HOSTEL LIFE

I have always had this knack of burning my boats with my own hands and I am so dumb, I manage to burn my hands while at it too! One such misadventure landed me at ‘Rajarshi Shahu College of Engineering.’ At the time, it was not too famous a college, as a matter of fact, it was one of those colleges that was just developing and unless you had inside information which said it was destined for greater things, you would not be found wanting admission here. I had no such information. I was here because I had no choice.
The college is so far away from where I used to live that my parents decided it would be best if I moved into the hostel. It would save me a couple of hours of traveling and possibly give me a chance to grow up into a mature young man. (Hehehe...needless to say, that didnt quite help much!) I for one, readily agreed because I thought it would give me some time to think about where my life was heading and possibly get a grip on reality. Talk about wishful thinking!
If you do not believe everything happens for a reason, I suggest you might want to rethink your line of thinking. After all, had it not been for those fabulous three odd years that I spent in the hostel, I would never have gotten enough material to write about. Life as a hostelite is a great experience. It does a lot to define you as an individual, gives you a great perspective on life. When you step into a world where you have to take care of yourself and be accountable for your actions, you had better appreciate the gravity of the situation else you end up learning your lessons the hard way. (Or then again you might not learn any-like me.)
When you step out of the protective realms of home, the first thing you take note of is the freedom. For someone coming out from a conservative middle-class family, the fact that your mother cannot watch over your every movement gives vent to your rebellious nature. For the first time, I could decide whether or not my clothes could be deemed dirty enough to be washed, whether or not I wanted to get up at six in the morning and take a bath and most importantly, whether or not I wanted to get up and go to college or instead just sleep late and walk over when I am ready to wake up! The freedom is exhilarating. It does carry a price though.
The sudden break away from rules and regulations can get to your head. Sometimes, you make decisions that you would have preferred not to had you been thinking clear but then you go ahead and do it because you can. Before you start deducing faster than Sherlock Holmes, let me make it clear, I am not talking about smoking, boozing, doping or getting a tattoo. The only reason I could stay away from all of those was probably the security I found in myself from my bloated self-confidence. I am talking more in terms of decisions like sneaking into the girls hostel, locking the rectors door from the outside forcing the watchman to break open the lock and other such weird misadventures that ensured life was always a bit more fun than should have been. But then, that is another tale altogether.
The most important lessons that hostel life teaches you are how to wash your own clothes, how to gulp down food that had you been home you could have snubbed and how to manage your finances so as to be able to watch plenty of movies and go out on innumerable dates and at the end of the month, end up having nothing but empty pockets so you can be thankful that you paid your mess bills (if the money has not already been spent in buying her a gift!) Ah! The pleasures of hostel life!

Hostel life spanned three years and each year saw an influx of new friends into my life. I think it would be advisable to divide this narration in the three distinct years. Some events though roll over because they have a direct bearing on previous events. Obviously enough, we shall start at the first year.