19 Reasons Why Hostel Life is a Priceless Experience

on a trekking trip with hostel friends

Life is a hostel is like a life within a life. It has all the essential lessons, just compacted. And even despite that  philosophical overbearing sense, its quite simply the most incredible, and in my opinion, a must have experience ever. I lived 7 years of my life in a hostel as a kid and life was a mixed bag. But I'm sure everyone who's lived in a hostel at any point in time can relate to agree with these few things that we all experienced.
Read on and tell me if I'm wrong:

1. Friends are a mixed bag. The first friends you make are a 50-50 deal - some fade out quickly, some last the longest.

2. Being homesick is natural, but when you return home, you are surprisingly hostel sick. Just goes to prove that its not the place, but the people that really matter.

3. Vandalism, is a beautiful outlet for anger. Let's leave it at that.

4. Late nights make everything amazing. Even if its just painting the people who are fast asleep.

5. There is a beauty in disobedience. Yes, its good to live by the rules, but bending them is awesomer.

6. Food you cook yourself, with friends, even if it is just Maggi cooked in geyser water, is always the best.

7. Getting into a fight and standing your ground is an adrenaline rush. And the people who stand by you then, are like your own band of brothers, your gangs of New York, your dirty dozen. Even if you lose.

8. Team Spirit is a crazy drug, and you'd do some mad shit on it. only to remember many years later how stupid you were. nonetheless, it would make great stories.

9. Taking on the staff is like your own little revolution. They're the government and you're the people. and it feels good to stick it to them once in a while. oh yeah!

10. Having a mentor you can be honest to, can change your life - while keeping you out of shit you shouldn't be into.

11. Bribery and sneakiness is great, but being awarded 'official permission' feels like invincibility. That walk past the corrupt watchman like you own his ass, is a priceless feeling.

12. REVENGE is beautiful. Nothing beats the feeling of taking down a bully. With friends, or in front of everyone, or even if its alone. It's the one payback you need to make in life. Either in the hostel itself, or out of it.

13. 'Group studies' are a myth we shall all propagate - until our kids spin that one on us.

14. Having the most happening room is as much a gift as it is a curse. Only experience can teach you this.

15. Nothing beats being the best at what you do. And it's great to have people need you to be you.

16. Nobody likes a rat. Nobody remembers the person who blends in with everyone. and Nobody respects a bully. BUT EVERYONE, sooner or later, respects the one who stands up for what is right, stands by a friend in genuine need, and knows that apologising to or forgiving someone who deserves it doesn't make a person any smaller.

17. There is a BARTER for EVERYTHING. Food, clothes, homework, favours, anything and everything. You just need to find the right deal and the correct pitch.

18. Simple joys are priceless pieces. Room hopping, sneaking out pointlessly, listening to a new track on loop, bathroom fights, a Friday menu change, a shared snack, staying awake doing stupid stuff, talking 'life' with a friend, a letter that need not be mailed. You remember these things for life, and they always make you smile, even though they don't cost a thing. That's something you hopefully will always remember through life.

19. You can hate it as much as you want, want to break it down, change the system, even wish the warden dead maybe, but in the end, you only remember the most beautiful parts. and you love and miss it all. And its all so worth it.

Now tell me, Isn't life just the same?

- Pushkaraj S Shirke