We in India put up with a lot of shit. We don’t mind people defecating in the open. We can turn our eyes away from beggars. We take bad roads and power cuts in our stride. Our city, Mumbai, in particular, is famed for its chalta hai attitude. Spitting on the road is something everyone does. Smelly open sewers just have to be dealt with. BEST buses and local trains have to be choc-a-bloc at rush hour. Who cares, each one of us is out there just to lead our own lives.
The same fatalist approach has managed to seep into the hallowed portals of our own alma mater as well. Two students are put up together in rooms which might as well be pigeon holes. That there is hardly any space to study is an issue secondary to the bare basic issue of abysmal living conditions – one cupboard, sad beds, no space for putting two chairs together, let alone two study tables, and no scope of doing anything in your cubbyhole other than sleeping, which you’d be lucky to do with the lights out if you and your roomate have similar sleeping habits.
Step out into the corridor and you would be forgiven for thinking that you’re in one of those Slumdog Millionaire chawls. Clothes hanging around on clothlines, dustbins overflowing with refuse, dogs and cats (which have now been adopted as pets by most wings) rearing their families with the blessings of our ignorance – the situation is slightly unsettling when you realise that this is supposed to be one of the premier institutes of learning across the world and certainly one of the model institutes in our country.
We used to cringe at this sight in our freshmen year. But we’ve come to accept it now, haven’t we? We’ve accepted that we’d be consigned to a third-world Sub-Saharan existence and that such is our fate. After all, what hope is there of changing this situation?
Stop.
We have the means and the wherewithal to make our lives better. How? Shun the laziness and make the use of the available facilities. Our alumni having been through the same so-called rigours understand the difficulties faced by us and they are more than willing to help change this situation. For the same purpose they have initiated MHMH (Make Hostel My Home) drive which empowers students to bring about the constructive changes they want to see. How does one go about doing things?
Simple.
- Click a photograph of the things that you think should be addressed & upload it on your Hostel MHMH page with the help of your Hostel’s Alumni Secretary.
- Describe the problem and any solution you find feasible on that page.
- Discuss the matter with HATS core team (consisting of Hostel G.Sec, Hostel Alumni Secretary and few alumni members of your hostel). If the solution is about discussing a matter with IITB authorities, our alumni can help us in that. If the solution requires any monetary help then acquire the relevant quotations and you are done!
Snap out of your fatalism. Why live a half-doomed life when you have a full one on offer?