Host-hell

A hostel is a shelter for students who come from far-off places. The atmosphere of a hostel is designed to help students to focus on their academics. The hostel world is a disciplined life. Living in a hostel is helpful to an individual as it teaches them a sense of responsibility in matters of taking care of books, clothes, accessories and health. Students do everything on their own. Thus, they become self-reliant. They try to manage themselves with the money they receive from home, and adjust to all types of situations. However, in times of Covid- 19 pandemic, the modus operandi of every institution has changed drastically. In most of the institutions, many hostel rooms are either vacant. In certain instances, students have been asked by authorities not to reside in the hostel due to fear of infection.

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"Hostel living gives an edge to a student, it teaches them various skills,” says Karthik who is a 2nd year B.Com student, studying at St. Josephs College (Autonomous). "Hostel life is good for a student as you will be far away from family, but there is a lot to learn in hostel as surviving in a hostel is tough," he further added. Living in a hostel with students coming from different places is like a melting pot of cultures under the same roof. It is good as one can witness many languages, one can even learn few basics of these languages. Apart from this, there is a sense of unity in diversity among the hostelers.

“Waking up on time, going to bathroom, having a good meal, preparing your bag and starting the day at school, it is like a daily routine” says Shahrukh Sheik a 2nd year student. “Staying away from family is tough, but at least best part is you have some freedom in hostel” Shahrukh further added. The best part is the friends circle in the hostel - often sharing food, snacks, notes, stationery, long talks and what not.

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Speaking about the rules and regulations where many students face a lot of issues at times, rules can be quite annoying, and some cannot handle it due to which they eventually they leave the hostel. “The problem lies with the warden who is doing his duty, but sometimes things get personal and it leads to grudges” says Joshi, a BCA 2ND year student who faced the bittersweet memories of the hostel living. He further added that “You may abide by the rules of the hostel, but at times some rules are meaningless and may hamper your freedom. A hostel should not be like a birdhouse or some prison cell, freedom is a must for everyone otherwise it would affect individual academics and mental health. There is also another reason to justify that is why students chooses to stay in paying guest rather than staying in campus hostel."

The food being served in the hostel mess, now this depends upon two major factors, the fees amount and the quality of the cooking staff. Most cases the food taste average, sometimes too spicy to consume, but if an individual who is mentally prepared to face these obstacles in an optimistic manner keeping in mind that studies is main priority all these challenges seems nothing but just a phase.