Room No. 302

From 'I won't share my room with anyone' to 'I miss my roommates'. We learnt to share our lives;)

And the synopsis are that you never had a different level of fun, fear,

gossips, lazy Sundays and bad food if you didn’t experience the
hostel life. This can be speculated by the heaviness in the songs
based on hostel life.

I was standing there startled. Confused in my own thoughts, thinking
how will I manage everything alone? Lost in the sight of my parents
and brother leaving me behind, after setting up my room. What will I
even do without them? These were the thoughts when I first entered
my hostel room. ROOM NO. 302. Yes this number is still embarked
on my heart and ever will. Though it was my decision to leave my city
and study out but reality hit hard and then came the regret.
As I entered my room, a sad and empty space, wondering who and
how my roommates will be?I had deliberately chosen a two seater so that I’ve to
adjust with lesser people. The next day, with my eternal feeling of
regret and home sickness, I began to cry, would that be a routine
now? I thought. Just then, another weeping stranger, my first
roommate entered. I was taken aback, because who the hell enters a
room crying?! But I kept those feelings aside and sat besides her to
console. She soon realized how weird that was and stopped crying
(thank god!). It was a new phase, a new experience for both of us
and unknowingly, we both kept each other from crying. Is that what
ROOMMATES are for?

Being away from home in an unknown environment was turning me
to a madhubala. A week later, a friend of my roommate came to our
room. She was warm and friendly. I loved their company and soon
we were the three musketeers each with some craziness. I’m still
grateful that I wasn’t being cranky that day.

After months of fun, exam, stress and college drama, returning home
was like the first rain in an arid land. The extra love which I never
received in the last 20 years was astonishing. As much as I was
enjoying being home, I still longed to go back to hostel, a big change,
isn’t it?
Months ago I wasn’t ready to live far away from my family but now
hostel felt like a family. All those late night gossips, the weekly trips
to the supermarkets, and of course, who hasn’t been the love guru
and philosopher when a friend has a heartbreak. Hostel taught me to
adjust because which pyscho on earth sleeps peacefully when their
roommate snores like a walrus! (I did). It taught me to care like
getting food secretly from mess when your roommate was too lazy
to even step out for loo. I can go on and on because every minute
was eventful and memorable.
I thought being around 100s of people all the time, sharing a room
with a stranger, sharing a washroom, would be difficult. But these
things hardly mattered when 10 people were crammed in one bed
during exam nights. Hostel did teach me that it’s okay to be with
strangers, religion doesn’t matter when one bar of chocolate is
suddenly being shared with so many people, some you didn’t even
know. It also taught me time management because rushing to the
washroom before it gets occupied and that fight to be ready to be in
time of college, were intense, but were made fun of at the end of the
day.

And again I am lost in my thoughts, with moist eyes and a lump in my throat,
mumbling "what will I even do without them". The last day of my hostel.
"mainu ik din de layi hostel wala kamra dedeyo ji'
mai fer yaara naal ohi zindagi jeeni hai"