Tribute

So I was heading SIMS (accompanied by my younger sister, who thought I was too immature to settle down all by myself). I got my new wardrobe, new laptop, and loads of stationery (which is still lying in the same cover as it was 2 and a half year back). I was experiencing anxiety (how is my room gonna be like), excitement (I hope I make friends), and more excitement. Then came, perhaps the most important discovery of all: my roommates. Although the four of us were to be thrown together by pure cosmic chance, I knew they could either make or break my college years.

I was the first one to reach there and discover this huge big room with two attached washrooms (even though the second one went unused), a giant window with cool breeze flowing so hard that it would slam the door every few seconds (we didn’t bother putting a stopper to the door until the door bent) and a small, cute balcony (giving a clear view of who is coming and going outside college and who is bunking classes, etc). I grabbed the best bed right next to the window (not realizing that sun is gonna shine right on my face early in the mornings), settled my stuff and went to check the list of my roommates (thought at least names could tell me something about their personalities).

“Room 404: Bhagyashree Vyas, Ritu Mundra, Deepali Jamwal, Swarup Kirloskar” The warden called out. “Hmmm! Swarup…” I had interacted with her online on SIMS community before joining. Sigh of relief.

I was told; roommates come in many shapes and sizes. Some will save your life. Others will make you want to take theirs. Most of all, love them or hate them, you are stuck with them.

But now, as a tribute to my roommates (after spending 2 of the most memorable days of my life with them) I hereby give you my list of 5 different types of roommates:

Type 1: They went to college to study, earn as many degrees as possible, capture a Nobel Prize, and then take over the world. Living with a topper wasn’t all that easy. Any disruptive noise or action will throw her a silent, pent up fit. Then she would just glare at the offender with all due hatred, slamming her books shut, rise dreadfully from her desk, leave the room, and then slam the broken door. All of this is done without words.

Fortunately, Bhagya loved us. Even though we were the noisiest, she learnt how to adjust. Eg. She would wake up early in the morning before any one of us to study, she would wear headphones while studying to avoid listening to us gossip, or simply sit in the balcony late in night, cuddled up with a quilt and study with a night lamp, to make sure she didn’t disturb us sleeping. (Though I think she was more scared of waking us up).

She never had to worry about her notes disappearing right before the exam because the entire college had a copy of her notes.

Apart from that, she would keep her bed spotless, her book neatly kept on the shelf, and her wardrobe was filled with clean clothes. The fact that her roommates were so untidy never bothered her. She would make our bed for us, would help us arrange our wardrobe every weekend, would clear up the mess in the room, etc. She was the most compassionate of all. And it was quite easy to fool her. Everytime she woke me up for a class, I would pretend having an upset stomach or high fever. Poor darling! She would rush down and get something for me to eat.

Type 2: If you’re lucky, you got this one. And we were lucky enough to have Ritu. She would buy us food, take us out for parties, and shared the same interests as we did. She was clean but not to the point of making us feel bad that we weren’t. If you have been wondering, who are the “dirty we” that I am referring to, it was Swarup and Me. (Yeah Okay, Swarup was little better off than me). I remember, when Ritu first stepped in, she asked us our sun signs. And when she figured out that she is gonna be sharing her room with 2 Virgos (Swarup and Me), her reaction was, “Cool! So my room will always be clean”. Little did she know!!!

Her mom would send care packages on a weekly basis, of which we would become a direct beneficiary. The best was, on Valentines Day, when she kept getting Chocolate cakes (which tasted heaven). She being not so much of sweet tooth, we got it all.

She would bring a DVD library that would keep us awake all night. And most importantly, she brought with her an insanely stocked wardrobe with dozens of shoes and accessories that she insisted we should use. Cant remember the occasion, but there was a time, when all 4 of us were wearing her dresses, her accessories and her makeup. She would make us wonder if we even owned any clothes of our own.

She sometimes took the role of our mother, when it came to shouting at the bai for not cleaning our room, or fighting with the newspaper wala, or representing our room in front of the warden in case of any complaints. Courtesy her, we had Gods’ idol in our room.

Type 3: Unwashed dishes, open jars of pickle kept for days, and a mass of dirty clothes slowly piling up on the floor. But one good thing with me was that no one was under pressure to keep their stuff in order.

This was sometime towards the end of course, when all 3 of them had moved out, but our room was still so messy with my stuff all over the place that it appeared as if, many people were staying in the room. I like things messed up. It should look like someone is staying in the room. Every month I was forced to arrange my wardrobe, but soon after that, it was back to normal. I had to find place to sleep at night coz it was impossible to sleep on my bed. (I guess that’s the reason of the big fight which happened when we were discussing to rearrange the room setting, and no one wanted to push their bed next to mine.)

For some reason my biological clocks are twisted, I would watch movies till 4:00 am and sleep during classes. (Thanks to Bhagya, who would literally pull me out of my bed, I didn’t fall short of attendance). I also loved to have shouting discussions at every second of the day (swarup had to often remind me to calm down my tone).

These types of roommates are really difficult to adjust with.

Type 4: She was silent, but her guitar spoke for her. The rockstar of our college. She preferred black light or no light at all. She would be awake all throughout the day and most of the nights (no wonder she got all these crazy criminal ideas). She was the most practical one amongst all of us, though we heard a lot of “I can never keep a track of where my money gets spent”.

She likes to party but also knows when to study. She would bring with her lots of snacks endlessly. Also, she was an excellent secret keeper. Till the end of the course, no one knew who could have possibly played those notorious pranks for which the entire batch was punished.

I have been called by lots of names throughout my life, but the best one was given by her “little bastard”. These types of roommates are very emotional and compassionate but would never let their feelings out.

Type 5: In every room, there is at least one trespasser. She can be your extended roommate and never make you realize that her name is not on the list of Room 404. At first, you dislike them and think of ways to shoo them away. e.g. locking yourselves up in the room, or being extremely mean to them, but somehow they claw up your heart and make place in your room. Supriya was our extended room mate.

She would parade around the room, wearing her tiara, doing her vocal exercises (don’t wanna say much about that, else she’ll kill me for disclosing the fact that she won “The worst singer” competition, not once, but twice. These kind of roommates are care-free and wouldn’t let others opinion bother them. These types of roommates are the most easily recognized in the hostel with their flashy clothes, glittery hair bands, and loud voice.

There might be other types of roommates too, but I shared my room with these breeds.

Sorry guys! couldn't find better pictures of us together... we forgot to take nice pictures in all these years.