics (night lamp, portable fan, laptop, Socket
converter with proper voltage stabilization, external hardrive or usb sticks, mobile battery pack, speakers etc) everything else can be bought in India and you don’t need to cargo everything from
home. FlipKart is your best friend. There are cooperative societies on campus and everything you could possibly need is available there. The first three weeks of college will be jam packed with loads of orientations from different clubs and be sure to attend all of them. You will have loads of fun and make new friends.
If you are a boy then congrats! You have access to the fastest LAN speed on campus! Each room accommodates 3 people and has 2 fans, 3 cupboards and 3 LAN ports (you can average about 0.8MBps on them so have fun downloading the latest seasons of GoT). Power cuts are not that often in the first semester but investing in a rechargeable lamp offers redundancy. Water cuts are also a minimum in the first semester. The mess is good but don’t expect Hyderabadi biryani out of them.
The food they make does taste good but the only problem is that it becomes very monotonous very quickly. Thankfully you have the added facilities of calling on the night canteen, The Nonveg canteen and a service called 3rddhaba which delivers KFC,Dominos etc to the campus if your taste buds demand a change. You will never starve on campus. There are kiosks that provide good food all around the campus! The cleaner at the first hostel block is very good and if you are nice to him will help you in a lot of things. If you are prone to getting sick easily then I suggest buying 5 gallon bottles of water from the hostel union. The night guards are pretty strict so be in the hostel before 10:30.
There is no dress code as such so you don’t need to go buy a lot of khakis but have a few for presentations and other occasions. Jeans, t shirts and shirts are the staples of college. Avoid jeans with a lot of scuff or show. Shorts are a big no no in any academic building within the campus and trackpants are not allowed in the library. There are predominantly only 2 climates in Surathkal, ie, heat and heat+ rain so buy clothes accordingly. Sport shirts are again a good investment because they dry easily. If washing clothes by yourself is not for you then there are laundry services available on campus and in Surathkal. If you don’t like the hair saloon on campus there are a few in Surathkal that do a pretty good job. Contact your seniors for their locations.
For the muslims out there, there are 2 mosques in the vicinity of campus, one in Mukka and the other in Surathkal. Busses to them can be got on the main road directly. Ask your seniors for help.
Mess dinner starts at 7 30 so I advise purchasing dates and other items to break and start your fast during ramadan. Stay hydrated as it does get pretty hot at times.
There is a huge well equipped gym exclusive for guys, multiple basketball courts, football/ cricket pitches and an Olympic size swimming pool so don’t worry all the gains you made during the summer can be burnt off pretty easily once you get to college :P
Most professors don’t care if you are DASA of not so discrimination is low but be nice to them as you will reap what you sow. Show interest in their subjects and be vocal. Most of them are very helpful and care about your grades as much as you do. If you got into NITK that means you are smart. Don’t get discouraged by the other students, study hard. Fear of not being good enough is your number one enemy. Do not expect individual personalised attention, I suggest sitting in the front or in the middle if you want the professor to at least know your name.
The infirmary on campus should be gone to only for petty diseases and wound dressing. The doctors there are notorious for screwing up and might come off as inconsiderate.
The campus is green and luscious, stars can be easily spotted at night and the beach is a gift sent from the heavens if you are a nature or a photography buff. Early morning or late night walks are a good stress reliever after the gruesome test cramming or the all night counter strike LAN war.
Ragging is minimal and virtually non-existent among DASA students. You will be called from time to time to your senior’s room but that is to get to know you and find out more about you.
I hope all the information I’ve provided above is enough to super charge your curiosity. This is nowhere an exhaustive list of tips. Talk to your friends and your seniors and share your experiences.
I’ve only covered certain topics, if you want to find out more about the technical and social clubs on campus please also read Chavi Singal’s post called “The Dasa Life”.
Welcome to NITK.
Muhammed Danish Khan
(E&E Engineering)
Be it in a party, a concert, a funeral or the local bus stop, if the person talking to you is in an Indian, 10/10 times the topic of education will creep up, and let’s say that you have the unfortunate luck of belonging to the deadly trident, classes 10 through 12, nothing else shall ever be discussed. We Indians put a lot of emphasis on education and the one common motto that seems to be drilled into every NRI parent’s head is “Beta undergraduate ke liye India is best, post grad ke liye bahar chale jao”.
I don’t know if you were forced to come here or if you came here on your own free will, but I do know this, you will come out of these 4 years a changed person. If you are an NRI and if you can afford the extravagant 7000 USD per annum price tag then you most certainly belong to a certain type of household many would call ‘spoilt’. Life in NITK changes you, it grounds you and teaches you lessons you couldn’t possibly have learnt under the care of your parents. Many of you will be worried about how you are going to adjust with the low meat, low cleanliness, no western toilet or AC standard. Don’t be. Use this opportunity to grow and experience new things. All of your seniors have gone through the same things you are going to go though and you will come out of your experience here at NITK smiling, wishing that you had a bit more time, just as they did. What I’ve said above doesn’t come from a place of lack of sympathy, it comes from a place of understanding and trust; we know that you will pull though. The DASA community at NITK is pretty close knit so rest assured, we’ve got your back if you need it, Jack.
