In the third year of engineering, we decided to participate in the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) (2019 Edition),🚀 a prestigious national initiative aimed at involving students in tackling real-world challenges that impact daily life.
We formed a team of six, bringing together my chai☕canteen buddies — Akanksha, Ankita, Lomi, Shashank, Siddharth & me.
All of us shared a common background in Computer Science and this felt like the perfect chance to turn our casual bonding into something more meaningful.
We labelled ourselves as "The Underdogs Burla"🏆!
The Problem Statement we picked goes as below:
A web app integrated with Bhuvan Geoportal allows users to input a location📍 (name or coordinates) and draw a geometric shape around an area of interest.
It then analyzes the land for optimal use by assessing soil quality, demographics, vegetation, mines, transportation🚗*, water sources💧, power, mobile connectivity📶, weather☀️, pollution*🌫️ and legal issues.
The app provides a score (1-100) based on future usability predictions and auto-suggests the best land uses.
Users can then decide if the land fits their project needs, such as industry, marketplace, education🎓 or residential🏠*, after obtaining necessary permissions.*
We approached our Professors Sibarama Sir and Atul Sir👨🏫for the approval and with their guidance, we finalized our work on the ISRO’s problem statement we had chosen.
The inspiration for this project was undoubtedly tied to our recent visit to SDSC-SHAR🛰️.
Every member of the team dedicated time beyond classroom hours to meet the submission deadline and we successfully submitted two ideas💡.
A few days passed and the results 📢were announced.
Unfortunately, we didn’t make it😞to the shortlisted candidates for the final round. It was a disappointing moment.
But there was still a ray of hope 🌟 as the nodal centers had the option to nominate 1-2 groups as wild card entries.
We used every communication channel available to apply and give our luck one last shot!
Few days later in an afternoon, I received an E-mail📧, while I was almost going for a sleep, after appearing a not so well performed internal exam.
The mail attachment file read out as:
Congratulations 🎉for being shortlisted as a team for Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2019 (Software Edition) scheduled on 2nd and 3rd March 2019!!
More importantly, you need to confirm your participation in the Smart India Hackathon 2019 (Software Edition) Grand Finale on the web portal as well.
-Assistant Professor at Gujarat Technological University
Eureka Moment!!
We secured a wild card entry into the final round of the Smart India Hackathon’s software edition!🎯
We were sent a Google form for team accommodation registration and added to a WhatsApp group for event updates📲.
Without wasting any time, I texted Ankita, followed by a quick phone 📞call. The moment I saw our team name, “The Underdogs Burla,” on the accommodation form, I couldn’t believe it—was this real or just a dream?
We were officially invited to the national-level hackathon’s final round at GTU, Ahmedabad, scheduled for the following week (March 2-3) in a 36-hour-long ⏳challenge.
Although we didn’t initially qualify based on the results, the wild card entry gave us a 🔄second chance. It was truly a life-changing moment!
Without further delay, I shared the news with the rest of the team, followed by informing our institution’s Director Nihar sir along with Atul sir and PK Ratha sir, who were actively involved in similar outreach and exposure initiatives.
Later that afternoon, we had a meeting with the director in his office to discuss the opportunity📅.
He was genuinely excited and assured us that all expenses would be covered by the institution, which lifted a huge burden off our shoulders🙌.
After a brief discussion about the project, accommodation and ticket bookings, the meeting got concluded. Soon after, we received personal congratulatory messages from all three teachers, as well as a few batchmates.
My roommate, Manas, who had solid media connections, quickly reached out to a leading local newspaper to ensure the news got published the next day.
Meanwhile, Shashank confirmed a strong likelihood of securing confirmed🎫tickets, so we were making progress on that front too.
We couldn’t forget the initial inspiration from Pranaba Sir, his connection with Mr. Ashok Kumar Meher, who then served as the technical officer at SDSC-SHAR 🛰️and the email exchanges with several ISRO scientists—such invaluable guidance!
At the time of submission, some teammates were off campus for personal reasons, but the announcement of our results brought us all back together🤝!
The next morning, I woke up at 4:30 AM, earlier than ever before. Manas had sent me a late-night message with a newspaper clipping featuring our story—it had been published📰!
A picture of Shashank was published with a storyline mentioning the project’s technical specifications. I immediately shared it on my status and with the team’s WhatsApp group.
By lunchtime, the news had spread like wildfire🔥across the campus. We received an outpouring of congratulations from juniors, seniors and others in the hostel during lunch. The excitement was overwhelming!
In the afternoon, destiny took a different turn. At around 4 PM, I received another email from the same professor from the organizing institution, that read:
Dear Sourav Sahoo,
We won’t consider ❌your team as Wild Card entry as per talk with AICTE. Please confirm with AICTE.
This was a tough blow—indeed a harsh one😢! I took a moment to collect myself before informing the other teammates. Despite the setback, they were definitely in a no mood to step back!
Upon raising the query to the SIH team, we got a hopeful response as below:
Dear Sourav,
Thank you for sharing Wild Card entries. The teams are included as wild card entries from your Nodal Centre.
The Team Leader would also be sent a confirmation🔔 email soon.
Regards
Smart India Hackathon Team
What followed was another set of emails, calls 📞and discussions. While we were just processing the info and waiting for our next turn of event, then The next email stated:
Dear Sourav,
After Examination, it was found that the entry by your college/ University wasn’t 🚫eligible.
Therefore, the wild card short listing although considered, is not found eligible⛔ to compete during the grand final on 2nd and 3rd march of 2019.
Regards,
Smart India Hackathon Team
The final verdict was delivered and our journey with SIH 2019 came to an abrupt end. This would have been less devastating if the previous day's email hadn't given us such a boost. That's just how life can be sometimes.
As the team’s spokesperson, I was overwhelmed with emotions😔. Some days are simply beyond our control.
However, Akanksha and Ankita suggested that we should continue with the project independently, even if SIH wasn’t in the picture.
I found their suggestion to be a mature and a constructive 💪approach. We were determined to accomplish something. Despite feeling disheartened, I knew I had to manage my own emotions.
24 hours after receiving the❌ rejection mail, I found myself sitting by the window in my room, gazing outside. I took in the beauty of life, reflecting on the journey and the lessons learned, even amidst the setbacks.
Eventually, we spent several evenings brainstorming💡 and discussing whether to continue with the project. Despite the team's energy being somewhat shaken, Sid & Lomi’s attention to detail proved invaluable.
We reached out to ISRO centers at SAC Ahmedabad, NRSC Hyderabad and SDSC Sriharikota for additional information and they responded.
Interacting with the scientific community at ISRO level was a🎢 thrill, regardless of how much we could implement.
The role challenged me to explore new and difficult concepts while keeping the team focused on our goal.
Eventually, academic commitments took over and we had to drop the project. However, the roller coaster experience of this journey will be remembered and ❤️cherished.
