The Bus Ride That
Changed Everything 🚌

Some journeys are measured in kilometres. Some in hours. This one — the one I'm about to tell you — was measured in speeches given to strangers, a robocar handled for the first time, a pitch rehearsed in ten minutes on a moving bus, and one realization at IIT Gandhinagar that quietly rewired everything.

This is the story of a three-day trip with GDIOT that I would trade nothing for. Not the sleepless bus, not the impossible timeline, not even the social anxiety that I carried into every room — and slowly, over those 72 hours, began to leave behind.

"Ships are safe in harbour — but that's not what ships are for." — The quote I should have had on the bus, but figured out the hard way instead

12 AM. Pune. A Bus. And One Rule That Changed Me. 🌙

At midnight, the bus pulled out of Pune. Destination: IIT Gandhinagar. With a stop in Mumbai to pick up the other half of the team. Journey time: 18 hours. And there was exactly one rule — a rule so deceptively simple, I almost laughed when I heard it:

Here's what you need to know about me going into that bus: I had social anxiety. Real, physical, throat-tightening anxiety. The kind where you needed water immediately after speaking in front of people. The kind where you preferred invisibility over introduction.

But on that bus? No one knew me. Only Gauri did — and she wasn't going to tell anyone. So in a small, quiet way — I was free. Free to be whoever I decided to be in that moment.

So I chose to speak.

"Courage is not the absence of fear. It's deciding that something else is more important than the fear." — Ambrose Redmoon, and also the version of me at 1 AM on a bus to Mumbai

In my first two speeches to the bus, I found something I didn't know I had — a voice that fills rooms. By the time we hit Gandhinagar, everyone on that bus knew who Latika Ray was. Not because someone introduced me. Because I introduced myself.

DAIICT Gandhinagar: The Robocar That Didn't Know I Was a Beginner 🤖

That ownership on the bus directly led to my first opportunity at DAIICT Gandhinagar — the RoboRace. Because people knew me, I was selected as one of only five people to compete.

I had never touched a robocar before that day. Not even close. But here's what I've learned about first times: first times have no memory of your inexperience. The car doesn't know you're a beginner. The track doesn't care. The only thing that matters is what you do with the controls in front of you.

Sell Out '23: A 10-Minute Rehearsal on a Moving Bus 🚌

After the roborace, our group headed to IIT Gandhinagar — and then the word came: only 4 teams could return to DAIICT for Sell Out '23. We got selected. Specifically — I was chosen to present the drone marketing strategy for Team Shreya.

There was one complication.

Shreya didi — the team lead, the one who was supposed to lead this presentation, the one with the preparation and the plan — had to stay back at IIT Gandhinagar due to an unforeseen issue.

So there I was. With Niraj. Two people who barely knew each other. A few bullet points on a phone screen. And the bus ride back to DAIICT: exactly 10 minutes.

Round 1: 30 People. Two Strangers. One Act. 🎭

Round 1 was 30 people. We performed the act. Went technical in the middle — discussed the drone marketing strategy with actual substance. Came back to the closure act. And we moved to Round 2.

Round 2 was a different world entirely.

The judges were the co-founders of Paradyes — a Shark Tank featured brand. And the audience? A full auditorium. Top 8 pitches. Every eye in the room watching.

My social anxiety showed up right on cue — that familiar tightening in the chest, that spike of adrenaline. But as you can see in that photo: my face never let it show. We were the first team to present. We performed the act, went technical, delivered the closure — and then realised there was supposed to be a Q&A round that the founders hadn't been briefed on.

Two choices: mourn the missed turn, or make it right.

3rd Rank. The Only GDIOT Team on the Podium. 🥉

The only team from GDIOT to grab a prize. With a pitch that was rehearsed in ten minutes on a bus, delivered by two people who barely knew each other, built around the shared belief that drama and substance are not opposites — they're partners.

The Night After: Drift Racing, Robo Races, and Stars 🌌

That night at Amalthea, IIT Gandhinagar — there was drift racing, robo races, and a sky full of stars seen from a campus where people were building the future. We celebrated the way young engineers should: loudly, sleeplessly, and with complete joy.

Vikrant Patil Dada: The Day Someone Made Me See the Whole Picture 🔭

Before this journey, I'd heard Vikrant Patil Dada speak. I respected the work. But the full-day reflection and learning session that GDIOT ran — where he broke down not just the events but the why behind everything — that hit differently.

There's a certain kind of impact that doesn't announce itself loudly. It settles. Slowly. And then one day you realise your entire lens has shifted. That's what happened.

Day 2: The Realisation That Rewired My Engineering Journey ⚡

The next morning — networking with IITians and their professors. Conversations about projects, research, systems, startups. And somewhere in those conversations, something clicked.

That realisation didn't make me want to be an IITian. It made me want to be the kind of engineer who builds things that matter, regardless of where the building happens. The campus doesn't make the engineer. The mindset does.

The Girl on the Return Journey — and Who She Was Now 🌟

I want to take a moment here — because this matters.

Before this trip, I was someone who had come through three failed NDA attempts, pivoted from NEET to JEE to CET because confidence had run out, and needed water just to face an audience. The weight of that failure wasn't small. It was the kind that makes you quietly question whether you're cut out for anything at all.

The photo above was taken months later — but it's the one I want you to remember. That's the girl who came back from Gandhinagar. Sitting among IITians. Explaining her experience. Owning the room without needing anyone to give it to her.

"It doesn't matter where you've been. It matters where you decide to go from here — and whether you're brave enough to get on the bus."

Day 3: The Bus Home, and One More Grab 🎯

On the way back — reflecting on three of the most intense days of my life — I made a decision. Don't let even one minute go.

In the closing moments of the journey, I delivered my closure points — and through them, earned a content writer's role in GDIOT Innovations. Not because I applied. But because I showed up fully, right until the last second.

That's a story for another day. But it set a precedent I've lived by since.

What That One Trip Set in Motion 🌊

Since that journey — I have grabbed every opportunity, even when I wasn't ready. Especially when I wasn't ready. That mentality of "go for it even if unsure" eventually led to:

The ₹5 lakh win? The pitch? The team? All of it traces back to that midnight bus. Read that story here →  The Day My Voice Filled the Room 🎤

To Anyone Sitting in the Back of the Bus

You know who you are. The one who wants to raise their hand but doesn't. The one who has the words but swallows them. The one who thinks: maybe next time.

Get on the bus. Sit with strangers. Speak before you're ready. Rehearse your pitch for ten minutes and deliver it to an auditorium. The discomfort is not a sign you're doing it wrong — it's a sign you're doing it.

Latika Ray Computer Engineering Student · GDIOT Content Writer (by accident) · Firm believer in getting on the bus