When i was in my XII std, and when my friends and i would start the topic of future plans, the one thing that i would hear from most of them was that they wanted to go someplace else to do their graduation (well...not all the girls but yeah each and every one of the guys). They thought that if we go to colleges like the IITs or BITS or the NITs or one of the many other private deemed universities, they would have better exposure and would learn to be independent plus get to make their own rules! I would often disagree, i had never planned on going away from home and staying in a hostel....I detested that very idea.I was perfectly OK with joining any 'not so bad' college in the city itself.
But, here I am now...at BPHC (that's BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus for the uninitiated), well, at first it was all a blur of getting adjusted to hostel life,classes(the whole lecture and tutorial system of BITS needs some getting used to!), making new friends(well that's one thing which will continue for sometime now, what with 600 students in my batch alone),then there was getting used to the mess food....and most of all just sinking in the feeling of independence, which was exhilarating and new in a nice way!
Soon enough I was comfortable in my skin, I made friends with the most amazing bunch of people and we (7 actually) treat each other more like family than friends. I realized that my so called favorite dishes were not really my favorite anymore thanks to the way the messwallah made it. I learnt (the hard way) that nothing was just given to you on a plate anymore , we had to manage our classes, tests,extra-curricular activities, laundry, room chores(or whatever you call it),hanging out with friends,visits home....everything had to be given its requisite amount of time and attention.
Since we are the second batch of students here we have just one set of seniors.At first we would always huddle together in groups, terrified to even approach the seniors. Every time I passed them by, I had these alarm bells going off in my head screaming "SENIORS,SENIORS!".....But now it couldn't be more different, It amazes me how much things have changed over a period of 5 months. We talk to them about everything , and they are ever ready to give us their advice and guidance(trust me, u need it to know the dos and donts on the campus,especially when it comes to dealing with some sadistic professors!)
I had my fair share of crazy, embarrassing and fun experiences in the very first semester of my college life. My first (and last actually) ragging experience was fun (you will have to contact me for the finer details!)...that set of seniors is the one that i know the best now and they helped me out in many ways. And then there was this audition for Ms.Fresher that I will never forget(yeah...I did go, seriously don't know who was I kidding!!!)....during the course of the session i told them that if I was good at something I liked to shout it from roof-tops and let the world know!(when will I learn to shut up???)....they(the judges of course, three senior boys to be more precise) couldn't be more amused, they made me climb this really high teachers table at the entrance of the lecture hall and shout something. It was quite embarrassing but later I realized the other participants were made to do crazier stuff!
Then I also had great fun during the salsa workshop and I really hope they have more such stuff in the future. Be it getting into the ELAS(English language activities society) or getting rejected by the editorial board or all of my 3 t-shirt designs failing to impress the Bhawan representative (we have to come up with designs and the best one goes for print) ...it was about self discovery for me...to learn to perceive myself and the people around me better.
Slowly I got used to calling this place my 'home away from home'....Now the campus feels strangely endearing, more 'apna'. We sure are burdened with more tests than any other university I know(who in the world takes 8 tests a year?)...but we are learning to treat them like something totally ordinary and nothing to worry too much about. Another great thing about hostel life is that you always have your friends around to help you with the subjects you suck the most at. Having girl-gossip sessions late at night, making Maggi in the most innovative ways(don't get me started on this)and just watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S with your friends laughing at decibels injurious to the ears of your neighbors....things like this make everything else worth it!
