The first scene of Netflix’s just-dropped show Alma Matters: Inside the IIT Dream sets the tone for things to come. You see a group of young men and women dance as the following words flash on screen: “Every year, more than a million youngsters across India dream of getting into IIT. Less than 1 per cent manage to get in.” 

This story follows those who do. The ones who find themselves in a jam, trying to answer life’s hardest questions: “I may have got into IIT, but is this really what I want to do?” The average viewer imagines that they all want to follow in the footsteps of Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who walked out of this institute’s corridors 28 years ago, but the reality is a bit different.