When I was in 2nd standard, mom had to go away for a week to attend a camp. And dad did what he thought was best for me - put me in a hostel. I can still recall mom's expression while telling her friends about it,
"Mami Pa ka ngei zia chu, reilo te ka awm loh chhungin hostel ah a lo dah ringawt anih chu!"
(I can't believe that he had to keep her in a hostel while I was away only for a short while)
and I remember dad saying with a chuckle
"Puitlin zir nan a tha alawm",
(She can learn how to be mature)
and mom was like
"Hmmm, tun ang hunah puitlin zir a la hun lo!".
(This is not the time for her to learn how to be mature!)
LOL
I had to stay that whole term because dad had already paid the fees. Danjusteen (spell check?) Hostel, Tlangnuam, was the first hostel I was in. I remember being punished for eating 'Suzi' (Sooji halwa) on a Saturday afternoon, which was supposed to be our lunch on a day out to Children's park. And during weekends we would go to school to pick up 'spitted' tamarind seeds and eat it (yuck) because the big ones said so. I remember all my eatables being stolen by the big boys and girls, and I could do nothing about it. I remember playing hide and seek on a dark stormy 'lights out' night, and one of the big girls was hiding on the wall railing, and I happen to see her just when the lightning flashed. I was so scared! I remember us girls sneaking into the boy’s dorm in the middle of the night, and applying the waxy shoe polish on their faces, and the next day, we woke up with the same faces, with mustaches and dark highlighted eye brows. Dayum, we could never outwit the boys! I remember one of the big boys having a crush on me, and he used to call me "Bialnu", and the big girls told me to call him back "Bialpa" though I was not quite sure of the meaning then. I remember trying my best to hide my tears while seeing off my Bro Chhuanawma, who would pay me a visit once in two weeks. I remember seeing my mom near my house from the bus, when we were on our way to Children's park. I called her, but she couldn't hear, I just cried. I remember playing football for the first time in my life inside the hostel dining room, where I thought it was allowed to use hands, and everyone laughed at me. I remember wearing checked yellow and black 'dekthron trial' hostel uniform to a Roman Catholic church. I remember mom taking me home one day with a special permission; she bathed me, and made me wear a bright red new t-shirt. I can still picture the design and the print it had.
Then the next hostel I had to be in was when I started college. My first roommates were three Tibetan girls and one Manipuri. We went along very well, we became good friends. Then later in the second year, when we get to choose our roommates, I had all Mizo roommates, which was quite convenient. I didn't have much trouble during my graduation years. It was when I started joining hostel in Post graduation, that I had to face all kinds of people that I never knew would exist. My roommates were - one who was always on the phone, she wasn't much harm; another who was a little uhmm.. 99, if you know what I mean, who would sometimes talk to herself all night. And the third one was quite sociable; I thought we were getting along just fine when I started to notice my money getting lost bit by bit. First, I thought I have misplaced it, because I am so oblivious and I didn't want to blame her, coz I didn't have proof. But I started locking my drawers and closet, and I had to carry the keys wherever I went, even in the toilet, which was very troublesome for me. I had applied for new room where I could stay with my Mizo friends, but it was not available yet.
I had to go on a trip back to my old college, to collect my certificate, where one of my juniors, gave me a 'one of a kind' Poncho she got from Mumbai, with a napkin signed by Bipasha Basu, while she was on a date with John Abraham, and Nisha (my junior) happened to be in the same restaurant with them. (Nisha, if your'e reading this, I still have that napkin, it is placed neatly in between the pages of my diary). It was a quick trip, and I got back to my room and left my luggage under my bed, and rushed off to class. When in the evening, I came back to find my Poncho missing. First, I thought I had misplaced it, but I was so sure that I had kept it inside my bag. Then I noticed my roomie's closet being locked with a brand new lock (she never used a lock before) and I got suspicious. So, one fine evening, when she went for roll call (which we had every evening), I sneaked in to her room, (I had shifted to another room by then), looked for the keys, and opened her closet. My heart was pounding like anything. I had asked my friend Ruati to be on guard. Then I saw my Poncho inside. I grabbed it and hurried out of the room. I texted my roomie, told her I took back my belongings, I will not report her to the warden, and that I will be praying for her. Then, I wore that Poncho on our Hostel Night. You should see the look on her face when she saw me. (Ha ha ha)
So, I shifted in to a triple room where two of us were Mizos. The third girl stole my rs.500 and used my phone while I had gone for prayer. I noticed my balance being greatly reduced, but when I checked my recent calls, there was nothing. So I called up the customer care, and asked for the last number dialed from my sim card. Then I caught her. She had called up her boyfriend, but I kinda felt bad, so I didn't do anything. Mom laughed at me saying I must be very careless, because such things happen only to me. I told my other roomie Manui, to be careful. I went home on a vacation when Manui called me up and said her Rs.1000 was missing, and when she asked that other roomie, she said she didn't take it. I told mom right away, "See, it's not just me." (hehe). But that hostel did me no good, my grades were going low.
Then I shifted to my college hostel, where the only time you get water is from 5:30 am to 9 am, and you have to survive with one bucket of water all day to do all your stuffs. You will find no plug-points inside the rooms, and you are not allowed to keep mobile phones. Lights will go down at 10:30 pm, and if you want to study after that, you will have to light a candle on a hot summer with mosquitoes surrounding the light that you have lit. But I needed that to keep myself disciplined, and I was the only Mizo. I had great friends who taught me Tamil. My marks improved much that my teachers were shocked.
I had seen different kinds of roommate during my many years of hostel life. I have made good friends with some, and some, I just can't forget their strange habits. Some would sleep straight off without changing their college wear. Some would talk on the phone all night while some would throw their belongings here and there. Some would "baby talk" with their boyfriends and make all sorts of noises, while some would leave their under garments unwashed (eewww). Some are very pretty, with big eyes, rosy lips and a great figure, but they hardly take bath. I guess my horizon has been widened much.
Kan hnam hmeichhia hi kan lo che fel fai ber mai ani
And now, I am in a single room where I can access Internet anytime I want, place my bed in any way I want, charge my phone and laptop on any plug-points I want, with 24 hours water supply, where I can go and 'on' the geyser anytime I want, and take drinking water from the water cooler kept just outside my room, keep the light on the whole night if I want to. No more study hours where one has to pretend she is studying while she's actually dreaming or writing letters. No more keeping the phone in a 'silent mode'. No more eating Idli when we were left with no choice, now I can opt for bread and butter.
In spite of all these, I find it funny to see the girls unhappy, especially about the food. Here we are given South Indian, North Indian, Chinese, American, all sorts of dishes. They should know how we survived with South Indian food, where we had no other option but to eat Idli, Rasam, Sambhar, Dosa. And now the girls are complaining after being provided with their own dish. If any girl asks me my opinion about the hostel and the food, I'd just smile and say, "It's not bad at all" because even if I can't eat Idli, I can go and order bread and omlette in the canteen :-). I guess its human nature to want for more, we just can't get enough, can we?
