LIFE IN A GIRL’S HOSTEL

Thanks to Bollywood movies of the 90s era and the image of hostel life they have created,  I, like other normal girls, born and brought up in a typical Indian middle class family (comprising of a mummy , daddy and a sibling) was also having similar views. To be frank, I always longed to be called a Hostelite. A coveted adjective to a student’s name, which all the accha bachhas,  studious didis and bhaiyyas  in our family friend circle had. Their description of the hostel life, superimposed with my understanding and interpretation  of the Hindi  pot boilers from Mumbai made me even more eager to join the league of the Hostelites!!...Crazy thinking na!!! After all, aisa kya mazaa hai hostel life mein?? Arey bhai, jaayenge to hi pata chalega na!!

So, here I go!!!!!!!.. J J J to HOSTEL.......

Aankhon mein sapney liye,

ghar se hum chal to diye,

jaane ye raahein ab le jaayengi kahaan!!!!

Arey bhai, raahein Hostel le jayengi...H O S T E L, dream destination..... J

Toh bhai, hum aa gaye Hoshtelll!!!!  New address read Rom no.62, Tungabhadra Block. Last room of the corridor, most spacious in the entire corridor this remained a matter of envy for most of my friends till the end). But I was happy with the room. Sunlight was not a frequent visitor due to the odd facing window of the room. This ended up making the room air conditioned. Winters mein kulfi jamm jati hai!! 2 sweaters, socks and a thick blanket are essential to maintain the homeostasis..

View from the window?? Left hand side par Guard’s room jo raat mein besure romantic gaane gaata hai and right hand side- back gate of the hostel. This gate is a historic gate, which has witnessed many love stories. Milna – bichadna-milna is a common scene here.

The best part of my hostel is- A small park in the middle....in the mornings one can find health conscious ( to be read as figure conscious) girls jogging here with imported ‘Only English Songs playing’  gadgets  and simultaneously the morning shift guards maarofy line on those girls. Evenings have majority of tea/coffee drinking public, sitting and gossiping about the new smart guy in their class. And nights...... Jaanu, sweetu, chonu monu time!!..Yes!!! the guess is right. This is the time when obedient and dutiful daughters lighten their parent’s burden and try their hands at searching for their soulmates. ( Itna high fundu aur doordarshi koi nahi sochta. Bade sheher ki hawa lag jaati hai, aur log trend mein bane rehne ke liya end up joining the herd of sheep) This was when I got to know how Anil Ambani’s Reliance Communications is earning crores!!. The annual turnover of Reliance communications is directly proportional to the number of people having faith in long distance relationships. Hostels have a huge population of such category of people. So, Anil ji, come on India, kar lo duniya ke hostels mutthi mein.....

Hostel life made me learn activities which I had never thought of doing myself, washing and ironing clothes being the most important ones. I must say- Hats off to all the mummies who don’t have the luxury of a bai or a washing machine. I swear, washing clothes is a Herculean task. All the hostelites, who are reading this article, will definitely agree with me. Especially the ones, who wash multiple buckets of clothes once in a month!!  Courtesy- living on the edge lifestyle- Kapde tabhie dhulte hain jab pehenane ko kuch bhi nahi bachta. Ab aap ek hi dress ko ulta pulta karke kitni baar pehenenge!! Jeans pants are the saviours in such situations. Mahine bhar bhi chal jaate hain.  All you need is a good stock of t- shirts or a group of friends who  wear  the same size of clothes as you wear. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed!! And scarcity of clothes is nothing less than a crisis.

Moving to the other areas, I learnt new abbreviations – the hostelite lingo. Eg. BBC- Basket Ball Court, PMC- Piya Milan Circle. History of PMC- This place is a small circle in the middle of the campus which is a common meeting point for all those who have been blessed by Cupid Baba and Mata Venus. They stand and talk to their respective love interests till the hostel guard blows whistle signalling that it is time to close the hostel gates. ...........And then comes the most difficult phase of life- Moment of separation. Log ek doosare se aise gale milte hain as if this is THE last time they are hugging each other. Aura gale hi din phir woho kahani doharaay jaati hai. Times changed, people changed, but the place became immortal- THE  HISTORIC PIYA MILAN CIRCLE......

Then there is a So-called study garden, where people do everything else, except studying. Exam  season mein kabhi kabhi break mein padhaayi bhi ho jaati hai. J J Early morning turns this garden into an exercise park for the over sized middle aged uncles and aunties who wear a bizarre combination of Nighties and sports shoes!! Fashion personified!!

Baaki life goes according to the routine. Good morning starts at 8 am, just half an hour before the first lecture. Bathing is optional, if you wake up after 8.45. Time management toh hostel walo se seekhna chahiye. We know the art of having a quick  2 minutes shower as well as a royal 1 hour sampoorn snaan.  I know a friend here who got up  just 5 minutes before the lecture, and chewed gum and went to college. No time to even brush teeth!!!!

Breakfast is also an optional meal for most of the hostel dwellers. Thus making lunch the most important meal of the day.  Aadarsh  bhuke vidhyaarthi ki nazar ghadi ko taaqati rehti hai aur ye sochti hai- kab lunch break hoga aur kab meri badwaagni ( hunger) shaanth hogi!!!

Post lunch and afternoon session of boring classes, made interesting by chatting with friends on the back benches of the classrooms, time to sleep. Ek hostelite hi sham ke 5 baje aakar dopahar ki neend poori kar sakta hai..!!!!

Then starts quest for sham ki chai/coffee, hanging out with friends for the dinner session. And then comes the most interesting part of being in the hostel- Nocturnification. Hostelites ki sham starts at 9 pm. So, chatting in neighbours room till 12 pm, having fashion show sessions at 10 pm, sometimes cooking dinner at 11 pm, making maggi for those whose circardian rythm got jumbled up and made them skip their dinner,  watching action movies with full volume at 12.30, having that cup of late night coffee from the coffee shop at 1 pm , fighting for Parle-G biscuits, roasting papads using iron box, munching on the ghar ke bane snacks from your friend’s eatable stocks, messaging friends till 11.59 only to finish the stock of 100 free local sms per day, Screaming  HAPPY BIRTHDAY at the top of your voice on your friend’s birthday at 12 in the night and giving her a free cake massage, discussing ghost stories and those so called TRUE Experiences at 1 in the night and getting scary dreams, discussing who has crush on whom and calculating who has a fair chance of becoming successful, realising that it is high time to go to bed when the clock ticks 4 am...... I have seen all of it.

 One more thing which hostel  life teaches is- The true value of ghar ka simple khana. All my friends who were fussy and choosy about eating when at home have  realised the true value of saada dal chaawal. I am sure majority of the people reading this article who have had a privilege of being a Hostelite at some point of time in their life will agree with me on this. What say folks????

But all said and done, hostel life makes one understand the world better. Here, you learn to take your own decisions and become independent. By the time you leave the hostel, you end realise that the Friends who were with you all this while were not actually your friends and people whom you never counted as your near and dear ones turn out to be your actual well wishers. You learn to understand and analyze people. It is actually a trial and error funda.

Hmmm...life is like that...Some lessons are learnt with a bitter taste. But the learning continues. Irrespective of whether you are a hostelite or not, life teaches you all the lessons at appropriate times. But one thing is certain-Hostel life har kisi ko experience karni chahiye.  It is a great experience.........

So folks, three cheers to Hostel life.....Hip hip hurray...hip hip hurray..hip hip hurray..:-)