Campus Life

Know your way around: Buildings on Campus

Other than the hostels and the mess, there are a few buildings on campus you should know:

The Lecture Hall Complex (LHC) :

This is where all the lectures happen. Whenever you have a class, you’ll have to come to the LHC at that fixed time to whatever room assigned as per the time table. The LHC is really big and the classrooms are spacious and well developed.
And unlike the IIT’s, all classrooms are Air Conditioned. Trust me, once you visit West Bengal, you’ll understand how important this is. There is also a make-do badminton court in the LHC (more on this later).

The LHC at night

Classroom 107 of the LHC

Research Complex(RC):

The RC is titled as so because it houses the various labs and rooms where “cutting-edge” research is happening. The RC is also home to the offices of almost all the faculty members. This is where you’ll go to annoy faculty members for recommendation letters.

The RC is also home to a 350 seater hall (TRC Auditorium). It is currently the largest hall on campus, until the new auditorium is built. You’ll have a couple of orientations here on the day of registration. You’ll also have to come here in case there is ever a guest lecture or some sort of address to the students.

The RC is a huge building, And really complicated from the inside. Even after one year on campus, I still get lost inside. And so do a lot of people.

Speaking of guest lectures, IISER Kolkata often sees visits from eminent researchers and scholars. CNR Rao, Jayant Narlikar, N Mukunda to name a few. Over and above, there is almost a talk by some scientist every week.
Sometimes, actually 95% of the time, it may be that these talks are above your level and you may not be able to understand them. But if you are interested, go and listen anyhow.
You’ll understand maybe one word. It’s okay.
An analogy I often think of is this. When you were in 1st standard, you wouldn’t have understood anything being taught to 12th graders. But as you learnt over the next 11 years, you did eventually understand. And it was the same 1st grade you who got the job done. It just took some time and effort to get there.
These talks are meant to discuss the research being done in the world of science today. It’s just cool to see what’s happening. This may just pique your interest.

Next to the RC happens to be one of the nicest spots on campus, the RC lake. It’s one of the 3 lakes on campus. It is extremely beautiful to sit by in the evening time.

Though post sunset I’d advise against sitting near the lake. You’ll understand why once you get here. There should be something to surprise you! 😉

Research Complex Building

(Courtesy – Shefali Patra)

View near the RC Lake

Academic cum Administrative Block

The academic cum administrative block is situated near the RC. It houses all the offices of the various Deans and the Director’s office. It is also home to the various offices related to student affairs, academic affairs, as well as the finance section and so on. If you need any sort of certificate or NOC, you’ll have to come here.

The AA block is also home to the IISER-K library. It has 3 floors with a large collection of books and scientific volumes. It is AC ventilated and is open 24×7.

The computer centre (CC), which is currently situated in the LHC, is also soon set to shift to the AA building. It is also open 24×7. The CC is state of the art. It has around 60 to 70 systems and all of them run the latest version of Ubuntu. (open source ftw!)

Also, the library and CC are the spots for the fastest internet on campus by far. The speeds here touch 100 Mbps plus (both upload and download). It’s not surprising to see people sitting these rooms surfing the web and watching movies/anime/goofing off on YouTube. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, this increases during the time of exams!

Studying Earth Science at 4am.

When your friend is “studying”

The entrance to the Academic cum Administrative block

The Utility Complex (UC):

I really have no idea what this building is for. I think it will eventually house the stores that are currently in the basement. Sometime in the future.

Well there are some exhibitions that happen here, often held by the art club. Also, the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations happen here.

But in all honesty, no clue.

PreFab (Pre Fabricated Buildings)

The PreFab buildings were the first few buildings ever constructed in IISER Kolkata. The classes used to be held in these buildings at some point in time. Currently, the PreFab contains the Physics and Biology labs. You’ll be coming here for all your experiments. The chemistry lab has been moved to the RC and these labs should also move in there in the future.

The prefab during rainy season!

Faculty Housing and Director’s Residence

Self Explanatory.

The Centre For Student Activities Building

This building is just beside the cricket ground. It houses the rooms of the various clubs, and also, the TT rooms and a make shift badminton court (again, explained later). It also has the music room where you can go and try your hand at playing an instrument and the gym. The CSA also has a room filled with a variety of sports equipment. You can borrow and use them to have a go at playing a sport too.

The Centre For Student Activities

Sports Facilities

IISER Kolkata, like any GOI institute, places a large emphasis on sports. The sports facilities at IISER K are top notch. If you haven’t played a sport, you can definitely try it here. And you should!
Some of the facilities are:

• Cricket Ground (cum helipad)
• Football Ground
• Tennis Court
• Volleyball Court
• Basketball Court
• Badminton Court (unfortunately, of the two, one is of incorrect dimensions and the other one is in the LHC with marble flooring. It is very slippery.)
• Athletics Ground
• Swimming Pool (under construction, should be done by the end of this year)
• Table Tennis Rooms ( 4 Tables, well maintained)
• Squash Court (supposed to be there, but room was converted into a makeshift TT room)
• Yoga Room
• Equipment for Chess etc.

