Unofficial Prospectus - Army Institute of Technology

The Army Institute of Technology. The name brings to mind visions of a military institution, probably churning out young lieutenants by the dozen, probably no civilian allowed inside the hallowed grounds. Right? Wrong. The Army Institute of Technology, or rather AIT, is your regular run-of-the-mill engineering college, with a small stipulation - all the students here are kids of Army-men.
Location : Affiliated to the Pune University, AIT is nestled in the foothills of Dighi, at a distance of about 10-12 km from the hub of the city. With the roads of Pune finally getting a makeover with the Commonwealth Youth Games looming in the horizon, bike rides are now much more comfortable and enjoyable than earlier, when the rain-wrecked roads continued to remain patchy at best.

The college is well connected to all the hot-spots (malls, multiplexes you name it) and it's all within a time radius of just a half-hour. Koregaon Park, the posh place in town, is in fact quite close at hand. Even if you are not sporting a two-wheeler, the good old tum-tum aka six-seater is always a viable option.



Population : As you already know, all the AITians are essentially Army brats - not from the Navy, not from the Air Force - just Army. Much to the chagrin of all the guys, the eternal problem of engineering colleges is quite prevalent here too - there's only a hundred-odd gals in a college which is thousand-strong.



I think the burgeoning animal population too deserves a mention. The college has a small enclosure set aside for rearing geese. However, the geese are not the problem. Stray cats and dogs seem to have found their haven in our campus. So much so that one of the dogs recently delivered its litter inside one of the boys' hostels - over the last few nights my friends and I have stayed awake listening to the heart-wrenching (and after some time rather annoying) yapping of seven tiny little pups, freezing due to the cold (a kind soul did think of putting out a bed-sheet for them to cozy up in).

Campus & Infrastructure : Not quite the sprawling landscape I had hoped for, yet the campus is suited to our needs, providing us with enough avenues for our growth and a rich college life. With two hostels each for the boys and girls (the fairer sex don't need to employ the use of the second one due to reasons described above), one academic block, a residential area for the staff and a shopping complex dotted around the campus, enough open space is left for sports facilities - grounds and courts galore, be it tennis, basketball, cricket, football, volleyball, squash or badminton.

The largest drawback in the campus is the ban on bikes for all save final years'. It gets a tad depressing for the juniors, but life goes on (with or without two-wheelers).


You'd expect me to talk about the infrastructure related to our college work, seeing as I have been rambling on about all the recreational infrastructure. Well, not really interested personally - but for formality's sake I'll just say it's good enough to work with.



Acads : The college gives you a BE degree in four different disciplines viz Electronics, Computers, IT and Mechanical. The academic year gets split into two semesters, and all semester exams are held under the purview of Pune University. The college churns out university toppers by the dozen, while at the same time you have people at the other end of the spectrum too - the dudes (and even some dudettes) who are a year behind their colleagues (more popularly known as YD's). Classes are generally monotonous and no one really wants to attend - however, the attendance requirement of 75% hangs over everyone's head.

Crowd - Guys/Gals : The crowd at AIT is as diverse as you can imagine. Even though you'd say everyone should be much the same because of the Army connection, yet you can see people from all walks of life here. From cool dude to simple guy, from super bitch to vivacious girl-next-door - we have them all here. Yet there’s an innate quality of AITians that sets them apart from everyone else. The almost completely residential setup ensures a wonderful rapport among the collegians – almost everyone knows just about everyone. There is a healthy relationship between people from different years and the juniors can always bank on their seniors to bail them out when they are in a pickle. (Oh and yeah, we have uniform on Mondays and Thursdays - that kinda sucks).

Hangouts : The OAC (Open Air Cafeteria) beside the academic block, a garden cafeteria, is the perfect place for us AITians to hang out and chat (or 'maro bakar' as we like to call it). There have been days when I have spent hours at a stretch just sitting there and 'hanging out' with friends (my record would be 9 to 5 during college hours last summer). The other 'hot spot' would be the benches set beside the football field or even in front of the basketball courts (these benches are even hotter in the dark). The comfortable gusts of wind which blow into your face when you sit facing the football ground rejuvenate you completely, which is why some people also call it 'beach-side'.

Apart from these two, inside the campus there's not too many places to hang out - unless you count the insides of the cafeteria or the acad block. Places frequented in the city by AITians? Well, Adlabs in KP is the most popular choice for a movie and a quick meal(generally McD's, it's easy on the pocket), while lavish lunches/dinners are generally either in KP or MG Road. The most popular place for 'flank treats' is Sher-e-Punjab, on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway - I don't know why, it's now a traditional (tr)eating joint.

USP : What sets AIT apart really is the confidence which each and every AITian exudes. The college is renowned all over the city for its students’ extensive skill set (i.e. technical, cultural as well as sports). Any college looks at the placement scenario to gauge how well it has been faring – over the last three years the college has averaged 98% success in the placement charts. Consistently graded in the top 50 engineering colleges in the country, AIT has also acquired accreditation from ISO 9001:2000, NAAC and NBA (no, not the basketball one!).

Personally, I have found my niche in this college and I know for sure when I look back at my college days in retrospect, I’ll remember fondly all the memories that I have garnered over the years (and continue to do so). I can’t think of a better place to spend my late teens and early tweens. In the words of Robert Frost, ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.’