“Can I tell you a story, puttu?” my grandmother asked me, while I was busy typing away on my laptop. I instantly felt bad that I hadn't even talked to her properly after coming home for the weekend, it was already Sunday evening. After at least four assurances that she wasn’t disturbing my studies or work, she went back to the 1950s, when she was in college. She’d gone there, but didn’t fit in. On the first day, everyone her own age kept calling her “akka” – she was disheartened. She left without paying her fee, not meaning to coming back to the college. On the way back though, she’d noticed an announcement that said that a girl child with no father, no property, and some other conditions, could claim some 1000 rupees or so. She’d immediately gone and registered for it. When she came back home to her single mother who really wanted her to pursue graduation, and told her she hadn’t paid the fee at the college ‘cause she didn’t fit in, she was instructed plainly to go back the next...
Imagine being in an entirely new city with a bunch of people whom you have never known all around you – a new hostel room to stay, a new roommate to share it with, lunch and dinner no longer with your family but people from all over the country. This is how hostel life feels like. Fresh out of school, we’re always used to being told what to do. But at college, there’s no one to push you around to do stuff anymore, no more of your mom running behind you to make you sit and study. It is adulting at its prime, anything and everything that you do is out of your own initiative. But its not all gloom and despair, I’ve learnt some of life’s greatest lessons in these three months of my first trimester at college. I’ve finally learnt to manage things on my own, take responsibility, travel alone and most importantly - balance studies and self-care. Health is a legit concern when you’re living out of home, but I guess learning to keep yourself healthy is just part of the game. I’m not...