DASA is a central government initiative started in the year 2001 and every year about a hundred students belonging to various parts of the world (*cough*gulf*cough* ;) ) are admitted into NITK through this scheme. The admission procedure is simple, write the Math, Physics and Chem SAT Subject test, score high, Apply though www.dasanit.org, and wait for a month. If you are applying for
an upgrade then add praying that some soul is stupid enough to give up NITK.
Okay so now you’ve got your acceptance letter, Congrats!! Wohooo !! So what do you do next?
Pick up your phone and be sure to book a room preferably at Sai Suraj International, the admission process takes a lot of time. Suraj has cheap rooms for the standard they provide and have very good
dining establishments. It’s close to the college too so you won’t have to travel all the way back to Mangalore. Pack only clothes, chocolates and electronics (night lamp, portable fan, laptop, Socket
converter with proper voltage stabilization, external hardrive or usb sticks, mobile battery pack, speakers etc) everything else can be bought in India and you don’t need to cargo everything from
home. FlipKart is your best friend. There are cooperative societies on campus and everything you could possibly need is available there. The first three weeks of college will be jam packed with loads of orientations from different clubs and be sure to attend all of them. You will have loads of fun and make new friends.
If you are a boy then congrats! You have access to the fastest LAN speed on campus! Each room accommodates 3 people and has 2 fans, 3 cupboards and 3 LAN ports (you can average about 0.8MBps on them so have fun downloading the latest seasons of GoT). Power cuts are not that often in the first semester but investing in a rechargeable lamp offers redundancy. Water cuts are also a minimum in the first semester. The mess is good but don’t expect Hyderabadi biryani out of them.
The food they make does taste good but the only problem is that it becomes very monotonous very quickly. Thankfully you have the added facilities of calling on the night canteen, The Nonveg canteen and a service called 3rddhaba which delivers KFC,Dominos etc to the campus if your taste buds demand a change. You will never starve on campus. There are kiosks that provide good food all around the campus! The cleaner at the first hostel block is very good and if you are nice to him will help you in a lot of things. If you are prone to getting sick easily then I suggest buying 5 gallon bottles of water from the hostel union. The night guards are pretty strict so be in the hostel before 10:30.
There is no dress code as such so you don’t need to go buy a lot of khakis but have a few for presentations and other occasions. Jeans, t shirts and shirts are the staples of college. Avoid jeans with a lot of scuff or show. Shorts are a big no no in any academic building within the campus and trackpants are not allowed in the library. There are predominantly only 2 climates in Surathkal, ie, heat and heat+ rain so buy clothes accordingly. Sport shirts are again a good investment because they dry easily. If washing clothes by yourself is not for you then there are laundry services available on campus and in Surathkal. If you don’t like the hair saloon on campus there are a few in Surathkal that do a pretty good job. Contact your seniors for their locations.
For the muslims out there, there are 2 mosques in the vicinity of campus, one in Mukka and the other in Surathkal. Busses to them can be got on the main road directly. Ask your seniors for help.
Mess dinner starts at 7 30 so I advise purchasing dates and other items to break and start your fast during ramadan. Stay hydrated as it does get pretty hot at times.
There is a huge well equipped gym exclusive for guys, multiple basketball courts, football/ cricket pitches and an Olympic size swimming pool so don’t worry all the gains you made during the summer can be burnt off pretty easily once you get to college :P
Most professors don’t care if you are DASA of not so discrimination is low but be nice to them as you will reap what you sow. Show interest in their subjects and be vocal. Most of them are very helpful and care about your grades as much as you do. If you got into NITK that means you are smart. Don’t get discouraged by the other students, study hard. Fear of not being good enough is your number one enemy. Do not expect individual personalised attention, I suggest sitting in the front or in the middle if you want the professor to at least know your name.
The infirmary on campus should be gone to only for petty diseases and wound dressing. The doctors there are notorious for screwing up and might come off as inconsiderate.
The campus is green and luscious, stars can be easily spotted at night and the beach is a gift sent from the heavens if you are a nature or a photography buff. Early morning or late night walks are a good stress reliever after the gruesome test cramming or the all night counter strike LAN war.
Ragging is minimal and virtually non-existent among DASA students. You will be called from time to time to your senior’s room but that is to get to know you and find out more about you.
I hope all the information I’ve provided above is enough to super charge your curiosity. This is nowhere an exhaustive list of tips. Talk to your friends and your seniors and share your experiences.
I’ve only covered certain topics, if you want to find out more about the technical and social clubs on campus please also read Chavi Singal’s post called “The Dasa Life”.
Welcome to NITK.
Muhammed Danish Khan
(E&E Engineering)