The BED-COFFEE Crisis

        The first decision  that I eased through after my schooling is to leave my home and strive for that Hostel freedom which every South Indian College based film would portray beautifully! Veritably,  that hostel life in cinemas is a BIG, FAT LIE! Sorry to burst this bubble for all the high school students, you can never enjoy freedom in hostel! At least I can't!
     To exemplify. I am  a student of a reputed Engineering college and our hostel is regarded as the most endurable one in our region. Yet, It somehow betrayed to live up to my expectation. Actually, It's not the hostel, it's the culture, more specifically, the "hostel culture" that makes it more abominable! You may wonder, What's worse in a hostel life, that too a lenient one like mine! ?
      I'm a morning Coffee person! To be more precise "Morning Bed-Coffee" person! And there begins the struggle! To start with, there will be no one to wake you up with a cup of coffee in hand like my Mom or little brother would do back in my home! The only thing that will wake you up, probably everyday in hostel  would be your Alarm call or else "Nature's call".
              BED - COFFEE! Kudos to the guy who excogitated with the name! It's the most elegant name used by us to actually hide out the fact of having coffee without brushing! But in hostel, there is no way to enjoy the so-called, "Bed Coffee!". So, in order to get mine,  I've to get up and run to my mess, that too my respective mess, and prepare my own coffee. And in the morning, our face can never look more scarier and repellant. If our future spouse gets to see our morning face, That's it Seriously, Good luck Getting Married!  Thus, to get a cup of coffee initially, I've to do a mini war paint in my face at early morning! Yeah!, For hostelers morning 7 counts as early morning! And how can you expect me to do this without brushing!? If I still manage to keep my mouth dry, the then hostel mates who are all accompanying with you for their morning coffee will look down on you as if you are walking naked right into your mess. After all it's my TEETH! And you would be their topic of discussion for atleast an week! You would also get those crazy nicknames and suddenly your college life is apparently over! You know, these people would take time to understand a simple engineering concept, but coming up with Nicknames, they're damn good at it!
     But for me, who respects his coffee more than his self-esteem, the real battle awaits in the preparation. In my hostel,there would be three containers, one with milk, another one with the coffee bean decoction and the other with sugar! So I am expected to take two empty glasses, (its more like a tumbler) obviously one for drinking and the other for mixing and stirring (in case if it's hot, but thats only on rare occasions, as I would be the last one to enter the mess). The selection of these glasses is a tricky one and requires your full engrossment. You can never find the perfectly clean cups! Come on! It's hostel. So, I would probably go with the least smudgier ones and mostly pick out the vitrified ones. According to my theory, these shinier ones are either the new ones or they're the last to be washed! And there are various contradictory theories in these glass selection, and if you're to hear all that , you'll probably never ever touch ab coffee glass outside your home! And also extra care must be taken that the pair of glasses you choose must be of same size!  (a rather important precaution) Otherwise there will be spilling which leads to "Why does this happen only to me?" feelings, which in turn leads to aversion towards life.
      So, coming back to my coffee preparation, I've to fill my empty cup with milk and the other one with the right amount of decoction and sugar, in which I probably suck, even after 4 solid years of practice! Why can't they mix those and keep it as "coffee "in a seperate container!? Why would they want to see us suffer over a cup of coffee!? If this question is raised to the mess supervisor, his prompt reply is that different students prefer different concentration of sugar and decoction!  No, I dont want any other combinations, I want my coffee to be like coffee, and not like that syrup you would gulp in if you're suffering from dry cough! As if these mess supervisors are  working hard for the welfare of the students! I can't even identify the dishes they prepare in most of the days! If my professors decided to take a tough practical question paper, they could easily arrange us these dishes in class and ask us to identify them! And I am pretty sure that I would never ever clear that paper.
            Life is easy for those who prefer tea instead of coffee. Its mixed and  kept ready to be served.  I seriously wonder, How do my Mom achieve the perfect combination of coffee for all these years!? And again, I guess thats the reason why God has created Mothers!
        Another disturbing issue  is the snacks they provide for evening coffee, Who does want cream biscuit with coffee?? If I ate that cream biscuit first, then the taste of my coffee would easily match to the taste of hot water!
            Amidst all these obstacles, you would still somehow manage to obtain the right combination once in a blue moon.On such occasions, you've to stop, wait , take a deep breath, pat yorself and treasure those moments. Because you would not pass by these moments often in your life. It is these moments that boost up your confidence and improve your perspective over life! Like, "Here,  I have mixed my own coffee successfully! What more difficulties can life throw at me which I can't tackle!??"