Freshers’ 2020: Reading List

Having the first introduction to college through calls and laptop screens probably isn’t the best start one would hope for. While we regret not being able to give your batch a proper introduction in person, we figured you guys could use a head start by going through some of the articles written by Ping! over the years about the campus in general. The articles cover premises such as hotspots on/near campus, weird/famous IIIT traditions, clubs, canteens, administration, hostels, and much more.  With this, we have compiled a reading list to get you all started on learning about the place you’ll be spending most of your time at, for the next 4-5 years.

1. DLF Food Crawl
   “DLF” in IIIT is synonymous with food – chai, Tawa-bonda, and shawarma – and nothing else. The authors of this article dove deep into the street food culture present right outside of campus so that you don’t have to. Read this so that when you finally do come to campus, you know exactly what to get.
2. Isle of Dogs: Dogs on campus are probably the first friends you’ll make on campus. They have also been the focus of several heated debates on their position in the area. This article covers a lot of ground debates that have happened, and the measures taken by the Campus Canine Management Cell (CCC) in the past few years to allow for somewhat peaceful coexistence with the humans that live there as well.
3. Creepy Crawlies: Apart from dogs and cats (and sometimes monkeys), IIIT also houses various kinds of flies, bugs, insects, frogs, and whatnot. This article is an excellent place to start to get to know about all the “creepy crawlies” that can be found on campus every day.
4. Echoes: A letter from the past-The Library: This article revisits the history of our library, from its establishment to its essence in the present. If you’re the “studious” type or just want to enjoy the AC for once, you would like to spend a lot of time here:P.
5. Ask-Appaji If you don’t know who Appaji is right now, don’t worry, neither do we. This interview could be your once in a life-time chance to get to know the most mysterious person at IIIT. 
6. Co-ed Hostels: What do they imply? Let’s Transcend Gender: One of the hottest topics of debates in IIIT over the last year is the concept of introducing Co-Ed Hostels in college. This articles explores the basic ideology behind gender-separated hostels and puts up some points worth speculating over, on gender-neutral hostels. 
7. Parliament Report 2020:The Student Parliament is the only democratically elected students’ body. With a wide array of responsibilities from managing Mess and Stalls on campus to taking critical decisions enhancing campus life, the Parliament is the face of the Student Community, representing us to the Administration. The article covers various issues discussed, solutions proposed, and decisions taken by the Student Parliament over the last academic year.
8. ICPC: Tesla Protocol: In conversation with Tesla Protocol, the face of IIIT’s coding culture at ICPC this year, this interview is a good insight into the competitive programming culture present at IIIT.
9. Memento: IIIT is more than a just hollow degree factory minting graduates who know only how to code and not much else – or so we hope, anyway. An indispensable part of IIIT is its community, and this community must be a thing that continues across batches, instead of being restricted to solely those you attended college with. This introspective look from four years ago looks into why the college often feels like it lacks a history, why it is important to have one, and what can be done about it.
10. 10 Years of Ping! : Ping! has been around for eleven years now – and has in this time witnessed the making of IIIT Hyderabad as we know it today. What’s best is all of it has been appropriately documented in the form of Ping! Articles and going through this article looks like a great place to start to learn more about the college.