My hostel life - Visakhapatnam, India (Part 2)

It was the month of September 2007 and our internal exams were about to show up. Since, this was the first internal exam, all of us were going crazy and the flame of determination to ace the exam was blazing in our mind and soul. All of us were there for a reason and this was the time when we had to prove our worth. Finally, on a fine Sunday afternoon we assembled in our respective classrooms for the exams. A senior guy was seated beside me and I must say, the way he cheated in the exam was extraordinarily amazing. He had a complete book on his lap, a very thick book. Somehow the exam got over and we went to the mess for having our lunch. The food served to us was of average quality, just not so good that you sleep in the class and not so bad that you can’t even gulp it. Of course, it was a big transition for all of us as the food given to us was different than what we used to have in our homes. This was the time when I realized how much better my mom’s food was. Well, as they say, life teaches you everything even if you don’t want to.

On those Sunday afternoon when we didn’t have any outing, the management used to show us movies. So, just after the exams got over, students used to run to the TV place with their chairs and reserve a place for them, as if they were in a refugee camp. Sunday, as you see, was the most relaxed day of the week and the day was usually spent by washing huge piles of dirty clothes and sleeping the rest part of the day. By this time, I had become more practical about life and had started to grasp the regular bullshit going around in one’s day to day life, which in my home I never did or couldn’t do. By now I had made many friends from different parts of the country and the night time after the study hour was well spent in chatting and mocking each other.

Soon, the Dusshera season arrived, hence the time for us to go home came. All of us were very excited as this was the first time we were going home after our parents had left us in July. I, personally, had put a countdown calendar in my room and used to scratch each day as it passed by thus escalating my excitement level. The train journey was mind-blowing as the whole bogie was filled with students, out of which most of them were from our college. The merrier the train journey was; it was backed by the excitement of going home. Our happiness knew no bounds. The next morning, we reached our hometown. To my wonder, I saw my mom standing outside the gate waiting for me. She hugged me tightly as soon as I got down from the cab, must say, that was the best feeling in the world. To see your parents, cry with happiness is the moment of true bliss and that too for you. I, literally, had never felt so much welcomed in my house before. It was as if I was born again, only this time I could see and understand the things happening around. Everyone at my home was astonished to see the change in me. My hairstyle, dressing sense, the way I spoke with them, my attitude everything had changed. I don’t know whether they liked it or not but the old me was fading away and a newer version of myself was on the rise. My time at home passed very fast and in no time the dreaded day arrived when we had to return to Vizag. The mere thought of going back to hostel gave me chills. Everyone was so sad the day we were at the bus stand ready to catch the bus which would drop us to the railway station. It was as if we were going on a war, a war where if you don’t succeed, you’ll end up nowhere thus wasting all of your parents’ money and hope. We reached hostel the next day and to my amusement, everyone was back on track, everything caught up from where we had left before going home and the same boring lectures began to scratch our head.

With everyone pumped up with their energy levels and pocket money, we planned for an outing the coming Sunday. We went to the city in the morning, watched couple of movies in the theatre, went to cyber café, ate good food. We had decided not go to hostel at 6 pm as that was such an uncool thing to do; so we went to the beach to hangout for a couple of hours. That night we returned at 10 pm and found a big line of students waiting outside the main gate of our hostel waiting to go in. This was one of those days when I was scared as hell as the management was jotting down the names of the late comers. They were going to call our parents and would inform about our good deeds, but nothing happened. This gave us more courage. From then every time we went for an outing, we used to return after 11 pm or sometimes after 1 am. It was during this time, I started smoking cigarettes. I still remember the day, the movie Welcome had released and my friend and I couldn’t get the movie ticket. So instead, we went to the petty shop and bought 2 cigarettes, one for each. This was the first time I had ever smoked a cigarette and started coughing as soon as the smoke went inside my lungs. Thus began a long friendship with cigarettes. People start smoking just to look cool but then it clutches them with its nicotine claws and now I was one of those victims who used to boost around thinking myself to be very cool.

The month of March 2008 was upon us which meant that the final exams was about to come. By this time, giving exams had become like an old habit, so none of us were worried about the exams. The exam went on for a week and marked the most boring week of the year. A couple of days’ holiday
was given to us followed by which the classes of 12^th standard were to commence. Everything about me had changed by now, the old me was completely gone and more was about to come. This year was going to be one of the most important years of my life, as this was the reason why we came here in the first place.

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To be continued…