First Day in M.H.H. (Miranda House Hostel)

It was in the evening that I arrived at the Hostel gates. The Hostel looked so imposing and the neat lawns laid out in front completed the majestic look. I remember parking myself at the Porch... sitting on top of my trunk....waiting to be announced which room I was to occupy. It was to be D-14 if I remember it correctly, on the first floor.

We, the “Freshers” as we would now be addressed for one whole year......were asked to check in a day earlier by the Hostel Authorities. I guess this was to give us a breather and get ourselves familiarized with our whereabouts before we got terrorized by the Seniors. Miranda House had earned notoriety as a place where ragging could be a nightmare and Mirandians were known to be notorious. Do not know where this originated from..........all Colleges especially the Hostels were all into ragging but it was us “Hostellers” who got the brunt of the ragging. The anti ragging squad supported by the Police, patrolled...........but still.........who could stop or monitor ragging in the hostel?

Shifting into D-14, I saw that this was a Double Seater which means I had a room-mate. One can say that the rooms in Miranda House Hostel are all double seaters except for a couple of (former) Teacher’s rooms (Teacher’s no longer resided in the Hostel....there’s a separate Teacher’s flats adjoining to the Hostel.) which got converted into triple seaters and again we also had a couple of single seaters too. One of my neighbours turned out from one of my former schools....we were school mates.............different section but had the 3rd language classes together! One tends to form little groups....and quickly I too was a part of a group which consisted of girls from different parts of India!

The first night, as officially we were one day early, the Hostel Mess Guys were still on vacation...... dinner was served in the College Canteen. Attendance was taken and a short welcome speech was given to us by the Warden after which dinner was served.......buffet style. One could see that by now all of us had made friends and we were all in our own groups. There was a lot of chatter, plenty of smiles and a few laughs. We discussed the ragging that was eminent but never could visualise how it would be in actuality..........only time would tell....

I guess we all slept that night thinking about the days to come........so far so good....