My bright blue suitcase sat open on my mattress, its contents staring at me. As I stood there, figuring out how to unpack, it hit me that I was going to live away from home. I would be away from everything I knew, in a new city, figuring out how to live by myself. I looked at my roommate, who was equally unsure of what lay ahead of us. Since we’d spent most of our first year online, thanks to COVID-19, there was ample time for our seniors to scare us with stories of hostels.
From horror stories about monkeys to administrative woes, we had heard a lot before we set foot ourselves. This was nearly four years ago, when I stepped onto my college campus as a fresher. Now, I’ve come to realise that girls’ hostels in universities are spaces of solidarity, to come together and be there for each other. They form a bubble away from the male gaze, creating a space for women to be themselves.
Girls hostels are generally perceived as spaces that constrict women, especially on university campuses. Most colleges enforce a curfew on their students, and an earlier one on girls than boys. Ironically, these rules are made to seem like they protect women, all the while infringing on their freedom. What makes these restrictive spaces a source of feminist joy then? It is in the way in which the women who inhabit these spaces make room to be themselves, to express themselves freely, to confide, to console, and to let themselves go. It is through these small acts that women can turn these jail-like enclosures into a haven.
My college hostel gives more freedom, based on what I hear from friends in other universities. We don’t have a curfew, which is definitely one of the biggest restrictions placed on hostel residents. That said, we have our own set of complaints. Living in a campus that has a lot of wildlife, sometimes we encounter them within the hostel walls. There are the monkeys, which are a huge menace that try to steal our food and attack us during daylight. Sometimes, during rainy seasons, snakes make an appearance on the ground floor. At times like these, people rescue each other from what seem like life-or-death situations, at least in that moment.
My college hostel gives more freedom, based on what I hear from friends in other universities.
Most people I’ve noticed tend to have a love-hate relationship with their hostel. There are moments when you just want to curl up in a ball in your room and shut the world out. On the other hand, there are the moments where your room feels like a jail cell and the hostel itself is closing in on you, and you would do anything, anything at all to get out of there and breathe fresh air.
And then your friend knocks on your door to ask for something, looks at your face — and bam. Moments later, you’re laughing so hard your stomach hurts, and everyone else joins in and piles up in the tiny room. Sometimes there are snacks involved. It’s beautiful how friends look out for each other, knocking on their door if they haven’t seen their friend in class, dragging them out for a walk, for a cycle ride, or to grab a bite.
When someone is sick, it’s these friends who ensure they get back to normal — be it rushing to the hospital at 1AM and waiting however long it takes, or sitting in the hostel room with them to give them food, water, and medicines. If someone gets their period, hostel residents help out in any way possible. They lend pain killers, heat packs, and pads, and rant about it together. Speaking of ranting, it’s the gossip, rants, and long, late-night discussions that probably constitute the core experience of staying at a girls hostel. From intellectual discussions to what’s-wrong-with-this-person, these sessions strengthen the bond between friends.
One of the most vibrant things about living in a girls hostel is how it comes alive while getting ready for an event.
One of the most vibrant things about living in a girls hostel is how it comes alive while getting ready for an event. There are a flurry of messages on the WhatsApp group about borrowing a blouse, a set of earrings, and a hair straightener. That one girl who knows how to drape a sari is running around while she is still in her pyjamas. All of the doors nearby are slightly ajar, and there are five people in one room, each fixing the other’s eyeliner, dress, or hair. The hostel also creates a space for girls to experiment and try things away from home, be it through clothes, hairstyles, or tattoos. Inside the hostel, the male gaze is non-existent, and this lifts an invisible burden off of our chest.
This is not to say there is no internal chaos. There are regular complaints about people talking loudly and cackling late in the night, and of people singing on the top of their lungs during exam week. Despite this, during hostel contests, it’s us against them, and those who nag about their neighbours and roommates unite with those very people to compete against other hostels.
About the author(s)
Samhita is a final year student of English Studies at IIT Madras. She enjoys reading, and especially loves engaging with women's fiction, as part of her academic research as well. She's a huge fan of sudokus, crosswords, and all sorts of puzzles.
