Picture a place from your past that still feels like yesterday...

Everyone has a memory that takes you back to the moment it happened, maybe an incident, an experience or simply a place that has been connected to you. That has been constantly with you over the years, that has witnessed you develop into the person you are now.

For me it was for a very longtime my hostel room, like it might have been for many. Anyways room number 218 in the New Block of our hostel is where I spent most of my college life, 3 years to be exact. You might call it an home away from home especially when you start living thousands of kilometres away from your actual home, but for those 3 years it was like my own place. So having a place to vent out, to make new bonds and meet people who might just stay with you for your whole life was this room.

Let me start with the first day, I just came for the admissions in my college with my parents. After getting all the paperwork done and leaving the campus we started looking for a hostel nearby where I could stay and go to college. When my dad had asked one staff in the office, he said that just outside the college was a good hostel, that was owned by the college trust. So we headed there to check it out. When we reached and while my parents were chatting with the warden, I was taken by the staff boy to see the room 218 in the New Block.

After climbing two sets of stairs in the New Block which was whitewashed recently. Passing by a watercooler, then going through a corridor we reached the room. There were 3 rooms on either side of the corridor, so a total of 6 rooms in each row and there were 3 rows of these 6 rooms on each floor so a total of 18 rooms. Most of the rooms were double sharing with attach bathroom in each. As I entered the room it looked really bare and raw. Two single beds and a cupboard and a common table and two chairs. Decent enough I thought. When my father asked if I could stay there I told him I will manage. We had our lunch at the hostel mess as the warden insisted my parents to try the food.

Next day, we arrived at the room with all the necessities, my mom helped put everything in order. And they left for the airport since they had a flight back home that very day. What happened next is nothing less than a tradegy, as i never expected this on the first day there. After having dinner I went to sleep so that I could wake up early for the first day of college. I was deep asleep, suddenly at around 3 am someone knocked on my door and there was some commotion outside. A bit scared I opened my door and saw two policemen standing. As they were about to say something two more came out of the room infront. Suddenly one of them spoke in a language I couldn't understand in somewhat harsh way. I smiled since I could not understand anything, another person in broken hindi said that they wanted to check my room. I thought why but I let them go ahead and moved aside. I didn't know yet at that moment that I wouldn't be able to attend my first day of college in the morning. As I was standing in the corridor, two more boys in the room beside came out. I asked them that did this happen often, they didn't really say anything.

I found it very strange and confused. After a little bit the policemen came out of the room with what looked like a package wrapped in newspapers. Then they shouted at me in a language I didn't understand but could atleast make out that they were accusing me of something. I asked the policeman who spoke a bit of Hindi what was happening, but he grabbed me by my hand and told me to come with him. I was taken to the hostel office, in this moment the hostel guard and warden came to talk to the policemen. I still didn't understand a word they said, and was about to break in tears, my hand hurt really bad since the policeman was holding it really tightly. The warden told me that they had gotten a tip that in a room someone had stashed about a kilogram of weed so they came for a search and that they found it from my room, under my bed. I was really shocked to hear this, I felt like I will be taken to the prison and that my life was over. The warden kept insisting that I had just came in today, but the policeman didn't care at all. I was standing there and everyone in the hostel had come out to see. I was feeling both embarrassed and scared at the same time. Finally, the warden somehow managed to come to an understanding with the policeman and calm him down. When my hand was finally let go, it had swollen up a bit and become red. The warden told them that it might have been left by the students who were living there earlier or someone else because the room was empty. I felt relief when I saw the warden standing up for me, it seemed to convince the inspector but he said that he will get to the bottom of this and asked for the details of the boys who stayed there before me. He apologised to me and told me to go back to my room. After getting back to my room I was still shaking and drank some water. Seeing everything in my room scattered I felt like crying but somehow I got up and started putting everything back in its place. And went to sleep curled up inside my blanket. Next day I woke up pretty late and missed my first classes and orientation. Later I got to know from one of the boys living beside my room that the seniors living in my room before me had kept that weed. And when they had heard that someone had tipped the police thats when they left the hostel and went back to their hometown. And I just happened to be alloted that exact room. I blamed my luck for all of it, and thought that room number 218 was maybe cursed. I tried to change the room but since all the rooms were completely filled up I wasn't able to. Although the starting was bumpier than I could have ever imagined later it became much more better but room 218 was always the most highlighted room for different other incidents that happened after. Maybe I will tell you people more about the incidents that happed in the room in the next 3 years in my next Anonimos.

Till then I would love to know how was your first day at your hostel room? Or your first day in college?