[1. A new experience for many. 2. Normal life. 3. Before the examination. 4. Mess committees promote administrative experience. 5. Social life. 6. Its advantages and disadvantages.]
For one who has spent most of his life at home under a mother's loving care and a father's watchful guidance, the first day in a college hostel is likely to be a dampening experience. Surrounded by new faces, and thrown completely on one's own resources, it takes time to get accustomed to the new environment and settle-down in the unfamiliar conditions of life. Soon, however, the charm of the new life asserts itself and once the initial distaste is overcome, one gets used to this new way of life. It demands, however, a fresh attitude—in some ways healthy, in others perhaps not very much so.
A college hostel has a resident superintendent who is usually a teacher. He is the guardian of the students, but his guardianship is for the most part formal. Provided a student pays his fees and other hostel charges and does not abuse liberty and violate rules, he is not likely to be pulled up by the superintendent. He is left to his own discretion in the matter of studying or not studying. The studious apply themselves to their books regularly, morning and evening, but their number is small. For the most part they avail themselves to the full of the opportunities for gossip and play. The common-room offers them newspapers and journals to read and a few indoor games like carom or chess to while away their time. The evenings are spent outside,visiting friends, or attending the gymnasium, or the play-grounds or dropping into. some cinema or theater as one's means and opportunities permit. Even the most unstudious, however, can hardly avoid sitting down to his Cooks at least for a brief period. When the examinations draw near the whole atmosphere, changes. Gore is the light-hearten character of gossip and gaiety ; the laughter loses its care-free tone ; faces wear an anxious look as of men under sentences of doom. There is repentance and regret for valuable time wasted. There are hasty attempts to make it up by discussing probable questions and possible answers. All through the day and even far into the night the drone of voices feverishly memorizing the books comes through the closed doors.
So far in about studies. But the hostel has more lively interests than studies. There is messing ; it is managed by an elected committee which is always under criticism of the rest for its various omissions and commissions. The committee has to strike a balance between the desire for good food and the necessity of keeping within the budget; not an easy task when the former always outstrips the latter. But it is a good training for the boys. The practical experience they gain in making purchases, in checking stores, in arranging menu in catering to tastes of various groups and individuals provides a healthy training for the practical affairs of life. Than there is the social side. Here- there is ample' room for creating tradition. One hostel may be particularly keen on the gastronomical side of life ; and for it the twenty-nine days of the month are only a preparation for the thirtieth, — the feast day, which is for them the day of all days. Another may be of a literary turn, and produce hand-written magazines or wall-papers. A third may encourage music and play-acting. Usually this depends on the initiative of the more active and original minds ; they set the tune, others follow appreciatively. Altogether, these aspects have their value in building up mind and character, Hostel life has its advantages as well as disadvantages. It teaches a student to be self-reliant. It develops organizational talents. It fosters a taste for corporate life. A student has to subordinate his own whims and desires to the general will. He has perforce to develop qualities of social service. He will have to put up with petty inconveniences in good grace. Grumbling or complaining will not help him because there is no one to attend to these.
On the other hand, there are certain disadvantages. In the hostel, one has to look after one's own interest, for the shy one suffers. One may not be able to think or feel so much for others. Habits of freedom may make one impatient. Usually a hostel provides greater amenities to the average middle-class students than he is likely to get at home. Consequently he may come to dislike the inadequacies of his middle class home, resulting in maladjustment. Our college hostels are often little better than boarding-houses. It is necessary to organize them on right lines, with regular committees of management and programmes of work and play. The boarders should be taught regularity and discipline. Rightly organized, a hostel may provide suitable conditions for the building up of character and personality.
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