Exam Time Eccentricities!

Talking about Exam Time.....a whole lot of memories come flooding by. Some of the Exam Time Eccentricities would be worth examining by the Psychologists.

Putting hair oil is not something strange to us Indians. It is supposed to nourish the hair and cool one's head.....but of course now.....you only had "Behenjis" with oil on their head. However, as exams approached, one could see all around more girls walking with oil on their hair... in fact extra oily hair braided tightly! Yes! perhaps we thought that the oil would prevent the escape of what we read from our heads!!??

Now this, I must tell you is real strange but it's so true....and we tease her till date. A very good friend of mine....only during the Exam Time needed to study with a "Dupatta" (scarf) tied tightly on her forehead. She too cannot fathom why she did that.....perhaps she did not want what she read, to fly away from her brain!

Then I had my room mate with her Lucky Tee Shirt. A shirt she was willing to lend if one needed when she was not using it. How generous of her!

Yes, one thing about living in a hostel is that we all felt like one Big Family. We would understand and help each other. Of course like all families there would be fights and back biting.....but then No Outsider / Day Scholars could touch any of us, Hostellers! We would all be united then!

Hostel Nite!

We all looked forward to the Hostel Nite! This is the night where we could invite guests...which means guys can even come! There's going to be entertainment & good food & friends! Yippee!

My friend & I, we too had invited some friends over....four to be precise......all Hinduites! (as in from Hindu College. Three of the guys were Hostellers themselves and the fourth, she was obviously a dayski!) This is a pretty formal affair. Nearly all the guys were in suits complete with ties while there were loads of girls who were dressed in sarees! The guys looked dashing all formal while the girls looked so grown up!

The Hostel was lighted up for the occasion.....flower pots placed nearly in all the possible places.....small circles of chairs scattered all around.....chowkidars (watchmen) posted strategically....to see that no guys stray to the residential area!

Dinner was delicious.....the menu was pretty elaborate! We all enjoyed it thoroughly! After dinner, we made our way to the Auditorium.....for some entertainment....the grand finale of the evening. I don't remember what all there was but the ending was the much awaited Fashion Show put up by us First Years. It was sort of a tradition. I was in it too! I wore a blue dress....which was actually my Mom's.....a gift which she had got long ago from her German Penpal who had stitched herself! I also wore a ghaghra choli....courtesy a friend...it was beautiful! After our show.....some of the Seniors took to the stage....and spoofed our entire show! How wicked of them!

The evening finally came to an end...before the clock could strike, the magic midnight hour. The goodbyes to our guests were prolonged as much as we could..........we lingered at the gates as much as we could...

Diwali in the hostel

Diwali...the hostel is all lighted up....candles everywhere....down the pathways....it looks beautiful! There's crackers too! Some of my enthusiastic friends in lighting rockets, crackers & various fire works have bought loads of it. I have never been the Participant....always have been the watcher....it was my brothers domain.

Here again in the hostel, I watched. A friend asked me to try it out for myself.....if she can do...couldn't I? I tried...I blasted off a rocket...it was thrilling!

Quite a few had gone home....or to their LG's place (Local Guardian)....to celebrate......but quite a few of us were here. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Diwali in the hostel. Dinner was special......as always on occasions!

Tea Time/ Visitor Time!

Yes! Tea time was also visitor time in the hostel.........looked forward to by many of us girls!

A visitor walks through the hostel gates manned by a "Chowkidar" (watchman in Hindi). He signs the visitor book - Name, address & the name of the person he is visiting and a second "Chowkidar" shows him to the visitor room/common room where he can sit & wait while the "Chowkidar" goes to inform the girl for whom the visitor had come. Yes, the "Chowkidars" are the only men allowed in the residential block!

The "Chowkidar" usually would shout from below, (if the girl lived on a first or second floor)... "Mary, D-14....Visitorrrrrrrrrrrrr". Other girls hearing it would in turn pass the message....from one girl to the other till it reaches Mary. At times, if we had a feeling that it is an unwanted visitor we would ask the "Chowkidar" whether he knew the name of the visitor or to describe the person. If it was the same, we would send him back to tell the Visitor that we were not in!

Apart from the common room, the visitors could also hang around just inside the gate where we had a "Dhaba" serving "parathas" or bread slice & omelet served with tea.

For girls who did not have any visitors coming in, it was equally interesting to see who came for whom and this "watching game" we could do sprawled on our lawns with cups of tea!

Miranda House Gardens

Miranda House has beautiful lawns. Come winter and there would be a whole lot of beautiful flowers adding color to the green-green lawns. It is simply a sight to behold. Many a picture has been taken in these lawns and amongst these flowers! Additonally there would be many potted plants/flowers lining up the college building and the inner structures too.

On the other side is the Hostel entrance. As one enters the hostel gate, we have "The Island".....a small patch of green surrounded by a paved structure. There's a pole right in the middle where on Republic Day or Independence Day the National Flag would be hoisted.

