Hostel Life @ VKRV Rao Hostel - Delhi University

Room 215, 2nd floor corner left balcony in the foreground

One of the most important places in my life has been VKRV Rao Hostel. To be more specific - Room nos. 101 and 215 of VKRV Rao Hostel, Delhi University. This is where I learnt what it means to be competitive and yet be principled. How to push hard yet not go overboard. I met a lot of people here, bright yet so wonderfully diverse. I never worked harder in my life and never took up so many challenges successfully. There was a disappointment no doubt, but that still lingers on.

I remember getting up at crazy hours in the morning, when the rest of the hostel was sleeping or just going to sleep and getting out for my morning jog! It was a brilliant experience. One of my biggest regrets at the moment is how I have let it all slip and put on weight again! Ah, well another crib for another day!

I would never forget the University Grounds where I used to go jogging. Even now I feel, whenever I have a problem if I could go there, things would somehow just become ok. Its a very strange sort of connection to that place :-)

Another place that I can never forget would be Athar Singh's canteen! Those endless hours of meaningless "bakchodi" along with some good networking were fun. But what was more exciting was the opportunity to exchange notes with some of really smart peers on matters ranging from Game Theory to the nitty gritties of viral marketing. Those were moments when I realised that these were times that could never again be repeated in life! All this of course in the middle of winter at midnight, while downing hot maggi to warm one's frozen innards!

When I talk about VKRV , I must mention the guru of all things enlightened and the man who kept the engine running for most of the guys in our hostel - Maddy! Every hostel around the world would surely have one such Man Friday and Maddy was our man. The poor guy used to get harassed by some pretty desperate blokes at 2 or 3 am in the morning!! [Not like what you're thinking!] They just used to ask him to turn on his Computer!! :-) The hostel LAN took care of the rest!

The biscuit raids that we used to have on the second floor too was something to remember. Even if I ever forget, I'm sure Kloggie Doggie would not quite get over it so easily! It all started one night during a power cut when our man went to the canteen to get some food. He hid the chips under his arms and biscuits stashed in his pockets and stealthily made it all the way from the canteen to the second floor without getting spotted! One could almost feel the sense of achievement as he reached the second floor. Alas! the poor soul did not spot the pack of hyenas [his neighbours] who were chit chatting in the corridor. He arrived just when there was a break in the conversation and the poor soul didn't even hear us or see us. In less than one minute, 2 packets of biscuits and Uncle Chips were snatched away from him and ripped open and gulped down. We were generous, though. We did offer Kloggie his own biscuits and chips... He was too stunned to respond! So we ate his share as well!! :-)

Other places of interest in VKRV were the front "forecourt" where we used to play cricket, the gym cum library, the neighbouring Gwyer Hall Canteen where we used to have our morning chai and biscuit and of course, the Common Room. That was our home away from home and room away from room. MBA life, in between strenuous projects and unbeatable deadlines can be interspersed with loads of free time for which the common room is the most antidote. One experience of a lifetime is watching a Cricket match in a jam packed Common room of 100 men, with the Bongs going totally silent as Ganguly struggling to touch the ball and going bonkers when he finally manages to middle the ball! To add to the spice, they would also let lose a few expletives at Guru Greg! And then one fine day, they go take it a bit too far and abuse MSD! That only got the rest of the Biharis, Jharkandis and metrosexuals in the hostel totally after them!! If the game itself wasn't entertaining, this definitely was!

This photo shows the second floor terrace and those steps are a place where I spent endless hours on the phone in the second year as the signal in my room wasn't too great! Im not the only one, there used to be quite a few guys who used to come here to talk on the phone. So in the evenings, you wud find about 3-4 guys walking around here talking on the phone, taking turns to charge their phone at the plugpoint on the wall. Its funny how things change in a matter of months ... Now I have a phone, a post paid connection and dont have to worry about the bill but somehow come evening, there is no one to talk to! We are all busy in our own sweet world!