Food Joints

There are several places to eat both on campus and outside. The food is really cheap.
Bappa Da: Juice joint in the basement under the NSCB mess. Serves fresh fruit juices, mocktails, milkshakes, lassi etc.
Tulsi: Pure Vegetarian restaurant situated in LH4 (above NSCB mess). Run by ISCKON. Food here has no onion or garlic. I have seen a lot of my Bengali friends very disappointed at the fact that there is a pure vegetarian restaurant on campus. It is almost sacrilegious for a few of them not to have meat. But unfortunately, food here is slightly on the more expensive end.
Tarak Da: Located just outside the PreFab gate. You’ll get hot pakodas and chai here at around 4 or 5 in the evening every day. They taste unbelievably good. You’ll also get Maggi and Omlette here. You’ll be spending a lot of time here due to the long lab experiments, and no, the professors won’t bust you for it. They may be there as well.
Mio Amore: A bakery in the basement. Has good pastries, both sweet and savoury. Also has chips and namkeen products. You can also buy soft drinks and ice cream here.
Sugarr n’ Spice: Another bakery in the basement. You’ll also get pastries here as well as ice cream. You can buy bread here as well.
Aloo Paratha Place: Located near the Athletics ground, this is a small shack where you get really good Parathas. You’ll also get sandwiches and momos. As well as chai.

Outside the campus:

You’ll find several good food joints outside Gate 7. Some of them include;
Adarsho Hindu Hotel : Decent Veg and Non Veg options, but slightly on the expensive side. You’ll spend around 150-200 per person here if you visit with your friends.
Sengupta Hotel: Decent veg and non veg food, home made. Tastes good and is relatively cheap.
Chinese Food Place: I’m not really sure what this is called. But it’s a small place that serves really delicious food. Located just outside Gate 7. Also relatively light on your pocket.
Dolphin: Around 800 m from Gate 7 towards Jaguli. This place is pretty fancy and serves good food. But it is really expensive. Normally reserved for special occasions, like club dinners and what not.

There also a lot of restaurants in Kalyani, but are on the expensive side, of course. The nearest Dominoes is in Barrackpore, and no they don’t deliver. We’ve tried. 😛

Bimal Da

“Bimal Da isn’t just a place to eat, it’s an emotion.”

“When I was young my grandparents raised me. When I was in my teens, my parents raised me. When I came to college Bimal Da raised me.”

“Bro, ditch Earth Science. Let’s go have cha at Bimal Da.”

“The most important person on campus, by far is Bimal Da. We’ll revolt violently if anything happens to his shop.”

(Collection of actual statements made by very real, sane people.)

It may seem really weird to read quotes like this. But people can’t help it. Bimal Da’s dhaba is just so. It feels weirdly disrespectful calling it a dhaba, because it’s more like home. Bimal Da is where you’ll see students and professors alike sitting and drinking cha, talking, discussing and in general having a good time.

Bimal Da had his shop set up, well before IISER Kolkata had his permanent campus built. So in a way, IISER Kolkata was built around Bimal Da.

Bimal Da is open from 5:30 in the morning to around 7 in the evening. This is like a god send during the semester exams, when you’ll be pulling all nighters.

My friends and I have spent the whole night studying, and would go and have breakfast at Bimal Da almost everyday during the semester exams. We’d go to sleep after and then come back just before the exam for lunch at Bimal Da’s.

The chai-biscuit at Bimal Da is my favourite. Me and two of my close friends have spent atleast 2000 rupees each on chai during one particular month. You’ll find lots of chai crazed souls here.

The omelettes, maggi, poach, roti-sabji, bread-omelette, pav-ghugni, lal-cha are also best sellers.

The food at Bimal Da is cheap, tasty, and really good. But I think what makes Bimal Da different is the fact that it’s almost like home in some sense. He remembers you by face if you visit regularly, and knows what you like to eat, and what your preferences are. It’s akin to someone at home cooking for you.

And in some strange sense, Bimal Da is home.

Chai Biscuit at Bimal Da :,)

What I wouldn’t do for one of these omelettes right now.

Campus Lingo:

You should pick up most of this once you get here, but here are a few common phrases to help you out,

• LHC: Lecture Hall Complex
• RC: Research Complex
• PreFab: Pre-Fabricated buildings
• CSA: Centre for Student Activities
• NSCB: Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose hostel
• ICVS: Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar hostel
• Nivedita : Nivedita hostel
• Bangladesh : A running joke, refers to the Nivedita hostel, because it’s so far from any sort of civilisation.
• Basement: The basement under the main mess. You’ll find a lot of convenience stores here.
• Water Tank: A water tank near the cricket nets.
• LH4: Stands for Lecture Hall 4. Classes used to be held here once. Now has the Tulsi restaurant. Above the main mess.
• Mess: The mess betwenn NSCB and ICVS. The existence of the Nivedita mess is unknown for many of the seniors.
• Gate 7: Gate Number 7. Around 800 m from the LHC. You can catch buses from here to go to Kalyani and Jaguli.
• Common Room: The common room in the basement. Has a television. You’ll find loads of people here on the nights of Champions League and during the El Classico. Football and Real Madrid are a craze on campus. If you like football, you’ll love it here.

Another thing, you’ll often see people calling one another dada on campus. It’s common practice. Akin to Bhaiya or Anna in other parts of India. It’s better to use this or inculcate this as a practice. It’s respectful and simple to use.

I’m adding more photos of campus below, just to showcase how beautiful it really is:

The LHC : An Insiders view

The LHC and RC

The SBI ATM at Gate 4

Nivedita Hostel

NSCB Hostel