Will North Indian students face difficulties in adapting to life at IIT Madras?

Not at all. Surprisingly, the major language spoken by the students here is not even Tamil. It is a wide-ranging and amiable atmosphere where students from all over fit right in. The campus boasts of its varied range of diversity, having students from almost all parts of the country. There is no regionalism and a single-language dominance, and nobody is treated as inferior to others based on the language they speak.

Here are certain aspects that students from North India might be apprehensive about:

Staff: All of the staff inside the campus understand Hindi enough to communicate with the students. Half of the working personnel here are from North India, hence there are no gaps in communication. Securities, Vendors, Cafe serving crew, etc provide a healthy surrounding and are very helpful.

Food: Food can be one of the greatest fears while studying in another state. IITM’s mess functions in such a way that no student is forced to eat whatever is served to them. There are a wide variety of North, South, and Jain Caterers that are offered to students to choose from, along with a mess food court. The in-campus food courts contain a wide array of dishes to taste, offered at a fair price. There is also a late-night food truck to satisfy odd-time cravings!

Academics: The medium of instruction is English. The course content, materials shared and the lectures are in English, eliminating any language-related concerns. However, the students are offered courses on a wide variety of other languages to learn.

Culture: There are committees from every part of the country, like the Marathi Mitra Mandal, Kerala Kala Samiti, Kannada Samskruthika Sangha, etc that bring together people from the same state to engage in year-round interactions and organize events. From Lohri to Onam, every major festival is celebrated, adorning the entire campus with festive lights throughout the year.

IIT Madras is a reflection of the entire City of Chennai with respect to how people from other states are treated. By the time you graduate, there is a high chance of you being fluent in a new language, such is the culture here!