Nine strangers. One brutal, hilarious first year at an Indian engineering college. And a friend group you would survive anything for. Book one of the Crack Code saga — a warm, funny coming-of-age novel about first crushes, borrowed courage, and the people who quietly become your home.
Inside the book
July has turned the campus into a punishment, and Ishwaak is already late on the first day. Around him, a first semester assembles itself out of pure shared panic: Gargi, who corrects his formulas and his thinking in the same breath; Isabel, who runs the group like a small government; Della, who speaks only in metaphors; Dhritil and Divyant, who turn every disaster into material; Illiana, forever translating herself between old school friends and new ones. Together they survive lab files, terrifying professors, midnight gaming tournaments, college fests, and a WhatsApp group named — far too boldly — Friends Forever.
This is the year friendship stops being simple. First crushes arrive without instructions, courage has to be borrowed, heartbreak happens in public on the same benches where the jokes do, and every exam is a small, funny apocalypse you survive one bluff at a time. And when Daanish sits down at their table — helpful, polite, always laughing at the right moment, always asking the question no one else thought to ask — the shape of the group begins to shift so gently that no one can quite say how.
Funny, tender, and exactly observed — Five Point Someone crossed with the warmth of Kota Factory — Crack Code: Semester 1 is an ensemble coming-of-age story where the stakes are marks, trust, and belonging rather than life and death. This is the definitive remastered edition: book one of the Crack Code saga, one friend group's journey through the years of an Indian engineering college, and the best place to start before you know what to look for.
Who's who
Ishwaak
The narrator
A first-year who's always a little late and always watching. He feels the strings long before he can see the hands.
Gargi
The conscience
Sharp, principled, impossible to fool for long — the person Ishwaak notices before he'll admit he's noticing.
Daanish
The easy one
Arrives smooth and effortless, as if he'd already been invited. Everyone's favourite; nobody's problem.
Della
The nature lover
Gentle, disarming, happiest outdoors — the last person anyone would look at twice.
Jhilmil
The striver
Career-focused and clear-eyed about the game, even when the others pretend there isn't one.
Where it's set
The college
An Indian engineering college run on attendance economies, internal grace, borrowed files and the 7 a.m. bus — rendered so specifically it reads like your own memory.
The canteen
Where the khata runs long, alliances form over chai, and every rumour gets its first airing.
What sets it apart
A world you can taste
A fully lived-in Indian engineering campus, 2018 — Basic Electrical labs, mid-sem dread, tuck-shop printer queues, the 7 a.m. bus, freshers' parties, and sardonic ma'ams sharp enough to be characters in their own right.
An ensemble that feels real
A nine-strong friend group written with equal weight — no one is scenery. The comedy comes from how well they know each other; the heart comes from watching them learn how much that costs.
Coming of age, played for laughs and ache
First crushes, borrowed courage, public heartbreak, red ink on answer sheets — the ordinary, hilarious, quietly devastating business of growing up away from home for the first time.
The texture of Indian college life
SUB-G squad matches, group-chat wars, Karnival 2K18 and the Parivartan fest — the late-2010s campus rendered so specifically it reads like your own memory.
Start of an ongoing saga
Book one of the Crack Code saga — one friend group, followed across their years of college. The definitive remastered edition is the place to begin.
“They went in with a shared groan, still joking because none of them had learned a better method of courage.”
“"Do the next problem," she said. "Not the whole paper. Not your whole life. The next problem."”
“For once, the group's noise was not a weakness. It was a wall. Imperfect, loud, full of bad drawings and worse jokes, but still standing.”
By the numbers
July has turned the campus into a punishment, and Ishwaak is late on the first day. Around him, a first semester assembles itself: Gargi, who corrects his formulas and his thinking in the same breath; Isabel, who runs the group like a small government; Della, who speaks in metaphors; Dhritil and Divyant, who turn every disaster into material; Illiana, translating herself between old school friends and new ones. Together they survive lab files, terrifying professors, gaming tournaments, fests, and a group chat named — too boldly — Friends Forever.
