Life at hostel/ In hostel all my life ^_^

                        One evening (June 2010) my parents took me to Santhosha Vidhyalaya(SV) Dohnavur, with a lot of snacks, new clothes, bags, slippers, bedsheets, pillow etc...I felt euphoric to have so much attention and love. I thought it was one of those days when my parents will leave me in the classroom and come pick me up in the evening, because that was how it was during my lower and higher kindergarden. Little did I know it was the beginning of my twelve years of hostel life. The first morning was new, all of us woke up together, we had prayer, had breakfast, had classes, went to the playground to play games, and then arrived the darkest part of the day. I remember feeling so lost, the pain, and that yearning feeling (still feels so fresh) was too much for a five year old child to handle. Since then, I would cry myself to sleep every night. I would want something to hug, even a small barbie doll was okay I felt.

                           

                           Time flew, I grew, I don't remember much but I was just going with the flow. We used to have 'dorm sisters' we would call them 'Akka' and two to three classes would have a warden. Those 'Akkas' were so strict and sometimes unfair. More than half of the students studying in my school were children of missionary parents, who were in far away places in India. There were many students from North India studying there, due to which we had to talk in English. Even though I  knew Hindi and Odiya to some extent I was not very confident in talking to those natives in their language. Later we began to only talk in English even with the people who knew Tamil. We studied Tamil only as a subject and rarely used it to communicate. Those girls from North India used to dominate us South Indians, and I remember telling them that I'm a North Indian too because I was born in Orissa. All of us wanted to fit in. We would meet our parents thrice a year. We had to start washing our clothes when we were at grade four, then we had to sweep, mop, serve food etc... We did learn a lot of things there, I cannot deny it. Our schedule everyday was, the primary children must wake up at 5:30 am , it was 5:00 am for the rest. From grade six to twelve we must get ready in full uniform and go for morning devotion at 6:00 am. We would have morning study from 6:30 to 7:15 am. We were expected to be done with our breakfast by 8:00 am (which we seldom did). Our classes would begin at 8:15 am, we'll have a break at 10:15 am, they would give us snacks. They would give us two biscuits, that's it. If they gave manila sweet or groundnut candy, they would give us just a piece. After break we would have classes till 12:30 pm and then lunch time till 1:15 pm. From grade six we will have duty to take and serve food, and also clean the dining hall afterwards, same with breakfast and dinner. At 3:15 pm we would have another break, and classes will be over by 4:30 pm. We will then have to return to our dorms, put on our sports uniforms, tea and tiffin will be provided. They would give us green gram, brown gram, peas, Idli upma etc... and other healthy snacks for which I don't know what it's called in English. On days when we have snacks bought and given by our parents or other relatives, primary kids are expected to finish their snacks within a week. I remember very well, I used to like coin chocolates, my dad used to buy it almost everytime I return to hostel after the holidays. In my fourth grade, the one week time for finishing our snacks was over, but I kept my coin chocolates safe so that I can eat it at last, but those 'Akkas' mixed my snacks with the others' for sharing. Sharing was a practice in our school in which, after a week of the snacks being given to us, the remaining snacks would all be put in a bucket and what comes in the 'Akka's' hand she would serve it to each person. Another girl got my coin chocolate box in the snacks sharing process. I remember very well I went, and fought with her, and got my coin chocolates back. It might seem like a simple thing, but it was very big task for me at that time. Our time for playing games in the playground was from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. Once we went to higher secondary  classes we would stay back in our dormitories. On rainy days, they would let us watch tv in games time. Then we would come back get refreshed, put on our nightsuits and get ready for night study. For the kids they would have study from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, for the seniors it was from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. We would have night prayer from 8:00 to 8:30 pm for the kids, and 8:30 to 9:00 pm for the seniors. For the seniors there will be something called, "second night study" till 10:00 pm. Then we must go to our respective beds, and the shutters of our halls will be closed. We would mostly be chit chatting all night. Our warden would come for rounds with a torchlight to see if we slept, we will all act and once she leaves we'll get back to our talking. We had so much fun those days.

