In this five-part series, indianexpress.com talks to alumni from the first batch of first-generation Indian Institutes of Technology. They tell us about the admission process back then, academic pressure, campus life, and how they bonded with their fellow students and faculty. In 1959, IIT-Madras was formally inaugurated with the help of the German government which provided technical, academic and financial assistance. Unlike these days, when an aspirant has to crack JEE Main and then Advanced to secure a seat at IIT, back then, admissions were done on the basis of PUC (pre university certificate equivalent of Class 12) marks followed…