And the journey continues...
And the journey continues…
The second-year undergrad is in the exact middle ground between being naïve and experienced. Most people have found a comfortable routine that enables them to (mostly) manage the various academic and non-academic challenges that IISc life throws at them.
But there is still this thread of naïveté which survives, of young idealism not yet chipped and sharpened by the stones of reality. It’s refreshing to see that idealism hasn’t died in the second year of undergrad. Pragmatism is just the realization of practicality in one’s ideals. And this focus sharpens one’s purpose. Naturally, it’s a subject of the most intimate kind to touch upon, which also makes it one of the most interesting ones to describe. In the course of maturity, and what we commonly refer to as ‘growing up’, there is a very subtle shift from idealism to pragmatism, and hence, this makes the second year the perfect time to capture this transition.
Students of IISc are admirably passionate; Passionate about the subtleties of living, passionate about understanding the gross manifestations of these subtleties, passionate about weaving a personal story in response to an overtly scientific exposure, ridden with an imposing sense of objectivity, which one must masterfully deal with, lest it percolates and damages the appreciation of the subjective. In one sense, one’s passions dictate and reflect one’s personality, but that’s a very idealized take. Precisely because reality affects the realizations of the above, you might want to do something you’ve always wanted to, but still not be able to make yourself do it. How does one cope with this, with this potential barrier - be it physical, mental, or institutional - that comes in the way of realization?
For this quest, we inconvenienced several members of the second year. From their collective answers, we hence provide a general understanding (or at least a better bound) of the mind of the second year.
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Sweet(?) Beginnings
Most people who somehow found their way into the BS program of IISc already knew that for a very long time.
It’s curious to note that behind these young minds are supportive families, providing the necessary exposure to even allow the student to aspire for this chance. Moreover, these are also people who were very sure that this was the field they wanted to pursue, with many people remarking how the social expectations centred around the career path of an ‘engineer’ or a’doctor’ were too removed from the naive taste of what the future held for them, whatever that may be. And in here, we see the common false ‘dichotomy’ that Indian society passively validates. There’s this idea that the people pursuing ‘Science’ or a ‘BSc.’ are the residue of the common crowd, i.e. people who could not survive the rat race.
No student is thinking about breaking social stigmas or hierarchies while deciding to apply to IISc or wanting to pursue a career in research. It’s just the pure, noble love for academics that motivates them to find a place here amongst like-minded peers.
Now, one might be naturally wondering an auxiliary question - why do these people find science
interesting? The answer is, honestly, very trivial; it’s just this ultimate quest to understand nature. Nature is the ultimate muse. The mystery that surrounds nature is maddening and addictive, and the quest to resolve it (or rather, coming to a position to even resolve it) is a long trip down a rabbit hole, learning for the sake of learning - this is the main motivation for our second years to join here. We must also acknowledge the constant support, the constant activation of imagination from the teachers, siblings and parents of the student.
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(Great) Expectations?
“What were your expectations when you joined IISc, and do you think in some capacity, it has been fulfilled?” is a loaded question with a lot to unpack. Since IISc caters to a potpourri of academically motivated children, it is very hard to make everyone happy. And we realise this, but that doesn’t stop us from presenting the general ideas that people seem to have, to enrich and embolden the lives of the future juniors. (Juniors always have it easier compared to us ;)
First and foremost, and again, a very natural expectation that most people ha, was to be academically challenged. Most people who had this sort of expectation were very happy to be independent, with the understanding that they didn’t come here to be spoon-fed, and they learnt whatever they did, explored whatever they did at their own volition. They had no general premonition of what they wanted the course to be and were happy at discovering the liberal environment encouraging the same.
Others commented that they found the first three semesters a bit challenging, but also appreciated the liberal environment conducive to research. Helpful and impactful discussions with lovely seniors; professors willing to provide state-of-the-art research opportunities, everything is one fingertip away - you just have to ask. The general freedom was very well appreciated, as this gave people time to nurture hobbies, be part of elaborate clubs and once again - learn more.
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Major Major, What Major Did You Choose?
This is the most important decision in any UG student’s life. IISc curriculum offers a choice of six majors: The obvious PCMB, along with Earth Science and Materials. Students also have the option to minor in any of the major subjects and in bioengineering and quantum technologies.