Then Daanish sits down at their table. He is helpful. He is polite. He laughs at the right moments and asks the questions no one else thinks to ask. And slowly, without a single provable act, the shape of the group begins to change.
Crack Code: Semester I is a novel about the year friendship stops being simple — about borrowed courage, public heartbreak, red ink on answer sheets, and learning who to trust when nothing can be proved. This is the remastered edition: the definitive text of the semester where it all begins. The saga continues with Semester 2 in September 2026.
Second semester and the friendships that felt unbreakable in October are learning they have edges. Book two of the Crack Code saga — a funny, warm coming-of-age story about first love, loyalty and growing up in an Indian engineering college.
Good to know
It's the first book of the Crack Code saga — a warm, funny coming-of-age campus novel set in an Indian engineering college. Nine strangers become a friend group over one chaotic first year of labs, exams, fests, and first crushes, learning who they are and who they can trust along the way.
Young Adult / New Adult coming-of-age comedy. Think the humour and heart of an Indian campus story — friendship, first love, and growing up — closer to slice-of-life than to plot machinery. If you love Five Point Someone or Kota Factory, you're home.
Yes. Semester 1 is the opening book of the Crack Code saga and the best place to start. This is the definitive remastered edition — a full editorial pass and cleaner Kindle typesetting, same story.
It's a complete arc — one full first year, July to January, with its own exams, fests, fallings-out, and repairs — but it's book one of a saga, and it ends the way first years end: with the next chapter already walking toward you.
Yes — Crack Code is an ongoing saga that follows one friend group through their years at an Indian engineering college. Semesters 1 and 2 are available now, with more to come.
Crack Code: Semester 1 is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. Use the Buy button on this page.
What readers say
★★★★★
This book is an engaging and relatable read that perfectly captures the highs and lows of college life. With compelling characters, realistic struggles, and an inspiring journey of ambition and self-discovery, the book keeps readers hooked. The writing is sharp, emotional, and full of moments that feel authentic. Sharma balances humour, drama, and motivation effortlessly, making this a must-read for students and young professionals. A fresh and thought-provoking take on ambition, friendship, and growth.
★★★★★
This book captures the ups and downs of student life, blending ambition, friendship, and self-discovery into an engaging read. The struggles of navigating coursework, personal aspirations, and social challenges feel incredibly real, making it easy to connect with the journey. The writing keeps you hooked, and the themes of perseverance and growth resonate beyond just engineering students. Whether you’re in college or just enjoy stories about ambition and self-improvement, this is a compelling and inspiring read!
★★★★★
This book is about Ishwaak and his friends. It follows them through their first semester of engineering, with all its ups and downs. The book is funny and sad, with lots of interesting characters. I liked how the book showed what college is really like. The exams, the late nights, the friends-it all felt very real. The characters are easy to understand and I cared about what happened to them. The book is also funny. I laughed out loud a few times, especially at the parts about the professors. The author knows how to write good jokes. Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's a good story about college life, with all its good and bad phases. If you're in college, or if you've ever been to college, you'll probably like this book.
★★★★★
This book really captures what it's like to be an engineering student, with all the stress and drama that comes with it. The story follows Ishwaak and Gargi through their first semester, and honestly, it's pretty engaging. What makes this book work is how it balances the academic stuff with the personal relationships. The friendship drama might seem a bit much at times, but that's exactly how everything feels when you're in college. While some of the technical details might be hard to follow for non-engineering readers, the emotional parts of the story make up for it. It's a solid read if you're interested in college life stories or just want something that feels real and relatable.
Nine strangers. One brutal, hilarious first year at an Indian engineering college. And a friend group you would survive anything for. Book one of the Crack Code saga — a warm, funny coming-of-age novel about first crushes, borrowed courage, and the people who quietly become your home.