Old Vs New IITB

One day, it struck me that many of the places I've visited around the IIT Bombay campus today might have been documented decades ago. That thought led me on a journey — to search for some of the most iconic spots on campus and try to recreate their present-day versions using my old phone.

While much has changed, the soul of the campus still feels the same.

This webpage is intentionally designed with a vintage, minimalistic HTML look to match the nostalgic feel of old IIT Bombay photographs. The images have been identified or collected with help from my friend Ninad the Gujju (The Man of the CMINDS).

If you come across any old picture that can be recreated today, please let me know. You can try clicking on some of the images — and if you're lucky, you might see their present-day (2024) counterpart. The page is still under construction, and I'll continue updating it as I gather more recent photos. Some of the archived images found online are difficult to trace — the locations may have changed, some hostels have been demolished, and the campus continues to evolve.

P.S.: This page is still under construction, and I am too lazy to update the descriptions.

Images taken from IIT Bombay website.

IIT Bombay Main Building 1958 - Bird's eye view looking towards Ghatkopar hills

Bird's eye view of the Main Building, looking towards Ghatkopar hills.

Nehru with Prof. Bose, the first Director of IIT Bombay, the nephew of Subhas Chandra Bose.

Dr. Radhakrishnan with Prof. Bose.

Prof. S.P. Sukhatme teaching heat transfer at IIT Bombay

Prof. S.P. Sukhatme is teaching heat transfer to a class of 70 students who are a few years younger than him.

Look closer!

Indira Gandhi and Convocation.

My Fair Lady theatrical performance at IIT Bombay

My fair lady enacted by lads.

First Girl student.

Four students riding a bike at IIT Bombay campus

4-tuple biking.

R. D. Burman and Asha Bhosle

Punch cards and low-power computing at IIT Bombay

Punch cards and low-power computations.

The Boys

Foundation Stone laying ceremony with Nehru at IIT Bombay

Foundation Stone & Nehru

Images taken from Quora. These images are of around 1983-85.

The infinity Corridore.

The water pipeline.

Well, I dug up and found this, this and this picture. Sad, that all that remain of that route is the broken train-line :')

Unidentified IIT Bombay building 1983-85

An unidentified place would be of great help in identifying the place's location.

IIT Bombay aerial view from Sameer Hills 1983-85

A view from Sameer Hills.

Images taken from here.

IIT Bombay campus 1970 vs 2003 comparison from Sameer Hills

IIT Bombay campus as in 1970 vs 2003 (a view from Sameer Hills).

Images taken from here.

IIT Bombay campus barren land 1970 before vegetation

IIT Bombay campus as in 1970, we can see a lot of vegetation has been planted artificially.

Images taken from Quora, a post by Ankit Rana.

"Rohit Manchanda in his book Monastery, Sanctuary, Laboratory: 50 Years of IIT-Bombay provides us a glimpse of life as it was then, the innovative and sometimes eccentric means of filling up great swathes of private time available to students."