EVERYDAY HOSTEL LIFE IN UNIVERSITY: A SOCIAL APPROACH

The dictionary defines a hostel as “an establishment which provides inexpensive food and lodging for a specific group of people such as students, workers or travellers.” Although this definition suffices to explain the concrete structure of a hostel, it fails to encompass the social, intercultural and personal realms of “hostel life”. Here, the keyword is “life”. Staying in a hostel does not only mean availing the facilities of food and lodging but it is also a web of interpersonal relationships, interactions, cultural mingling, development of self-reliance and a sense of belonging which constitutes the social life and personality of an individual. Without the web of social interactions, a hostel would be merely a room rented in a hotel. Hence, the difference between “hostel” and “hostel life” is clearly demarcated.
Studying the various knick-knacks of everyday hostel life and the broader social significance of it is the objective of my research. Since I am a college student, I chose to base my studies about hostel life at the university level for the sheer convenience of it. For the purpose of the research, I handed out a questionnaire to a number of university students availing the hostel and interacted with a number of ex-hostelites as well as non-hostelites and thus deduced my detailed observations from it.
WHY HOSTEL?
The first question that arises while studying hostel life is “why would an individual choose to reside in a hostel leaving behind the luxuries of home?” The answers to this question are many and varied. But the answers could be broadly classified into the categories of “VOLUNTARY CHOICE” or “COMPULSION”.
Some choose to stay in a hostel just for the experience to mould them and prepare them for the outer world or to make them self-sufficient. As Adrita Banerjee (a resident of the presidency girls hostel) said. “I chose to stay in a hostel as it is freedom and independence for me. I think hostel life is very important for growing up.” Likewise Modhusree Das (a resident of the same) was quoted saying, “Because hostel life makes one self-dependent, responsible and ready to meet the world”. Some stay to enjoy the sheer fun of it or to break away from the conventional norms of a conservative family to establish an independent area of their own. Like Shubho Ganguly ( a resident of the Eden Hindu hostel) who chose to stay in a hostel for the experience and fun of it. While Debojit Thakur (a resident of the Eden Hindu Hostel) describes hostel as “grand living at low costs.” He says that he chose to stay in a hostel to overcome the rigid and conservative norms of his family. These fall under the category of “VOLUNTARY CHOICE” where individual will play the key role in choosing hostel life.
The latter category of “COMPULSION” arises when one’s college is located outside the confines of one’s hometown. Like in the case of Soumil Dutta, who originally belongs to Kolkata, but is currently residing in the kiit boys’ hostel (Bhubaneswar, Orissa) to pursue his engineering degree. Likewise, Snehashis Ghosh, a permanent resident of Nagpur is now residing at symbiosis boys’ hostel (Pune, Maharashtra) where he is studying media science. He says, “Hostel life is mandatory for first years.” Tania Saha (resident of Delhi) and Sargam Sharma (resident of Patna, Bihar) is currently residing at the Presidency girls’ hostel where they are pursuing their respective bachelor degrees. These cases had to opt for a hostel because they had no other choice. They were compelled by the confines of distance. Even if an individual’s home does not belong to a different hometown, some stay in the hostel by the sheer compulsion of reducing the time, energy and distance of travel to college as shorter distances corresponds to greater functional efficiency.
EVERYDAY HOSTEL LIFE IN COMPARISON WITH EVERYDAY FAMILY ATMOSPHERE:
Although, both everyday family life and everyday hostel life involves a group of people living together, who are facing the same hurdles together, enjoying the good things in life together, sharing things among themselves and nurturing a relationship between each other every passing day, there are a myriad of differences when we chalk out the patterns of the two. In an everyday family life the obligation of mutual care, concern and cooperation that exist is lacking in an everyday hostel life which is replaced by a non-obligatory and voluntary cooperation. The family life of an individual is much more protected, enclosed and physically dependent whereas the hostel life is much more independent, open and voluntary. In a family, the daily chores of an individual like cleaning, washing, etc are obligatorily managed by our parents or other family members whereas in a hostel life it has to be managed single-handedly and independently with mutual cooperation within hostelites which do not develop out of obligation but out of the bonds which are formed. Also, the management of finance in a student’s life has to be completely independently handled in a hostel which is not the case in a family. Here the concept of “taken for granted” comes into play. In a family, we take it for “granted” that our parents or family members would obviously help us in cleaning, washing, and the other mundane chores of life, control the finance, take care of our personal needs etc. We do not question or problematize the concept of mutual cooperation in a family life because it is regarded as something “natural” or “obvious”. The family atmosphere is much more relaxed and comfortable. There is an unquestioned and unreasonable sense of attachment and understanding that prevails among all family members which develops naturally as “growing up”. But contrary to this, the “obviousness” disappears when we are practising mutual cooperation in a hostel life. In hostel, people generally develop interpersonal relationships and interdependence for the mere need of survival in a hostel. The cooperation surfaces as more of a necessity than an obligation. There are certain “taken for granted” factors in hostel life as well, for example, the maximum duration one can occupy a common toilet is naturally regulated as a process of repeated action in our everyday hostel life. There are certain unsaid and unwritten norms that bind the hostelites and they feel almost obliged to follow them. Although, the break of these unwritten norms would not result in a severe punishment in the literal sense but it would definitely socially seclude one from the niche of interdependence and cooperation that prevails in the hostel atmosphere. If that happens, social survival almost becomes impossible in the hostel. This obligatory factor backed by necessity forms a coercive force that binds every individual in the hostel to develop a sense of symbiotic living. Although, cultural and natural coerciveness is exercised in family life too due to the natural and self-regulatory forces, they are less stringent in their character.
