On Hostel Mess

If you talk to any person who has ever stayed in a hostel, 'mess' is a dreaded word. I am yet to see any person who says that he/she had good food at the mess during his school/college days. The Roti at any mess appears uncooked, there is always a significant amount of oil floating on the top of any vegetable, the dal always tastes bad and so on are some of the common complaints at most of the mess. In context of food, the word mess originates from some Italian word which refers to course of a meal put on table. However, we relate this word to the general meaning of mess i.e. chaos or confusion. The food over there is considered to be in a mess.

I've been living in hostel for quite sometime now and while I feel the same about the food many times, I sometime wonder about the possibility of making quality and tasty food for around 1000 thankless people everyday round the year. I feel that it is really a tough job to keep so many people happy every time.
I've concluded that because the food gets repeated after every 15-20 days; even though the food is good, people tend to get bored with the repetitive stuff and then start to complain about the food. Well, this cannot be helped then.

Apart from the food aspect of the mess, when I think of the mess, I remember the words of one of my professors (Man!. look at the number of degrees. A line isn't sufficient). He says that the mess is a 'great leveller'. No matter what the family background of a student is, he has to sit in the mess and consume food prepared by the cook. A great line of thought I should say, especially after this incident : P

For me, I have always considered mess as a great place to socialize. After from my room and the classes, the cumulative time I've spent in the mess has been the highest. I've had some of my most engaging conversations at the mess. I have started talking to a lot of people at UICT and SCMHRD because of the mess. Some of the people whom I first talked to in the mess are now some of my good friends. I've come to observe some of the most peculiar aspects about humans and human behaviours at the mess when I see future managers talking to the mess employees.

Thoda senti ho gaya w.r.t mess. Hope I am able to fast recover from the mess I've subjected myself to.

On relatives and conversations

Conversations plays a very important role in fulfilling the social needs of a human being. It provides a means for interaction between individuals. I believe that ladies have a greater need for conversations when compared to the males. This is amply proven by the way in which girls talk when they meet on roads or the way in which wives share their 'ghar ka rona' when they meet at the vegetable vendor or the amount of bitching done by fast friends.

I had been in Mumbai recently and got stuck up in a place where a lot of aunties and mamis had assembled for a function sort of thing. With no access to laptop, TV or a novel, I decided to listen to their conversations.

As is generally seen, the conversation went to the whereabouts of a person who has reached the age of marriage. A lady asked "Do you remember the name "Tamari Masi na Jeth ni Mama ni chokri?"" And in the next instance the name of the girl popped out from the mouth of the lady standing in front. I was awed by their ability to relate to people quickly.  Next I overheard somebody asing about " Pilwai wala Sumanbhai ni Bhanji na kakaji no 2nd jamai".

Upon hearing these terms, I realized how limited knowledge I have about my relatives. I know only a few of them. Hope to know many more and relate to them at a speed these ladies are capable of.

Hats off to all those Gujju Bens who are able to know so many far away relatives by names.