Friday, 7 April 2017

A humble tribute to hostel

Dear Hostel,

We don’t love you. Leave love, we don’t even respect you in the first place. The boundaries of hostel and home are very well set and there is not even a slightest breach in that. The walls are up for your love not to enter. Though everything passes, You are visibly, vocally, verbally ‘a time pass being’. Until unless, someone who have a troubled family, normal people don’t like you. We always look forward for a way out. Many of us cried out loud while going to school, especially KG classes tell such stories. We constantly look forward for a reason to be at home. We have been telling baseless reasons to evade school. You are literally 100 times magnified version of the same.

Sunday night travel, back to you has always been filled with an ineffable void expression. No amount of words can express or fill that empty emotion even tears can’t help. Something has always been wrong in hostel coming. When someone falls sick they invariably feel helpless staying with you. Their soul dries and energy drains. Tears just wait to gush out of eyes. You just stay there unmoved with a dumb empty emotion.

But, you have always grown love. Especially, the love in separation. Rather any other place in this world you have seen genuine love. Typically unexpressed love. Most of the emotions are bottled, stay still and sometimes get the right succor, sometimes made numb subject to the one who is willing to receive or hear the same patiently. But you know all the told and untold dark secrets.

You grow hope and faith of home coming frequently and see honest joy, soulful smiles on faces. You do instill fear of monster under bed but you make one stand on one’s own legs bit of a very rough travel but make the journey worth it. We never feel at home in your presence but you do give a different spiritual, emotional awakening.

When someone ask about you and our stay with you we all would reply ‘you will get used to it’ with a forced smile. But dear hostel, you can be sure of this. At 45 plus when enveloped with many commitments around and at 60 resting on the arm chair, you will be missed. Those awesome endless night talks with friends , from ‘why the universe was created in the first place?’ to the most stupid discussion, the early morning quality alone time, blissful solitude with books and music on a Saturday after hectic week will be missed and never come back. You will be there all over the memories, overflowing beyond.

That day people will feel that you should have been respected and loved more than what you gave everyone. Your unrequited love will be reciprocated 1000 times in return but you will be gone afar.

You are unique. You stay and be there just completely motionless but teach something extraordinary on the ordinary moments of life. You are truly the perfect example of unwrapped gift in hand. A blessing in disguise always unseen.

Teaching, ‘It is better to travel well, while planning to arrive elsewhere soon’.

With loads of love and respect,
A hostel inmate.

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