Confessions of a day scholar….

to

Everyone of you must have encountered  or overheard one these conversations at least once at SASTRA.(Univers(C??)ity)..

Heyyyy…Three hours free..:)

hmmm..Ya..

So whereto???

Canteen…

then?

Platform…

then?

Library…

Er…Are you a…..?

YES…I am a day scholar!!!

We are the ones who come early to the classes at least by 10 minutes, not driven by any sense of punctuality, but by the college bus driver who is unnecessarily punctual 😦 . If you hear a bunch of shrill voices  sounding like..”Aww…You are lucky!!! You eat home made food!!!”, you are sure that there is a day scholar in the vicinity with a big proud smile(after the praise he/she had heard about the taste…Thanks to amma..) and a bigger lunch box.Welcome to the day scholar life!!!

There were certain moments when I badly wanted to be a hosteler.The first one was, When I was officially admitted into SASTRA .I gleefully went into the hostel registration room, and was waiting for my turn to give my details.I could feel the moisture in the air as it was rapidly being charged with homesickness. Well lit eyes,Curious eyes,Angry eyes, ‘About to cry’ eyes,Confused eyes,Lachrymal eyes…Guess how my eyes were???…As usual…Drowsy eyes…(Can’t help it..Was bored of waiting in the queue…).At last, the long wait came to an end.I alacritously said..

Hello Sir, I am so happy to be admitted here…May I know the procedure for getting a single room?

Stop the blah…blah..Tell your name..

Nithya…

Where are you from ?

Er..Trichy…

What ???Trichy uh?? No hostel facilities for students from nearby cities…Next..

Sir, but I need to travel an hour and a half to reach here..

NEXT!!!

I walked hopelessly out of the room.I thought ..three hours of journey every day is surely going to be tough .But still ..This college is worth it..(It was not :P..). I started back to home looking at the girls carrying their pillows and buckets with them..Watching as if one of them will drag me to their room . From then on , everyday(except exam season) was like a picnic to me. I had to backpack my breakfast, lunch,occasionally..books, water bottle  etc etc.

The first week of college life was delectable.I even sneaked into one of my friend’s room and had fun there.It feels good to be a day scholar , especially when you hear stories about doing the piled up laundry, Cluttered rooms, the atrocious warden, all of these amidst a tasteless diet. I felt totally melancholic when  one of my friends burst into tears in the middle of  a lecture due to excessive homesickness. I pictured myself in her shoes and thought..”Ooo ..Life at hostel is worse than mine!!!”

Not for too long. The second week of college educated us about the plethora of extra curricular activities that is happening at the college.Numerous tech student clubs …Music and dance auditions, Literature clubs..Student chapters of NGOs,Study groups etc etc..My eyes were  almost popped out looking at the posters of all such things until it read the last line of every poster..

“Time:6:00 to 7:30 pm”

That means that I ll reach home by almost 10 pm. The only reason I was happy about being a day scholar  is that I get to spend more time at home while others cant and that seemed almost impossible with these timings. Obvious choice was to skip it all. That’s the story of how I became a branded day scholar.

The foremost reason for which I feel  jealous about the hostelers is…They get to sleep a lot…(Seriously!!).I miss my afternoon nap.Whenever there is a free hour,I have to roam searching for a decent place to settle which is almost impossible to find,  with  the cupids flying all around the college,…while the hostelers happily slept in their cozy beds. Single day scholars have a pathetic, nomadic life here which they do not deserve.Whenever I try to sleep in the bus, the conductor(who happens to be a crazy fan of actor Vijay) switches on the music system which hollers out latest hits of the actor. There comes one of the torturous moments of your life.

Months passed by.I found out a new hideout for the free hours…The Library( I am not a NERD).A place where you can happily doze off while reading your favorite novel. A place where you get super comfy cushion sofas to lie.A place where you get hifi headsets to watch movies.A place where you can browse happily. A place where nobody asks you to get out..Who said Library is only for bookworms???..It exists totally for people like me.. 🙂

Cultural fests …Events that are totally unrelated to day scholars. With a head, who denies you   temporary accommodation in hostel and asks you to come with your dad to the pro night even so that you can reach home safely, it sure is doomed to be unrelated to day scholars. No more words about it.

Now, I am almost in the last chapter of my day schee life. I say to myself..”It was nt much tough”.I have my own cherish-able moments this life.No hostel girl can have the fun of bunking the class and going for the matinee show and returning back for the last hour.And the proud look on your face(which boasts about your freedom of mobility in and outside the campus) when the hostelers wait in an endless queue to get permission to go out for five minutes and you need to say only two heavenly words  to get out and fly away to your home.

SIR,…Dayscholar…

You may go..No need to ask permission.

No doubt,I love being a day scholar…Cheers to us!!!!!!!!