Indian Institute Of Technology, Ropar

You can find us out on Nangal Road in Ropar. It’s a long stretch of road that leads out toward the hills in the distance. The area around here is mostly flat with a lot of green fields, which is nice when the weather is cool during the winter. We are right near the Sutlej river, so we get a bit of a breeze sometimes, though the humidity can be a bit much in the monsoon. The campus is spread out, so we do a lot of walking from one building to another throughout the day. Most of the time, the air smells like wet earth or whatever the farmers are burning in the nearby fields. It isn’t a very fast-paced place compared to the bigger cities. We have a small canteen where everyone goes for lunch, and the food is just basic home-style cooking that fills you up. There aren't any big malls or cinemas right next door, so we spend our free time just sitting around or walking by the canal nearby. The buildings are fairly simple, mostly concrete and brick, and they look like they’ve seen a lot of Punjab winters. Most of us live in the staff quarters or the hostels nearby, so we see the same faces every single day. It feels like a tight-knit group because there isn't much else to do in this part of town. We just focus on our work and try to stay out of the sun during the peak of summer.