This is probably the first time most of you will be moving away from home, and even for those who were away for coaching - this will be your first experience in setting up your rooms all by yourself. The rooms in campus are typically small in size and a little tight to accommodate, a fact that often shocks/scares parents, but then it encourages two things which will really benefit you in the long run :
1. Spending major chunks of time away from your room (except exam times
)
2. Adjusting and all associated terms with your room-mate (who, as you will realize, might become one of the most important persons in your life)
From our experience, we bring to you a list of items - essentials and optionals. It may not be exhaustive but has most of the things. To make it easier, we've colour-coded the items for you :
a)
Red - Definitely
must get from home.
b)
Blue - You may bring these if you already have them.
c)
Green - Best purchsed from Mumbai.
The rest are to your discretion.
For information on where to buy stuff, read
In IIT and Around Mumbai - Where to shop, eat and have funRoom necessities:(Two cots, a table, a chair, and a cupboard, all of fairly decent quality are provided by the institute in every room)
1.
Clothing + Raingear: Mumbai is usually known for warm to hot summers, heavy rains and mildly cold winters. So, carry more of light summer wear.
Do your packing/shopping keeping in mind that clothes do not dry quickly during the monsoons. You may choose to postpone carrying winter wear (a blanket or quilt and a pair of jackets should do just fine to keep you warm) to your Diwali break or the December holidays.
Carry an umbrella and/or a raincoat and have them on you all the time during the Monsoon months. There is no dress code in the institute but you are expected to dress up decently. It's convenient to wear cargos or shorts for the rainy months. Apart from that, you are free to wear what you want - T-shirts, jeans, shorts, shirts - whatever.
2. Footwear: A pair of
slippers/floaters, a pair of sandals and a pair of
covered shoes (you would need to wear these to your labs) is recommended. Get footwear that you can use in the rain - at least one pair that won’t become unusable if wet. Shoes specific to some sports might be bought after coming here. Though, you may carry
gum soled shoes and football studs if you have a pair already.
3. Stationery: We advise you to skip carrying any. There are enough shops around. But if you already have them, you might carry a
Scientific Calculator (FX 991 MS/ES by Casio are the ones most of your seniors use), Staplers (with pins), Punching machines, U-bend pins, binder clips and a couple of folders.
Workshop Tools, ED Instruments and
Lab Coats that you would need may be shared among batch-mates, borrowed from seniors, or bought here. Though, if you have your Class XII Lab Coat at hand, bring it along.
4. Books: Though you won’t need all books that you used for JEE Preparations, but you might want to bring some standard ones. Look at the thread on
First year Courses to know more about your courses and plan accordingly. Though you might want to carry standard ones like
Thomas and Finney, Atkins, JD Lee, Solomon, etc.4. Clotheslines, Hangers, Cloth hanging clips: There are ropes meant for hanging clothes outside every room, but if you prefer using your rooms for drying clothers during monsoons or hanging them in the balcony, carry (or buy from here)
some clotheslines and clothespins. Hangers aren’t provided in the rooms.
5.
Bed sheets,
mattresses and pillows and
pillow covers (extra set is preferable as drying is a problem in rains), Curtains (optional), Blanket or quilt (you could opt to get this after your Diwali break too, the typical cold season begins only in late November or early December and lasts into the mid of January).
6.
Bucket, Mug, Waste Paper Bin, Soap Cases: Buy them from either the many shops outside the Market/YP Gate, or the temporary shacks outside Hostel 4 which are set up for a week about the time you enter.
7.
Lock and keys (2 sets of keys as you’d be sharing the room) : Keep extra sets handy. While travelling, you might want to lock your luggage as well.
8.
Net for window: There is a serious problem of insects in campus, especially during your initial days when the monsoon season is still on. It is advised you have nets fitted to your windows. Usually, a vendor visits the hostel during the initial few days for this. You might find the rates exorbitant but you have little choice. You could split the charges with your roommate.
9.
Anti-insect sprays,
bed-bug sprays, All Out, Odomos,
Naphthalene Balls : It is strongly suggested you keep these items with you, you will find them useful.
10.
Spike guard, Multiplugs: You would typically have only 1 plug point per person in the room (or, in some cases, just 1 per room), so extension boards are a must. Also, the power supply is meant for 5 Ampere applications, so please do not carry any heavy electrical appliances like Irons/Heaters unless you have ensured that the current rating is not above 5A.
11.
Broom: Rooms are cleaned once a week by the House Cleaning Staff of the Hostels. The rest is your responsibility.
12. Miscellaneous:
Medicine kit (advised, you may not want to go to the IIT Hospital for every little thing), soap, shampoo, handwash, detergent, brush, torch etc. Sports equipment, if you play or are enthu enough (racquets, balls, proper shoes etc) and for music enthusiasts, your own guitar, santoor, flute or tabla - anything.
The good thing about being in Mumbai is that you can buy almost everything from here at reasonable prices (if you know where to look). Don’t hesitate to ask seniors - their opinion is invaluable at most times. So, don’t fret if you forget to carry something. Carry the basics so that the first thing you don’t have to go shopping the moment you reach Mumbai.
Feel free to reply on this post for related queries.
Happy Settling In!
[Credits to Neeta Dixit, Prateek Vidya, Siddharth Shanbhag, Ankur Tulsian and Antariksh Bothale]
