ON CAMPUS: MAY 29TH - JUNE 2ND 2024
Wayanad Reward System initiative (solely from our house, not related to the Paradox team) is an exclusive opportunity, promising REWARDS for achievers from our house community, at Paradox 2024! Please get in touch with your GL to let him/her know about your participation plans now if you want to be a part of this. Let's seize this opportunity to showcase the spirit and talent of Wayanad House!
LogicLooM is one of the best events being hosted from the Wayanad House at the Technicals category of IITM-Paradox for the last few terms. Last term at Margazhi, it witnessed more than 400+ registrations and received the highest budget allocation among all technical events. Overall, it was a grand success and participants wished to have a 2nd version, so here we are!
Wayanadians, we are waiting to meet you at campus!
Let's answer some of the most asked "doubts" first :)
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AFTER REACHING CHENNAI
The IIT Madras campus is located on the Sardar Patel Road, half-way between the Raj Bhavan and the Adyar bus terminus, i.e. about 12 kms from Chennai Central. The other landmarks are the Guindy Snake Park adjacent to the IIT main gate and the Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) campus lying opposite to ours. The travel time from the airport, railway stations or Koyambedu bus terminus is approximately 45mins.
AFTER REACHING IIT MADRAS
Once you reach the In-gate, there are buses to Gajendra Circle (near the administrative block and Central Library), the academic zone and the hostels (they are around 3.8 km from the main gate) almost every 15 minutes during 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The following are the ways to reach IIT from railway stations, airport, and bus terminus.
FROM MGR CHENNAI CENTRAL RAILWAY (MAS) STATION
Taxi: If you have heavy luggage or with a group of more than 3 persons, it would be convenient for you to hire an auto or a taxi. The Chennai Central Railway Station has a system of pre-paid autos and taxis. Else, you can travel by call taxi. There is a token booth for call taxis outside the station. Alternatively, you may also choose to hire an auto or taxi yourself. The fare to the campus from Chennai Central will be around Rs. 250- 300/- for a taxi, which will drop you at the hostels, which are about 3.2 kms from the IIT main gate. Taxis can either be pre-paid (the facility is available just outside the Chennai Central railway station), or can be booked with any taxi operator like Ola or Uber.
Auto rickshaws: It is important to note that auto rickshaws in Chennai do not run on metre. The fare quoted by the driver is generally unreasonably high, so it is advisable to bargain and haggle, starting with about Rs.30-50 lesser than the quoted fare. The fare will be about Rs. 130/- for an autorickshaw.
Local Train: 1. Use the subway and cross the street in front of the Chennai Central Railway Station, to reach Park Town station. 2. Get tickets for train going to Kasturibai Nagar (Adyar). You can get a train every 20 minutes on weekdays during 4:20 am to 10:30 pm and every 30 minutes on weekends during 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 3. On reaching Kasturibai Nagar, get down and ask for Sardar Patel Road or IIT Madras. The In-gate of IIT Madras is at a walking distance of 5 minutes from the station. You can also go to Park Railway Station opposite the Central station and take a local train to Guindy or Saidapet station and reach the campus from there by the buses mentioned below. We advise you not to use this mode if you are travelling with a heavy luggage.
City Bus: If you are travelling with light luggage, you can take a city bus to IIT. The bus stop is right opposite the Central Station. You could use the subway to cross the road which is perpetually busy. Your options are: 1. The direct buses to the campus are 19B and 5C. If you take any of them, get down at Gandhi Mandapam or CLRI, which is at walking distance from the IIT main gate. 2. You can also take any bus to Saidapet and from there, any bus heading for Adyar or Besant Nagar Adyar (5B, 47, 47A, 47D, 23C etc.) which will drop you right in front of the IIT gate, on the opposite side. 3. You could also take any bus to Adyar; there are frequent buses from Adyar Signal to the campus.