“Until the ninth grade, I was more interested in physics, so I wanted to be a physicist. But in tenth class, when lockdown came, I started doing a lot of mathematics, solving problems and reading theory at the Olympiad level. Then all of a sudden, I realized that maths is the way to go. So, yeah, then I changed to mathematics, and that’s how my story started,” says Pradyun, a second-year mathematics major. This is a common trend among mathematics majors. The decision to go into the field of mathematics was made before joining the institute. But again, there are people who switched from physics to chemistry to biology, before finally landing on mathematics.
Almost 50% of the batch ends up pursuing a physics major. Muralidhar gave an interesting hypothesis for this. “I feel that the way physics, of all sciences, has been able to reach out to the general audience in terms of popular physics has made it very appealing. I think physics has succeeded as a science by being able to communicate with non-experts. So, when the students decide to pursue research, physics turns out to be a larger subgroup.” Which is, well, sort of true. Young Priyanshu, an aspiring cricketer, had his world turn around after a rejection from the under-16 team, which led him to rethink his career choice, and sent him down an internet rabbit hole of YouTube physicists, and years later, he found himself pursuing a Physics major at IISc. A lot of physics majors chose physics due to the versatility it offers in terms of working at the intersection of two disciplines and the flexibility to switch fields in the future, if need be.
“I was not sure at all. So, during counselling, after all the presentations, I was straight up confused, and it was a bit overwhelming. I was very clueless about what I wanted to do. Later, I decided to talk to some professors from different departments to see what they had to say, and based on that, I finally decided that I wanted to do Chemistry,” said Achintya. Whether it is Shouvik stuck between Biology and Mathematics, Abhinanda and Milan between Physics and Biology, Kalpesh with Materials and Physics—name any combination, and you’d find a person with that dilemma. There are so many people who dropped biology in 11th and 12th grade and still went ahead to pursue a biology major. This is not a bad thing at all! The interdisciplinary nature of IISc provides students enough exposure to pursue interests in multiple fields and explore fields they never considered before.
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Do you like what you learn?
The views on the curriculum are very divided. People who are certain about their majors from the get-go find the mandatory PCMB courses in the first three semesters misaligned with the general direction they want to take while following their interests. On the other hand, people who are unsure or want to work in interdisciplinary areas find it extremely helpful. It gives them more time to decide the course of their future, while exploring their fascinations beyond the subject boundaries. It is, however, a bit inconvenient to have three semesters of mandatory courses. With the 7th and 8th semesters preoccupied with thesis work, leaving only three semesters to take the courses in their field of interest, significantly affects the depths of their understanding, which is a setback when compared to their peers from other institutes who did not have these restrictions.
Muralidhar says, “I believe in a system where you can take a lot of electives. Some good
Humanities courses should be introduced, for example, something in philosophy, maybe literature. We need some breathing space apart from science and math. It’s a very interesting story. If you look at the original document detailing JN Tata’s vision for IISc, he included science, humanities, history, archaeology, literature, and medicine. I think medicine is being realized now, but JN Tata wanted more from this institute. There’s still a long way to go.” Many other students share his views and want the institute to have other departments as strong as the Science and Engineering ones, if IISc has to be on par with top universities like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, etc.
“I think our attendance policy is cruel. For a one-credit course, you can’t afford to miss even one class. Maybe you didn’t know when the classes start, so you miss a couple of lectures, and then if the professor takes leave for another reason, you’re done for. 80% policy doesn’t make sense. Of course, you should have a limit or as people won’t come to classes, but I think 70% would be somewhat ideal. And it’s not always the case that medical reasons are the only thing that will impact you, too. You might need some mental space for yourself. You might need a break. Then what do you do? You don’t have any health certificate as such, but you need some time for yourself to recover from whatever you’re going through, even though you don’t have proof.” Says Subraja, voicing the frustrations of all the undergraduates at IISc. In all our interviews, if there is one thing everyone unanimously agreed on, that the IISc’s attendance policy needs to be modified to better fit the needs of the students.
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Women in Mathematics?
The mathematics major at IISc has a tradition of just one female student every year, making the gender ratio 1:20, compared to biology, which is almost always balanced at 1:1 and the IISc average of 1:6. We asked many students why they might feel this is the case, and all we got was an ‘I don’t know’. Many students pointed out how this disparity is also seen amongst professors in technical departments like engineering and mathematics, with many departments not having a single female faculty member.
“I don’t know. When I came here, many of them [girls] were interested in mathematics. They
shifted to other subjects, later. It might be that the girls-to-boys ratio in the class is too daunting. I mean, there is BTech now. So, I can see at least five to six girls in the math class. But later, I know I’ll be the only one left in the core courses.” Samanwita nods when asked if she finds it daunting to be the only girl. “Sometimes it’s like, you are representing all women there. You can be bad at something; talking about myself, I think I am terrible at math, but it’s the only thing I enjoy. Even if I need help, I find it difficult to ask for it.”
