Hostel life, for me, is a ride full of fun, sentiments, hostel food, getting ready in few minutes, and whatnot. For the first-timers like me, it is more of an adventure rather than a ‘home away from home’; it takes little time to adjust with new people and new environment. It is like a compatibility test with all kinds of people around the world.
Hostel, here at AnantU, is totally opposite of the image I had of a hostel from childhood. I always thought of hostel as a place where children are kept trapped in walls, are forced to follow discipline, and eat unbreakable chapatis. But here it’s kind of a leisure life that we live. For instance, we have pani-puri in snacks sometimes! Even though this food cannot match the taste of homemade food, but it’s still far, far better than what my friends get in other hostels. We have our in-house support system, the Fellowship students (read Anant Fellows), who never let us be sad. We share a great bond with all the staff working here. Right from the chef to the bus driver, everyone is friendly to us. We celebrate many festivals, work late at night and sometimes the whole night.
However, we also need to take care of our expenses. There are always ups and downs in any journey, so are in the hostel life. Sometimes we get caught up in inside-outside fights with our peers and people around. But eventually we grow out of them and we learn; that’s how it goes. The biggest lessons I have learned so far are how to manage your expenses and how to be compatible with different kinds of people.