Old wine in new bottle-2

And this one's my fave. Written more than two years ago, I'm sure everything said here still holds true!

2)Friday, April 07, 2006
Life in a girls’ hostel.

It rocks…and that’s an understatement. I still remember the day when I first entered the campus and saw what seemed to me like a like a vast expanse with a big herd of grazing cows. No kidding. The campus ground was bustling with activity- the loading unloading of all the belongings- bedding, pillow, bucket, clothes’ bags, et al …and then finally the ‘vidaai’ scene, wherein the girls never wanna let go of their mommie’s pallu, and papaji just stands beside , fighting back the tears , trying to put a brave face forward.Cut to present . 4 years have almost passed ever since I first came here. And strangely enough , it never needed me to outgrow of home sickness, I always felt at home here. For most it’s a different story though. The initial few months are the toughest for those who’ve left their homes for the first time. The typical symptoms of home sickness include meal-skipping, crying at the drop of the hat ( while for those who are more easily embarrassed , the loos provide the perfect shelter to cry their hearts out), et al. However, it’s more of a smooth sailing after that . You make friends the very first day, but the real friendship begins a little later. And more or less lasts till the day you leave the hostel.Anyway, lets not dwell upon the senti aspect. Lets take a look at the more interesting part. The characters I’ve met here in hostel can very well give all the saas and bahus of the soap operas a run for their money, and just the day to day activities , politics here can inspire Ekta Kapoor to produce another ten serials. And the best part is that all this is for real. Nothing like it if something spicy happens to you, then you can proudly brag in front of your peers and juniors… about how the other day you got caught ragging the freshers, or about how the wardens of your hostel hate you and are contemplating throwing you out.Birthday celebrations are always fun, probably because they are forbidden ( at midnight that is ), and almost ensure that you’re going to get a very sound scolding from some poor hassled soul called the warden . And the icing on the cake is when you laugh at her face, while she compares you to uncultured brats, having no sense of respect for the elders whatsoever . And as if its not enough for you, you go overboard by repeating the crime over and over again, when ultimately she has to send letters at home. And when even this doesn’t work, she swears to take you to your principal!Then there is the gang politics. Not always very dirty, but annoying nonetheless. Almost always it starts with one gang wanting to be hailed the best. The girls in this group consider themselves to be hipper and ‘happening’er, and look down upon those from the other group as the lowliest creatures ever alive. While the other one maintains that it is more sober , sophisticated , and more importantly, the higher scoring group. And the irony lies in the fact that neither can do without the other. At the face value , everyone’s everyone’s friend. The very people who smile at you when bumping into you on the way, are the same people who laugh at you the moment you’re gone.The girls in a hostel can be broadly categorized into 2 types- those having a boyfriend and those without one. The ones who have boyfriends are the more populated species, and can be spotted from a kilometer’s distance . They are the ones who are stuck to their cell phones as if it were another limb . At night , they occupy the least crowded spots in the building , more preferably the ones near the loos. And many of them can be seen hanging out of the windows by their waist,as if prepared to jump out of them in case the boyfriend doesn’t say “ I love you” for atleast a hundred times during that particular call.And then there are the females belonging to the species , almost on the verge of extinction. They don’t have a boyfriend, the reasons of which could be anything , but I won’t go into the details. In any case , they are the ones who wear an expression of sheer frustration on their face , and desperation in their eyes.Then you have your very own AIR’s (All India Radioes). Need any information about who’s going around with whom , or who’s breaking up, or who supposedly fags and boozes or sluts around? They’ll dig out the minutest details , making even Sherlock Holmes squirm in his grave.And then there are the scheming bitches, sans the pancake though. What they do , why they do it, where do they go, who do they meet , is always a matter of curiosity for the more curious types. They are the models of the hostel, with the attitude of a Ms. World. But yeah, you can always spot them around the more intelligent of the lot , especially around the exam and submission time.Then, there are your friends. The only people who stick to you though thick and thin, and never leave you , no matter what ( atleast this is what is expected of them). But they are also not without their flaws . There are spats , misunderstandings, frequent cursing and swearing , but you always end up returning back to them. They are your friends.