                         The food there was quite good, now that I've tasted food in other hostels. There is one exception, Idli, something I  disliked, it has an impact on me so much that I still won't eat Idli until I'm compelled to. On the first Saturday of every month we would have movie show. Our school demanded everyone to talk in English, and the movies they show would also be in English. We would watch new movies as soon as they get released. We were taught to play musical instruments from grade six. We had guitar classes so dad bought me a guitar, then I started learning to play violin from grade seven, he bought me a violin too. In grade nine I learnt to play the seven set drums, it was fun. I still regret not doing grades in drums. I played throwball, handball, kho - kho and ball badminton for awhile, only to realize sports was not my area of interest. Since we were inside the campus always, it was like our own little world with not much contact with the outer world. There were so many rules, which has taught me to be disciplined, and so many prayers, and retreats due to which I still lean towards my spiritual well being always. Actually, the appearance of my school is not very pleasant. Once you come to Dohnavur and cross the street of Chettimedu, there will be walls covered in red paint. We used to call our school, 'Red Jail'. Red everywhere, once we enter we cannot go out for the next three months. 

                         The school took us on exciting excursions yearly once. They took us to Papanasam, Kutralam, Madurai, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Cochin, those were beautiful experiences. They took us to Kanyakumari so often that I got bored of that place. I got to experience good frendships there. I have earned friends with whom I can travel for a long time, they are still in touch with me. One important result of studying in my school is that, we are capable of speaking good English. It would be so funny to see the sub - junior kids trying to speak English on their own, but that is how we learnt it. Since ninety eight precent of us were kids of parents who are preaching God's word, more was expected from us. Whatever wrong we did they would criticize us and tell us that we are, "so - called missionaries' kids". We began our hostel life as innocent kids, who had no idea about what we were doing there. By the end of my twelfth year I realized how special that experience was. My friends were my home far from home. I would still say my school hostel was my 'second home'. I had finished my twelve years of hostel life in SV on May 2022. 

                        I joined Bishop Heber College, Trichy for my B.A English degree. I had to change my hostel every year as per the rules, so I stayed in three different hostels there. A wonderful thing that happened there was, my school seniors and juniors were there. We would meet often, have prayers, and go out to eat together. Food was okay, but sometimes the people who serve would give us very little amount of food, especially when it was non - veg. I didn't like my hostel experience at Bishop Heber much, nevertheless there were countable good times too. I met people with different personalities, and it was really challenging, sometimes too tiring to get along. In my school all of us were hostelers, so we could understand each other better. In college, though there were many other hostel students, they would go home on weekends or long holidays, and I would be one of the few people, who would have to stay back in my hostel room alone. I missed my parents so much in my college days, I still do. It's been so long since I've begun to stay far from them, but I am not able to get used to it. It feels like I'm left behind with nothing. I would not say I was helpless because my God has been faithful. I successfully completed my UG in 2025.

 

                            For my M.A God has brought me to St. John's College, Tirunelveli. I had an exciting, but thrilling start here. I am so happy and thankful to Jesus, because I find this college and hostel to be much better. The people around me have been so welcoming and kind. I feel like I belong here. I'm getting to feel this feeling of belonging after a long time. I am twenty years old now, and this is my sixteenth year of staying in hostel. I would be lying if I said life in hostel is always good, I would also be lying if I said hostel life is not good at all. It sure is a different experience, but I've been changing too, sometimes for the better, sometimes I don't handle my storms very well. I have been overcoming my trials successfully, with the Grace of God. For those who think hostel life is hell, it is not so always. For those who think it will be wonderful to have freedom in hostel, the weight of doing everything on your own can be too much to handle. I have been living in hostel, and visiting home on occasions, but I have gotten the will power to understand and adapt to different situations, so my stay at hostel is a positive experience I would say. This is the story of my life in hostel/being in hostel all my life.