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So you mean Books are not everything?
“There’s a lot of freedom in IISc, compared to some other colleges, because of the smaller batch size. We were able to open clubs as first-year students. We could participate in activities, in fests, at the forefront, which usually does not happen in the first year.” Says Kalpesh, an integral part of Vicharaka, the robotics club of IISc. On the other hand, many people find the social life a bit lacklustre. “IISc has very few branches, and the students here are much more academically oriented. So, as far as the social life is concerned, I’d say it’s much tamer, and it’s not what I thought I’d be doing in college. I thought I’d be studying just the night before the midterms or the endof terms, but it’s not like that here.”
“I’m really trying to improve my social life. It’s not easy for me to communicate with people. I have developed a group of friends, and it’s hard for me to come out of that group and talk with other classmates. I don’t even know half the people who are with me in my major.”
Krish says, “If you are looking for like-minded people, don’t passively wait for them to approach you. Actively try to make people feel seen and make people feel heard when they want to be heard, then I think IISc is a wonderful thing. Because in a batch of 150 to 160 students, you will have at least five or six people who resonate with you in some way or another. Another thing I really like about the social life here compared to my friends’ in IITs, is that I don’t see my friends engaging with a lot of PhD students, and I think this is an opportunity IISc has provided me with.”
Despite the small UG population of IISc, the club culture is thriving. There is no bar for entry, and anyone interested can participate. One big observation is that in the talks that various clubs organize, many first years show up, but not a lot of second and third years. “All the clubs are conducting talks, but to be honest, I don’t attend unless I’m really interested in them. You go to a talk, attend for a few hours, and you come back and usually end up forgetting about it. So, I wouldn’t say it’s very beneficial, but it is perhaps beneficial only to those who are interested in it.”
You can see second years playing cricket at midnight in the U and S block hostels. Basketball, football, ultimate frisbee, table tennis, foosball, etc., both competitively and recreationally. This is a huge part of the IISc UG life. MDFC, Yaaran Da Tashan, Alankar, Rhythmica, and Rangmanch are other cultural clubs at IISc with significant contributions from the undergraduates.
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Peek into the Future
Although most people want to either pursue a Master’s abroad or in IISc and then go on to do a PhD, others are rethinking their decisions and want to explore industry research, science communication and teaching as alternate career trajectories if things don’t pan out as planned.
“I have come to realise that research is not as rewarding for society on a short timescale. I personally feel that you can’t do something tangible in your own lifetime. So I’m thinking of keeping math as a hobby and giving UPSC, to see some change in society.” Says Muralidhar.
Pradyun, one of the conveners of Samasya, the UG mathematics club, says, “Till my second semester, I was really interested in number theory, manipulating integers and all. But after taking a course on quantum physics in the third semester, I’ve shifted my focus to quantum physics and physics in general because I now believe that if you’re doing something, it should be applied somewhere, then you can be certain that your work is not going to waste. So now I’ve become more interested in physics and modelling reality with mathematics.”
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Conclusion
After much contemplation and conversation, we arrive at a crude yet honest understanding of the second-year undergraduate. At its core, the second-year experience is a peculiar mix of the familiar and the unknown—a tightrope walk between the comfort of routine and the unsettling realization of looming decisions. The second-year undergraduate is no longer a fledgling, but neither are they fully formed in their academic or personal journeys. They possess enough experience to manoeuvre through academic rigours, yet still retain the capacity to be awed, still find themselves grappling with the big questions that define their path forward.
Perhaps the most compelling takeaway from this collective exploration is that the second year is a time of transition—of realizing that passion alone does not suffice, that structure and discipline must accompany enthusiasm. Yet, it is also a reminder that passion itself does not wither away. Instead, it evolves, tempered by the trials of coursework, the occasional pang of disillusionment, and the discovery of new intellectual fascinations. What remains unchanged is the drive to understand, to seek, and to pursue knowledge for its own sake.
And in this ever-fluctuating balance between idealism and pragmatism, between unshaped curiosity and structured inquiry, the second-year undergraduate finds meaning—not in definitive answers, but in the continued pursuit of them. It is not about knowing exactly where one will end up, but about embracing the process of getting there. For all its uncertainties, the second year is a paradoxical comfort—a place where the future is uncertain, but the passion for learning remains an unwavering constant.