6 Important Life Lessons I Learnt After Being Away From Home, Which made me believe that hostel life cant be ignored for Children.

I was lucky to be born and bought up in a middle class, which prioritized academics. Thankfully ours was a gender-neutral family. May be this is one of the reasons why till date it remains a mystery to me that if my parents in 20th century in a place like Bihar have such an open outlook why can’t parents of 21st century think the same. Both my parents encouraged my education. I could have got away with anything in the name of education. I was good in academics but that was purely by chance, I was never too ambitious, someone getting more marks never bothered me. My primary objective was to have fun in life, be with friends, go to parties, volunteer for NGO, art, etc. with a motive to keep me outside house so that I can get my share of freedom and fun. Time passed and I reached 12th std and I hadn’t made any life goals yet. Only objective was to score in 12th exam so that I can get admission in Delhi University and get a chance to start staying on my own, away from parent’s restrictions and have a life of my own. The idea of staying on my own, experience independence, taking decisions - good, bad, ugly, facing the outside world, experience life, night life in particular, negative, positive, all was very thrilling and exciting. Thankfully without much genuine effort I managed good rank, which got me admission in Miranda House Delhi University. Now why this particular college? Well this was the only condition of my father to let me live in a strange city (actually in this college his friend’s daughters were also studying which made him feel more in control) and since I was too obsessed with the idea of living on my own so I readily agreed to his wish (though secretly I had always wanted to go to Hindu or HansRaj). 

I was seventeen, sort of confident, sort of not, but eager for adventure. We didn’t have mobile phones, only hand written letters and telephone booth, which meant limited communication with parents. I knew things would change. I will be out of the shield and protected environment. A bit scared and a bit excited. I left home with a bag full of cloths and two bags full of books.

I remember going out on my own, chatting/gossiping whole night, sleeping whole day, eating Maggie for lunch, bunking classes, etc…etc. It was an amazing sense of independence, and this staying away from the “comfort” and “protected” environment of home did teach me some valuable life lessons which otherwise were very difficult to know. Few of which are:

1.      The value of that phone calls from home. When at home we craved for some private time with friends and now nothing is more joyous that one phone call flashing on screen “Maa” or “Papa”

2.   Realizing that living on own is not as cool as we use to fantasize when we are “stuck” at home.

3.  Financial management. All of sudden you discover newfound respect for your father who has been doing this behind the scenes for the family all these years.

4.  You realize your mother is a human with magic powers. There is simply no other explanation for how she manages to keep the whole house clean and in place when you don't even know where to begin when it comes to making up your own bed. Forget the rest.

5.   Food at the right time and temperature is a myth. Unless of course, you are somewhere in the vicinity of the magician mentioned above. Gradually like me you too will develop love for cold food.

6.   You have to take each decision (career and relationships) and have to take the onus of it. There is no chance of faltering. This in my eyes has been the biggest challenge of all.

And perhaps because of these reasons I strongly believe that making a child stay in the hostel at some point in his academic lifetime is very important for his character development.

 P.S – and this will become your all time favorite nostalgic song:

If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.

Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go back-home this a-way
This a-away, this a-way, this a-way, this a-way,
Lord I can't go back-home this a-way.