Entering further, we have the Porch..........beyond which we have huge lawns spread in front of the residential area. Paved pathways divides this into 4 units. The pathways are lined on either sides by Palm trees on which some of us girls have profusely scribbled.........leaving our names for posterity. Somewhere you would even find my name too!

During winter, these lawns look exceptionally beautiful as now the flower beds are filled with such gorgeous flowers. Many of us would be sprawled on these lawns......at one time or the other.......doing any 1-2-3 of these activities or all....reading, knitting, gossiping, eating peanuts, having chai (tea)/coffee or simply soaking up the sun!

Wardi's on her Round!

Using any electric appliances in the hostel was prohibited! Of course........we all used it..... illegally!

We had our electric iron.............cheaper than giving it to "Dhobs" (Dhobi or Washerman for the Non Mirandians or Hostellers!) & convenient!

Then there was the electric heater. How could we do without a heater? Our tea/coffee, Maggie, toast, & many more were made.......late into the night when the canteen or the Dhaba was closed. Not to mention, many a night in winter it kept our rooms cozy & warm.

As for music, we all had our Hi-Fi system. We were to have used only battery operated ones. Now tell me, who is going to buy batteries for these systems when we could just plug it in?! Saved our money on buying batteries!

Some of us even had hair dryers & the curling tongs! I rarely used mine.........my hair dries off pretty fast!

Now....the Wardi (Warden) would come for a surprise check occasionally. If anybody spied her coming towards the Girl's residential side............word would travel before one could say Jack Robinson! Even if she did manage to come without having been seen by anyone and some unfortunate girls were caught with various appliances in the room............but then that would be the only haul for the day/night as by that time ......"Wardi's on round"......would have passed around from one room to another.....from one floor to the other.

There were girls who quickly had to switch off their heaters and hide it wherever possible. Some found its way in a bucket and the heat of it would cause the bucket to warp a bit! It was funny! Even if the heaters were confiscated..........the next day, these would have been replaced by a new one!

In all the 3 years...........I was never caught........yes! I had a heater, iron, music system & my hair dryer!

PS:- I even had a friend who had a small TV in her room.....it was a cute one by SONY!

Pure Entertainment!

Right after dinner, some girls would stay on in the common room adjoining the dining hall to watch some TV while others would proceed to their rooms..........either to their own or to their friend's.

Those days there weren't many TV channels like we have these days. We just had DD (Doordarshan) and one of the favourite programme was "Chitrahaar" ...which was a medley. This was at 8.30pm if I re-call and used to draw the biggest crowd........just about when dinner got over. More than the actual scene happening on the TV, it was the antics of some of the girls which made it more enjoyable. It starts with the Sponser's (NIRMA) advertisement. Nearly all the girls would join in singing the jingle, "Nirma washing powder...". When "Chitrahaar" started, apart from the antics there would be comments on the actors & actresses style, clothes, etc. It was actually quite hilarious....I got to see a few, during my stay in M.H.H.....thanks to some of my avid TV watching friends.

Personally, I never liked viewing TV.....with a crowd!

Meals in the Hostel

We were served four square meals!

Breakfast was rationed.....the milk, cornflakes, bread & butter and we could either have an egg or a fruit! Tea was unlimited. Choosing between the egg or the fruit...........it was a major decision....at least for me! I was not a tea drinker back then, so I just had the bread & butter and the egg and went for my classes. The milk was kept aside to be consumed late at night.......... made into coffee to be precise!

Lunch was one meal that I seldom skipped, even though every week the menu would be repeated. Some girls would know precisely what we were getting............I never did............good in one way....at least there was the element of surprise that I could look forward to. "Kadi"(made with curd & gram flour) & "Rajma" (Kidney Beans) were the favourites of nearly everyone. All "Dals" (lentils) were described by their color. Girls would ask, "What's for lunch?" to those who have already had....and the reply would be "Red Dal" or "Yellow Dal" or "Green Dal". There was also a "Dal" which we all knew as "Flying Saucer". I still don't know their actual names!

Tea was served with some snack. I only went for the snack as I didn't have tea. Tea again was unlimited while the snack was rationed...one "Samosa" or one "Bread Pakoda" or one "Aloo Chop" or one..... At times, they would make teeny-weeny "Pakodies".......these we would get a handful. One should see the girls having their tea..........they didn't use the normal tea cups...they had these huge Coffee Mugs....... some even drank their's in Beer Mugs!

Dinner time, the Mess was packed unlike Lunch time when the girls used to come in as per their class schedule or when they felt like during the time limit. As in lunch, we were served Rice, "Chappati" (Indian Bread), "Dal", "Subzi" (Vegetables) and curd. We were also given dessert! This could either be Custard, "Kheer" (sweet rice cooked in milk with dry fruits) or even half a Watermelon............during the watermelon season!

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....