Remember, when Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots said to R.Madhavan, “Letter haath mein tha, taxi gate par thi… thodi si himmat aur kar leta, to poori zindagi kuch aur hoti.” That is something that has resonated with many aspirants. What you choose to study in your bachelor’s cannot always determine what you end up being.However, when we talk of an IIT degree is not something that simply falls into anyone’s lap. It is earned through years of relentless hard work and unshrinking persistence. For millions of students, securing a seat at one of India’s prestigious IITs represents the ultimate academic dream. But what happens when someone who has achieved that dream feels as though it is a prison rather than a privilege? That question has sparked a heated debate online after an IIT (BHU) Varanasi graduate candidly described his four years at the institute as “prison time” for his brain. Now based in New York, Akash Sampurnanand Pandey looked back on his college days not with nostalgia, but with startling honesty, calling himself a “last bencher”, a “waster”, and someone who spent more time devouring books on history, economics, and politics than engineering textbooks. His confession has divided social media, with some praising his decision to chart his own path while others questioned whether he had squandered an opportunity that thousands of aspirants would have cherished.
A degree he endured rather than enjoyed
A degree he endured rather than enjoyedLooking back at his time at IIT (BHU) Varanasi in 2012, Pandey painted a picture that stood in sharp contrast to the popular image of an IIT student immersed in laboratories, lectures, and relentless problem-solving.According to his account, classroom learning held little appeal. He attended lectures primarily because of the institute’s mandatory 75 percent attendance policy and described the four-year engineering programme as something he had to simply “serve” to earn the coveted IIT tag.Rather than focusing on metallurgy, the discipline he had enrolled in, Pandey said his curiosity lay elsewhere. While professors taught engineering concepts, he found himself immersed in novels, essays, and books covering modern Indian history, economics, political science, and international affairs.Much of this reading material came from his roommate, who was preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination.The bare minimum, but enough to graduatePandey admitted that engineering textbooks rarely captured his attention. He claimed he would often pick up a metallurgy textbook only a day before examinations, studying just enough to secure passing grades. Maintaining a GPA of around 7.5, he said, was less about academic ambition and more about remaining eligible for campus placements.Outside academics, however, he described himself as someone eager to explore different interests, suggesting that his college education extended well beyond the prescribed curriculum.
Leaving engineering behind
Graduation marked a turning point. Pandey entered the corporate sector through consulting; however, he ultimately drifted away from engineering. Recounting his journey thus far, he made the following observation: Once he graduated, he “ran as far away” from his major as he possibly could.The key message in his post is rather straightforward and yet thought-provoking. In summary, Pandey asserted, “Don’t let a four-year degree define your forty-year career.”This observation is likely to strike a chord with many professionals, especially those who have changed industries since graduating from college.
Social media splits over privilege, passion, and responsibility
While many readers identified with the struggle of studying a subject they never loved, others argued that the story raised larger ethical questions.Several users criticised Pandey for occupying a highly competitive IIT seat despite lacking interest in metallurgy. They argued that another aspirant, genuinely passionate about the discipline, might have benefited more from the opportunity and the subsidised education offered by India’s premier engineering institutes.Some commenters went further, saying the confession reflected a conscious waste of public resources and personal opportunity.Others, however, found his journey deeply relatable. One user shared a similar experience of completing a medical degree before transitioning into medical informatics and data science, saying the new career offered greater intellectual satisfaction and a healthier work-life balance. Another admitted regretting the choice of metallurgy during college and wished they had opted for a different engineering branch.The responses revealed a broader conversation that extends well beyond one individual’s story.
A reflection of changing career aspirations
Pandey’s post arrives at a time when career trajectories are becoming increasingly non-linear. Engineers become writers, move into technology, lawyers, launch startups, and graduates across disciplines reinvent themselves multiple times over the course of their working lives.For many of the young professionals, the case resonated not because it talked about academic alienation but because it emphasized the fact that there was conflict faced by many students where they earn a highly prestigious degree but find that their actual interests are in something else.However, it should also be mentioned that the case also emphasizes another reality of the Indian educational system wherein gaining access to any highly prestigious educational institution is a very difficult task and involves a lifetime of aspirations from thousands of applicants.Hence, the whole matter is not just limited to the career choices of a single IIT graduate.Instead, the whole thing is a result of the changing dynamics between education and opportunity and also personal fulfilment.