FROM CHENNAI EGMORE RAILWAY (MS) STATION
You can take 23C to IIT or a 23E, 23A, 23G to Adyar signal from where there are a number of buses to IIT. Current auto and taxi fares from Egmore are around Rs. 120/- and Rs. 180/- respectively. You can also make use of Call Taxi, Ola, or Uber. Alternatively, a local train to Guindy can be taken.
FROM CHENNAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
If you arrive at the Chennai Meenambakkam Airport, you can make your way to the Institute in a Call Taxi, Ola, or Uber. PrePaid Taxis from the airport to inside the campus cost about Rs.250. Or take a bus, PP21.
FROM BUS TERMINUS, CMBT, KOYAMBEDU
Chennai interstate/intercity bus terminus is called Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus, commonly known as CMBT. From CMBT, you can come to institute by taking city bus 23M or by Call Taxi, Ola, or Uber. On the way if your bus stops at Anna University or CLRI.
Credits: Src https://web.iitm.ac.in
Sure! Please download the PDF at https://acr.iitm.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IIT-Map-FINAL-27-07-2021.pdf
Always carry your IITM ID card with you. You may be denied entry into the campus without your ID card.
The four IITM campus gates are Main gate, Velachary gate, Tharamani gate (behind Sangam ground) & Kanagam gate (behind Mandakini hostel, close to Tharamani gate)
Internal IIT bus services (free) are operational from 6.15 am to 10 pm. You will get a bus every 15 minutes from IITM main gate and Velachary gate. You can use the internal buses to reach all 4 gates. However, you will need to walk a bit for Tharamani and Kanagam gates.
You can use only the main gate for campus entry after 9 PM!
Nearest bus-stops: Do note that buses may be crowded and not a good option if you are carrying luggage. From IIT main gate: IIT main gate bus stop, From Velachary gate: Gandhi road bus stop, From Tharamani gate: Pillaiyar Koil bus stop
Messes will be allotted to you randomly, probly on the basis of distance, i.e., the mess closest to you will be the one you end up in. Cuisine will be random too, so don’t expect that just because you requested for South Indian, that somoene will actually bother to read your request and allocate that to you. Allottments happen based on load balancing, i.e., each mess will be given a fixed no. of students, whom they will cater to. This means that if too many people request for South Indian, some will end up with North and vice versa
Strict checking takes place at each mess, so you won’t be able to swap messes or cuisines. If you try and get caught, that will be on you :(
Food is hygenic and nice.
Food courts (Ishtar etc.) and a restaurant (Zaitoon) are available on campus in case you want to eat outside the mess, but you will need to pay separately for that :)
Mess timings are generally followed strictly, so make sure you reach the messes in time :)
24x7 food points are functional across campus, so you can go get snacks etc. even in the middle of the night if needed
Credits: Thanks to Anupam Sir!
When you arrive on campus, please make sure you arrive on the day that was communicated to you and not before that. If you plan to arrive earlier, it is imperative that you inform IITM about it beforehand and get written permission. Without that, you may not be allowed into the hostel.
When you reach your hostel, you will need to check-in with the guard, who will hand over your room keys to you. Sometimes room keys are not available with the guard because the keys are missing or the people who were occupying the room have refused to vacate it. In both cases, wait for a bit (1-2 hours) and the guard or someone from the hostel admin’s office will sort things out for you :)
Accommodation can range between 1 to 4 people per room. Last yr, we came across only max. 2 people per room. Do note that the room size may not be proportional to the no. of people, i.e., you may end up with 2 people being stuffed into a single person accommodation sized room. It depends on how many people have been promised accommodation vs. rooms available.
Hostel allocations are fixed, and so are the room allocations. You can swap rooms within a hostel informally, but inter-hostel swaps may run into problems as the guards of different hostels may not allow you inside
The hostel warden will not take any responsibility for anything except for the following: Room, cots, electricity, water, bathrooms, general cleanliness. He will redirect you to the IITM BS co-ordinator for everything else such as mattress, pillows, food etc.