Thus, mutual cooperation, understanding and symbiotic living are all characteristics of both everyday hostel and family life, but their nature and motive remains starkly different.
When asked about whether or not their hostel life is a substitute for their family, most agreed that although there is a close-knit relationship which develops in a hostel, family as a unit is irreplaceable. The comfort and care that forms the focal point in a family, although reinterpreted in hostel life, cannot be recreated totally as a whole.
Whereas a few also was of the opinion that “hostel life” is a better substitute for a family as it provides them with a lot of independence and allows them to break away from the stringent chains of family culture to explore a wider range of thoughts and intermingling of culture and ideas which allow them to develop as an individual.
FRIENDSHIP, INTIMACY AND BONDS IN EVERYDAY HOSTEL LIFE:
Friendship, intimacy and bonds are no doubt an integral part of one’s hostel life. The interactions with each fellow hostelites and the nature of bonds formed could reflect a lot about the everyday life in hostel. As an individual starts interacting with each of his/her fellow hostelites on an everyday basis, the kind of bonds formed with each could be functionally differentiated from the others. Hence, varies the intimacy level shared with each. A hostel is a place where diverse cultures, philosophies, ideas etc mingle to form a web of interactions, thus resulting in a huge cultural hub, which is one of its kind.
As Soumil Dutta(resident of kiit university, Bhubaneswar) quotes, “ In hostel, friendship happens more out of necessity to cope up with the tiring, busy, monotonous hostel life than to make friends informally.” Likewise, Tejoswan Ray (resident of UPES boys’ hostel, Dehradun) feels the initial trigger point of formation of bonds in hostel is the need to cope up with the lack of family rather than the urge to form new aquaintances.
The formation of bonds or intimacy is again a natural and self-regulatory process which unconsciously evolves when an individual spends the maximum time of the day with his/her hostelites. If we find people with whom we share time, which is the most valued of our possessions, automatically a “connect” develops. It could be again for the sheer reason of survival or to maintain harmony in the symbiotic structure of everyday hostel life. An individual is presented with a plethora of people with diverse cultures and thoughts to choose from them who they wish to call their “friends” and who they would merely term as “hostelites”. Hostility or sheer indifference to someone could also naturally grow as a process. The basic mental match would simply mean sharing common interests, common favourites, common habits or even common enemies. This match of common interests and habits could be largely attributed to cultural background and the way one has been brought up. For example, a lot of respondents have said that they connect over late-night movies, shopping, or merely because of the same habit of laziness that is common between two individuals. Another important factor that has come up in the survey, is the connection built through the system of “group study” in hostel. All these factors of mental match could only be possible if two people share some common cultural tastes in art, literature, music, films etc. Sharing of personal belongings and personal space is also a very dominant practice in hostel life. An individual chooses what exactly to share and with whom and how. This determines exactly the degree of comfort or closeness with a person. Sharing of very personal belongings or discussing one’s private life would indicate a personal degree of comfort and closeness with a person whereas the reluctance to share certain belongings would indicate the feeling of hostility towards certain group of people. The sitting arrangements during common meals if observed carefully could tell us a lot about the social scenario of the hostel. When enquired about the patterns in the sitting arrangements, respondents gave very vague and common answers like they sit with their friends or according to seniority. Thus, the hostel as a community gets fragmented into several groups sharing different cultural views and philosophies.
