When change strikes student life: With IIT Kharagpur

The following excerpt is from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner (Q): Most of our physical activities have come to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has been new to us all. Two years have gone by like this, and while there has been some improvement in handling the situation compared to the initial chaos and confusion, the future still seems very uncertain to us all.

The side effects of the coronavirus on our bodies are not yet fully known to us. Similarly, we do not know what kind of long-term effects being confined to a room for extended periods of time has on the mind. Since the beginning of the third wave, we have been receiving several emails from our students here at IIT Kharagpur regarding the psychological hardships they are forced to endure due to being confined to their rooms. Please guide us on how to deal with this situation.

Acharya Prashant (AP): I am really glad to be connecting with IIT Kharagpur students once again. All my previous interactions have been intense and quite fulfilling, and I look forward to another meaningful and authentic evening.

The context has changed, and the environment has changed. When I was in the IIT campus, much of the time outside of the sleeping hours was spent in the campus engaging…