Typical Day @XL

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrinnnnng!”

I half-opened my eyes.

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrinnnnng!”

“Thud”. I found myself wide awake and on the floor. The jazziest and noisiest calling bells of XLRI GMP hostels can do just that to you! The alarm clock at my bedside table said 7:30 am. Who else but the dhobi to give you a warm wake up call at 7:30 am in the morning!

After collecting the clothes from the dhobi (and making sure none of them had casualties), I got down to the tasks for the day - boot up my laptop and check out the time-table for the day. Classes at 9:00, 11:30 and 2:30 - one of those rare days when they don’t stretch till 9:15 pm. However, 2:30 classes meant no time for an after-lunch power nap!

Dumped the required notebooks and handouts into the bag and proceeded to get ready for classes. By the time I got ready, it was 8:45. A quick rush down the stairs barging straight into the canteen! Grabbed a couple of slices of bread and a cup of coffee and rushed the five minute distance to the learning centre.

So begins a typical day in XLRI! One would presume that all the caffeine and the rush to reach the class would have jolted me into full consciousness, but no – as soon as the class warms up, my brain hibernates! On some days, I would brave the storms of sleep for the first one and a half hours, but the second battle is almost always lost!

Daddu’s chai shop round the corner serves as a beacon as the clock inches towards 10:30 and sometimes becomes the only pleasing thought that my mind hangs on to, to escape getting caught dozing.

Daddu’s is not just a chai shop – it is an experience. Its own story is heavily intertwined with the history of XLRI and it has been around ever since the institute was just the admin building and the learning centre. Daddu’s has marvellously integrated with the culture of the institute and has found its way into the numerous marketing, operations and even quant examples that Professors discuss in class!!! All important conversations happen in front of Daddu’s and all notices are pasted in front of Daddu’s.

Come 12:30 and there is a stampede down the stairs to reach canteen. Lunch hour often witnesses us gobbling up food and retreating into our rooms to catch a quick nap before the afternoon grind begins.

It is always a Herculean effort to pull myself out of bed at 2 and walk back towards the learning centre. The hot and humid weather does little to help the cause! Somehow all 120 of us manage to get into the cool air-conditioned recesses of our classes, with sighs of relief!

Come evening, all the pent-up energy of the batch comes out! People can be seen milling about, armed with tennis or badminton racquets. Shouts of victory or disgust can be heard from the C-block TT room. It is a different set of people that you come across in the evenings. And beware of fast-flying footballs if you feel like taking a stroll in the park!

As the sun sets, so does the adrenaline rush. Suddenly the topics change into the assignments that need to be completed by the following day. Groups can be seen huddled together, engaged in animated conversation over laptops.

The dhaba adjacent to the canteen becomes active and several rounds of tea find their way into sleepy hands. After dinner and a quick smoke, everyone take their way back into the respective dens or to the library for some study or handout-reading. By about 2 am, traffic resurges. People emerge from the hostel and the library to meet for tea at the all-night canteen. There is no dearth of food for the hungry at night! The aloo-parathas and cheese-maggi at the all-night canteen are among the tastiest ones in the world! The badminton court adjacent to this canteen is filled even at this time! Finally by about 4 am activity comes to a halt and the night is at last serene – awaiting the commotions of the next day!

- Written by my colleague Radha.