The class, economic and cultural discriminations are not directly present in the hostel atmosphere mostly, but it does play a role latently. To a great extent these factors are a common linkage that bind the several “groups” that form inside a hostel. Soumil Dutta (kiit boys’ hostel), when asked about the presence of any discrimination answered, “No, nothing on a serious scale. Just that, at times, certain contemptuous and mocking remarks are made at people from different cultural backgrounds. For example, the Bengalis taunt the Biharis and vice versa! Although, all of that is taken in good humour.” Many respondents have also reported that a lot of slangs used in the hostel have cultural and class connotations. When a rich student possesses expensive goods or gadgets as compared to the not-so-expensive belongings of a student belonging to a relatively economically backward class, the mental disparity and uneasiness caused it demarcates the economic discrimination in a hostel. Another phenomenon where these factors are predominant is “ragging” in hostel. When juniors are ragged in hostel, their cultural, class and economic background are always highlighted in the forefront to pass derogatory comments in the sheer name of fun. However supressed it may be, class and culture discrimination still exists, although not in a very harmful or extremely offensive manner.

ADVANTAGES:
 Staying in a hostel majorly makes an individual self-sustained; managing time, money, resources and doing the daily chores of one’s life. It helps to develop oneself outside his/her comfort zone (family). It gives one a broader view of the world and prepares one for the larger social setting.
 It teaches an individual the art of symbiotic living, mutual cooperation, sharing etc.
 It involves the development of a lot of interpersonal relationships which include the intermingling of cultures and thereby providing a flexible mind-set for the individual. Also, it provides for a greater scope for knowledge as it is passed on from one source to another amidst the huge number of students in a hostel. Vivid interactions may also eradicate prejudice from an individual.
 It gives one the independence one lacks when confined within the strict realms of family. This provides a greater insight into oneself and helps in the overall personality development of an individual.
 It helps to eradicate loneliness.
 It brings out the competitive side of one as one is constantly competing with his/her fellow friends or hostelites. This helps to enhance performance of an individual in every field.
 It also develops a sense of belonging in an individual and incorporates the “we-feeling” in him/her.

DISADVANTAGES:
 It encroaches upon an individual’s personal space. Being constantly among the company of fellow hostelites leaves an individual with no private life of his/her own. It also may lead to undue interference and publicise very private matters of an individual.
 Many face a problem when it comes to studies as they do not get a peaceful environment to practice their academics. There are so many activities going on that one may get diverted.
 It may also lead to the development of certain addictive habits in an individual like smoking, drinking or drug abuse.
 Ragging in hostel by seniors could sometimes be very offensive and aggressive which may lead to the physical or mental breakdown of an individual.
 Theft of expensive as well as inexpensive goods and gadgets serve as a constant threat in hostel life. The economic disparity prevailing among different class of students plays a key role in this case.
 Lacks of basic amenities in hostel are a huge problem. Hostelites often complain about the poor food quality, the unhygienic bathrooms, the abundance of insects and pests etc. Lack of luxury of home is always a great disadvantage of being in hostel.
 Adjustment issues wherein an individual has to put up with the unhygienic living conditions of a fellow hostelite or the contemptuous remarks of a hostelite which could disrupt the mental state of an individual.

CONCLUSION:
While conducting the survey with a number of hostelites, I faced some major problems.
Although, a few of them were happy and willing to help, some of them took it as a joke and never answered the questions seriously. Others were too indifferent or lazy to give proper and detailed answers. Those who answered had already formed a pre-conceived notion about hostel life which they would not analyse from a sociological point of view, so they mostly gave general answers without much detailing. I had to pry out certain answers; some were not comfortable sharing their personal lives and hence did not open up.
Inspite of all the drawbacks, I managed to conduct a successful survey and therefore deduce my results which have been presented above.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the respondents who gave me their valuable time and provided me with necessary information to complete my survey. The respondents are as follows:
1. Soumil Dutta (kiit boys’ hostel. Bhubaneshwar)
2. Snehashis Ghosh (Symbiosis boys’ hostel. Pune)
3. Tejoswan Ray ( UPES boys’ hostel, Dehradun)
4. Tania Saha (Presidency girls’ hostel, Saltlake Kolkata)
5. Sargam Sharma (Presidency girls’ hostel, Saltlake Kolkata)
6. Modhusree Das (Presidency girls’ hostel, Saltlake Kolkata)
7. Adrita Banerjee (Presidency girls’ hostel, Saltlake Kolkata)
8. Nilabja Banerjee ( Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
9. Sumallya Mukhopadhyay (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
10. Debraj Banerjee (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
11. Debojit Thakur (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
12. Shubho Ganguly (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
13. Indrajit Sengupta (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)
14. Saratsindhu Mukhopadyay (Eden Hindu Hostel, Kolkata)