Hostels at IIM Calcutta

 

With a combined strength of a little less than 1,200 students, hostels are quintessential for their accommodation and provide a conducive environment for their multi-faceted development. Furthermore, taxing workdays on the campus demands a relaxing ambience near the campus, offering students a serene, recreational ecstasy. 

The Big Four at IIM Calcutta

Being a fully residential campus, students must choose any of the four hostels available– the Ramanujan Hostel or the old hostel, Tagore Hostel and Annexe or the White Hostel, the New Hostel, and the latest Lake View Hostel. All hostel buildings are located inside the 135-acre campus. Nevertheless, while the first three are near the academic block, the Lake View Hostel is a 15-minute walk from the main gate of the campus, compared to 5-7 minutes for other hostels. However, there are currently no transport/ golf facilities available for commuting. 

The White Hostel and the New Hostel are male hostels, whereas the Old Hostel and Lake View Hostel are co-ed residential complexes with separate wings for males/females. While all hostels are well-furnished and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, the rooms are non-air-conditioned. Nevertheless, the Lake View Hostel epitomise international standards with more comfortable, aesthetic and spacious rooms. It has separate balconies for all rooms and French windows opening to it, thereby creating a luxurious setting.

Food and Accommodation Type

All students of IIM Calcutta are allotted rooms in either of the four hostel complexes. Usually, they are provided with single rooms with shared bathroom facilities. Each hostel has its separate mess offering delicious Indian traditional food, hosting a composite cuisine culture, encompassing the phenomenal expanse of the subcontinent– a happy marriage of both North and South Indian flavours. Students may register at their hostel mess to have food on a per-meal basis. And since the mess contracts are different in different hostels, there might be notable differences in food culture.

What is more interesting is there is no fixed menu at IIM Calcutta hostel mess. Every day, the residents will vote for the dishes to be prepared. The messes of IIM Calcutta foster a democratic cuisine culture. The Mess Committee takes care of the interests of the residents and makes the final choice. Also, unlike hostel messes at other colleges, students don’t have to wait in long queues to have food on their platters. While there is no permanent mechanism to reduce wait time, the most commonly implemented scheme is exchangeable time slots, where the residents are given particular time slots for food, bringing down wait time to near zero. Moreover, they can exchange these slots with any other residents.

In addition to the food served at the mess, students have multiple alternatives if they find the daily food routine monotonous. It includes on-hostel eating joints, for instance, Mohan Da at the Ramanujan Hostel, which serves delicious food, offering a yummy rupture to the robotic mess schedule. Moreover, there is a mini restaurant inside the campus called Machaan. An outlet for Subway and Café Coffee Day is also available inside the campus. Moreover, if students miss dinner, they may avail succulent food from the night canteens operating from 11 PM to 5 AM.

Accommodation at New Management Development Centre

Executives pursuing management development programmes at IIM Calcutta are accommodated in the New Management Development Centre (NMDC) with 200 air-conditioned rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private porticos. Residents enjoy seamless internet connectivity and telecom services. Rooms at the NMDC are available on a single and double-sharing basis. Moreover, multi-cuisine dining halls with a buffet system offer sumptuous meals for the residents.

Hostel Fees at IIM Calcutta

While there is no official information regarding fees, unofficial sources indicate that the hostel fees can be somewhere between Rs. 1.8 to 2 lakhs. However, the final amount may depend on the availing of mess facilities, where food is served on a cost-per-meal basis.

Hostel Life at IIM Calcutta

IIM Calcutta has a unique approach to education which combines academic rigour and social development. While the classrooms cater to the former, the hostels faithfully serve the latter purpose. While the subcultures of each hostel may be different, there is ample scope for interaction and development of a composite hostel culture. Residents enjoy limitless freedom of movement and can walk into different hostels anytime. Constant interaction is the USP of hostels of IIM Calcutta.

All hostels have basic facilities, including housekeeping, laundry services, mess, healthcare, furniture, hygienic bathrooms, etc. However, there are currently no AC rooms. There are common rooms which are accessible 24x7, and often residents burn the midnight oil in these rooms while grappling with projects/ assignments. The availability of night canteens facilitates this ‘night owl culture’. 

Moreover, there are common game rooms with indoor gaming facilities, including various board games, table tennis, etc. Also, inter-college sports competitions stir the hearts and minds of the residents into passionate sportsmanship. All festivals are celebrated with great zeal in the hostels, and residents can be found bursting crackers during Diwali or flying kites on the rooftop during Patang ka Parv. 

Conclusion 

To sum up, the hostels of IIM Calcutta are abodes of distinct student subcultures developed through constant interactions and common sports and cultural programmes. While all the hostels are well-furnished with all amenities of a modern hostel, the only con flagged by residents is the lack of air conditioning. Nevertheless, IIM Calcutta hostels are examples of democracy at work– as the menu is decided in consensus through voting. The residents also enjoy savoury meals– both North and South Indian. The availability of night canteens, food courts, common rooms, common gaming facilities, etc., makes hostel life at IIM Calcutta a life worth living.

About the Author:

Adwaith PB is a fantasist. Dwelling merrily in his world of Oriental myths, of giants, nymphs, and anthropomorphic dragons, his absent-mindedness always lands him in unforeseen hardships. As a deviation, he writes his heart out in the moonlight. And in the sun, he’s a student of the epics and perils of the political, contemplating its wayward laboratory– the society.