Life Of Navin

7 days ago, I took a huge jump into something I'd personally been looking forward to for a looooong time! Assuming you've read the title of this post, I'm guessing you've figured out that the miraculous event was indeed that I got into Hostel! I've always personally felt that college life is incomplete without hostel life, and was actually looking forward to get my own room in the hostels of Goa Engineering College as soon as possible... so much so that this is even on my semester bucket list!! Anyway, here's a short recap of the week that was!

I got into hostel on the 28th, and straightaway headed to my new home for the next few months: Room 27, Hostel 4! The day went off great but was mainly spent setting stuff up in my room. Meh.

The hostel rooms are really comfortable. Even though they're on a 3-in-a-room basis, we have enough space to arrange the provided 3 study tables, chairs, and beds, and still have loads of free space! I've heard a lot about bad hostels/hostel rooms, but am glad that my hostel has no such horror stories to speak of!

One of my roommates, Rohan Hodarkar (a ubercool friend, a classmate, and treasurer in my council) arrived the next day. The third bed in the room is yet to be alloted to someone, and is meanwhile being used as a elevated dance floor! :)

The actual madness started on Sunday. I know people across the world love this day, but if you're in my college, Sunday is near-hell for you! Partly because many people head home for the weekend (most hostelites are Goans)! But more importantly because all the eateries on campus are closed! And that's like 7-8 oncampus eateries.... all CLOSED! Aaaaaah! I had to make do with black tea (made by a hostelite who'd carried tea powder but no milk :P ) in the morning. But then, almost like a Godsend, Umesh appeared. OK, so who is Umesh? Umesh is a supercool guy who owns a oncampus gaddo! He generally supplies overpriced, stale food cooked in unsanitary conditions, but on Sundays, he's no less than God! What he lacks in cleanliness, he makes up in character! Umesh is really an awesome guy.... loved and respected by every hostelite, so much so, that most of us now call him Umesh bhai! :)

So, long story short, Sundays on campus is basically an exercise in scavenging for food! (Trust me, 100 samosas were bought from that one gaddo in less than 15 mins time!)

Other days are pretty awesome! I love having my friends around me at all times, from 4 in the morning to 3:59 in the night! Our college campus is HUGE (over 200 acres) and my dream of actually seeing my campus is finally coming true! Not having a night check in time at the hostel is simply awesome! I've already made trips to the College back gate and an edge of the a huge field known on campus as Infinity grounds (because it seemingly stretched to infinity! :) ). I've roamed around campus at one in the morning, and watched a friend frantically try to get rid of ants in his room using a burning newspaper (really)! I've celebrated a two friends B'days with EPIC birthday bumps, and another friends b'day with a midnight surprise party! :)

My daily ritual of late night calls to certain individuals does continue, albeit with loads of distractions, including a orchestra (?) of friends who start singing Kuch Naa Kaho every time I pick up the phone! :)

I'm pretty sure you've heard that Absolute Zero cannot be achieved. That's a lie... it can, and has been achieved. Where? No, not in our labs, but in the bathrooms of my hostel. The water is so cold that it can actually freeze the balls off a brass monkey (an interesting story behind that quote incase you're interested)! So the hunt for hot water is always on! Somehow, over the week, I've kind of adjusted to the cold water, so that's no longer a big deal!

The lack of a television hasn't really affected me as badly as I thought it would! There's enough watching material here to last me a few lifetimes! And that's just the non-porno stuff! :) Infact, I feel, not being a TV addict has helped me utilize my time better! Being a total musicaholic, I love the fact that I can now blast music at full volume all the time! It's no longer odd to hear music from my room at 4 in the morning, something that was totally looked down upon at home! :)

I now totally understand what Dad meant all those times he asked me "Does money grow on trees?". The answer is dead simple. NO. And I realised it the hard way being stranded cashless till a friend bailed me out of the situation! All this in the last 7 days!

I've adjusted almost instantaneously to hostel life, and hope that the coming days continue to be just as eventful as the first week!

Till then you know where you can reach me: Room 27, Hostel 4! :)

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P.S. The lovely pic at the start of this article is by my supertalented friend Achintya Kambli! When he's not trying to burn entire ant nests, he produces beauties like this! :)