Nostalgia

Today, I went for a movie with Steve after 3 long years. The kids were at school and we were off work and this was something I really have been longing to do and so we did. When we looked up the list of movies playing, I was a tad bit disappointed. Nothing seemed exciting enough. I had been hearing great reviews about Joker, but a dear friend of ours told us that it would be disturbing…and that for sure was a no-no for today. We settled then for this movie called Chhichhore and boy am I glad we did.

The movie focuses on a very important message of learning to handle failure and letting kids know that there is more to life than an entrance exam result and it does this through the college and hostel life story of these friends. Chhichhore is a fun watch…I laughed out loud many times during the movie.. and no I am not back here on my blog for a movie review 🙂 I am here because the movie reminded me of some of the best years of my life – the three years I spent in Chennai and in my hostel. 

Ask anyone I know and they will tell you I love Chennai. I grew to love it so much in those three years and still enjoy any visit back there. But I do also know that one of the biggest reasons I love that city is the memories I carry with me from there and a chunk of these are from Rani Meyyammai Hostel!

I walked into that place little knowing how it would grow to be a home away from home. My hostel had a 6.00 PM deadline and in Chennai life technically begins after that just given the heat! Hahahaha.. But you know what barring a few occasions I don’t think I hated that deadline one bit..coz life inside was fun enough! 

The dash for the bathroom early in the morning – classes began real early for us and the fight for a bathroom was as real as it could get. 

The roll-call bell = attendance time… ahem!  Yes, we needed to be in the hostel on time for this one or else…

The lights-out after which we were all supposed to be asleep in our rooms while the wardens did their rounds. Boy, how many times have we hidden under the bed or in the cupboard in our friends rooms and controlled a laugh or even worse a sneeze waiting for the wardens to move on!

The food… well when you think back, we probably got served much better food than many other hostels.. But still..hostel food is hostel food…very forgettable! However… conversations with friends around the mess table, priceless! 

Movie nights (yes, our hostel was pretty cool like that!), freshers party, farewells, birthdays – we had ample to celebrate, infact with hardly any money at that time. How.. The midnight maggi sessions, washing bucket loads of laundry every week, the Spencer Plaza/Alsa Mall outings sprinting all the way back to make it on time, the pre-paid cell phone recharges from the little hole in a wall store, the biki-max icecream from there… some memories just linger on!

But most of all friendship – now this one is big. You make your own little family you know when at hostel. The ones you spend all your time with, you laugh with, you cry with. Well, I have such a gang too… and though we aren’t all in touch right now..which is quite sad, I couldn’t bring myself to write “I had” a gang! When we left, I am sure we all swore that nothing could take us away from each other… but unfortunately life did! I know it wasn’t intentional but over the years we have just fallen out of touch..and I mean real proper staying in touch..knowing what’s happening in each others lives etc. We do know where each other is thanks to social media…but the story is different now! Putting aside sad things for a bit…let me just take a minute to tell you.. I had a whale of a time with my gang of 7 and I wouldn’t have wanted it any different…any different! I love you guys…always will!

The seven of us, one of our last meals together before we left hostel!

The storyline in the movie today brought friends back together in a reunion of sorts. Well, I don’t know how and when we can make that possible for our gang. But we gotta start somewhere…somewhere!

One of the first things I told Steve after the movie today was that I felt like getting back on Puddlerides…and write about hostel. So yeah, I am back here on the blog after 4 long years, with a post that probably hasn’t come out as I had it in my head originally..but I am just glad I did get around to writing this. 

I hope I’ll be back with more, sooner than 4 years atleast!

And before I end, do watch Chhichore, especially if you’ve lived away from home in a hostel and have wonderful memories you carry with you. I am sure you’ll be left feeling good! I was…