By Kshitij Mathur, Batch of 2019 and Mimansa Bagri, Batch of 2020
The digging up of our beloved Nescii Lawns located near the entrance of the Admin block was a reason of distress for quite a majority of students in our college. The once buoyant and grassy Nescii which used to be teeming with people is now all barren and smirched. Ah! Gone are the days when students used to sit cross-legged and gossiped with each other, basking in the warmth of the winter sun as the cold harsh wind touched their noses. From society and alumni meets, to lunch with friends and after class dance, music, and dramatics practices, the Nescii saw it all in its short lived but exciting life. Now, as we look upon our figure of entertainment with a sad look on our faces, we question the necessity of it all. Why did the Admin take away our precious? Why are there muddy hills where there used to be grassy elevations? We might have an answer to what you are looking for.
The small but noticeable changes in Nescii which we may or may not have noticed, definitely struck the eyes of the managing authorities. The matted grass was getting worn out and was in a desperate need of renovation. Also, the corners were getting smothered with overgrown shrubs. The Nescii is also getting an underground irrigation pipeline similar to the lawns surrounding the academic blocks, to decrease the manual labor that is usually put in watering. So, while we are lamenting over its digging up and annihilation, our dear Nescii seems to be getting a mere makeover.
As we look around the college these days, there are a lot of infrastructural changes going on around us including an Amul outlet and a new indoor canteen. The washrooms in the academic blocks have also been undergoing renovation for about a year now. To ensure cleanliness, hygiene and healthy environment for the students, these washrooms are undergoing a makeover to be similar to the washrooms in the new block.
The students are refreshing themselves with several dairy products lined up for them in the Amul outlet that has opened up behind the venerable McCain. The new options give students a chance to eat healthy, what with its good quality and salubrious products. With three existing open canteens, the students get tired of the same jungle-like landscape of the college. To fix that, there is a new indoor canteen under construction, behind the eminent Just Café. Rumour has it that the new canteen being constructed behind Just Cafeteria is going to have marble seating and will have air conditioning facilities, which will be of quite a relief during the hot months.
The college has also opened the library basement as a designated Student Activity Centre, which contains specific rooms for co-curricular activities such as dance, music and physical fitness. Now, what do you do when you have had such scrumptious food at these amazing canteens that our campus has to offer? You obviously exercise. After all, who wants to show off that belly fat to the masses! Everyone wants to look perfect (Duh!) and where do you go to attain that perfect body? Do you join a gym with an expensive membership fee or do you exercise in the new state-of-the-art gym located in our campus, behind the IIIT block? The new gym has a plethora of brand new equipment including two treadmills, a bench press, dumbbells, gymnast bars, two cross-fits, two cycles and leg curls among other several types of bodybuilding paraphernalia.
Sources have revealed that a huge sum of money has been invested for these infrastructural developments. For the renovation of the Nescii Lawns, an amount of 1.25 Crore has been funded, while for the Canteen and the Amul outlet, a few lacs have been put in.
Along with the groundwork, the college has had some online transformations as well, like the introduction of the IMSNSIT Interface. You can no longer avoid those surreptitious bunks as your college attendance, admit cards and results are now visible on imsnsit.org, the online portal through which students can view college notices and login to their student accounts to manage their activities. Say goodbye to the days when you could get over short attendance by giving fake excuses and medicals.
This has, however, been done to prevent the hassle that students face while estimating their overall attendance in a particular subject and also it’s a nice way to keep track of your attendance, so now you can plan all your bunks in advance!
The reason that such changes are taking place in the college campus is because NSIT is finally progressing towards becoming an independent University. But do all these institutional changes make up for the cancellation of all the events we’ve seen in the past academic year? The delay of the annual cultural fest, Moksha and the cancellation of the annual technical fest, Innovision, has left students fuming and furious over the college’s administration. Do these developments justify the scrapping off of the events? Or are we still going to fret over the fests that never happened? That only time will tell. But for now, get those lunch boxes and gossip ready because Nescii is going to be back with a bang!