The contact details of the IITM BS co-ordinator will not be shared with you. The warden or hostel admin won’t care to respond to your requests for help and direct you to the co-ordinator, who will be missing in action. I guess you know what this means. Yes, it means that you are on your own for the first 12-24 hours. It is important that you understand this and prepare accordingly so that you are not taken by surprise when you reach the hostel. There will be no welcoming committee with garlands and fresh coconut water waiting for you. This is a hostel, not a hotel
Bathrooms are shared. There are approx. 3 shower stalls (concrete floor, white tiles, wooden doors) and 3 toilets in one bathroom (could be western, could be Indian) per 10-15 students. I didn’t ever have to wait for a shower/toilet to become empty, so the number of bathrooms seems to be adequate :)
Soaps (bathing, hand wash, cleaning clothes) and tissues are not provided. Bring everything you need with you, including first aid and medication (the first aid box in the hostel was highly inadequate). Remember - this is a hostel, not a hotel!
Clean drinking water (hot/normal/cold) is available at multiple points on each hostel floor and all food messes as well!
Mattresse, pillow, bedsheet etc. will be provided separately and are part of the payment you make for the hostel acco. These could be placed in your room already, or you might be asked to collect the same from prearranged spots later during the day/night. The timing and spots will be communicated to you via email
IMPORTANT - Keep checking your mails regularly throughout your stay as nearly all the important stuff will be shared with you via email
Bring your own locks: Bring one for the main door and another for the cupboard. The lock for the cupboard should be small, because it won’t fit into the cupboard latch otherwise. The lock for the main door should have at least 2 keys so that you can share one with your room partner
You will need to wash your own clothes. There are no laundry services available. Some hostels do have washing machines and irons.
LATE CHECK OUT: In case you are checking out in the morning and your train/bus happens to be in the evening or late at night, it’s going to get problematic for you as IITM will not allow you to overstay in the hostel unless you pay them for the extra time you plan to stay. I have seen some (very few) students get fined 1000 rupees per day for overstaying. If you plan to retain the hostel room for the day, then either pay for that day or keep the bags with the security guard and find a nice air conditioned room and park yourself there. I had chosen the Central Library for this purpose. Sometimes the IITM folks do extend the checkout time, but that’s adhoc and shouldn’t be your primary plan. In our case, the checkout time was 10 AM, then 12 noon, and finally 4 PM. Also note that you will be really tired by the last day, so if you plan to spend the day roaming in Chennai in all the heat and humidity before boarding your train, its not going to happen. You will be back at the campus in a few hours, more tired and dehydrated than when you had left, with no hostel room to relax in or bathroom to shower in.
Credits: Thanks to Anupam Sir!
This is being updated!
Beaches!
Marina: You can avoid
Elliot: Nice :)
Thiruvanmiyur: Great!
Elliot and Thiruvanmiyur are next to each other. Best time to visit is early morning at around 5 am. Both are within 5-10 kms of the campus and autos will take anywhere between 150-250 rupees one way. Try not to visit beaches in the evenings/nights as entering the water at that time could be dangerous. There are no lifeguards per se and no changing rooms etc., so if you get wet, you stay wet. Don’t go too deep into the water. The undercurrents are strong and can pull you into the sea easily. Also bring plastic polythenes to keep your valuables safe from water
Local markets: You may visit the markets near Velachary. Nice shops and fantastic food at local joints. There are a number of other nice markets nearby, which you can ask about from the security guards
Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry: Can be covered in a day, but it is so hot that you won’t be able to do anything during the day. Better to travel at night, enjoy during the early morning hours and then leave for Chennai after a good breakfast
Other points of interest in Chennai: Refer to Tripadvisor or any other site on Google
Credits: Thanks to Anupam Sir!
We (Advait, Pritesh, Somsubhra, Goutham) and most of your Group leaders would be there at the campus. Don't feel shy & do connect :)
