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
Looking 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 graduate
Pandey 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 world through a consulting role but eventually moved away from engineering altogether. Summing up his career journey, he remarked that once he had completed his degree, he “ran as far away” from his major as possible.The central message of his post was simple yet provocative: “Don’t let a four-year degree dictate a forty-year career.”That statement resonated with many professionals who have switched industries after graduation, particularly in an era where careers are increasingly shaped by transferable skills rather than undergraduate specialisations.
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 young professionals, the story resonated not because it celebrated academic disengagement but because it highlighted a tension that countless students experience, earning a prestigious degree while discovering that their genuine interests lie elsewhere.Yet the criticism also highlights another reality of India’s education system, where admission to elite institutions is fiercely competitive and every seat represents years of aspiration for thousands of candidates.The discussion, therefore, is not merely about one IIT graduate’s career choices. It is about the evolving relationship between education, opportunity, and personal fulfilment.In the end, Pandey’s reflection has become more than a personal confession. It has sparked a wider debate on whether higher education should be viewed as a lifelong identity or simply the starting point of a much longer and often unpredictable professional journey.