Ravishing

I have been eating a lot lately. This I am saying as compared to what I used to eat only some time back. So, in my first term, I used to have a “normal” diet. And by normal I mean, similar to what people here have on an average. But now I am definitely above the average. I believe that there come phases in your life such as these. Phases in which you sleep a lot or else you can do on very little sleep, others in which you eat a lot, and some others where things happened rather differently.

Here at my institute, I have a common mess for all students. In the morning, just before the first class, there is hardly enough time to grab something. So, I generally take two bread slices and a cup of tea and proceed towards the class. But having said that I eat a lot, you don’t think I would be satisfied with that kind of breakfast. So, as soon as the first class gets over, I and some 15 others of our class run to the mess to have our remaining share (many of these have not had anything since morning).

My friends keep teasing me about how much I eat. They say that I eat breakfast thrice. Just after waking up I run to the mess, according to them. Then after having my first helping I go back to my room to do my daily chores. Then have my second helping just before class and finally the third helping after the first class. The 15 other people that I talked about before are those which regularly use the first break for their breakfast. This number grows or diminishes depending on the time the first lecture gets over and the menu in the mess.

There was a time when both my neighbours (in the class) used to go to the mess and I did not, even though they asked me to come almost daily. They would say just come once and I would think of the distance to travel and wonder why these people went. And here I am. One of the things I enjoy in my daily schedule is that run to the mess after the first class. Yes, I do actually run and much more than the breakfast that is the real fun. I would say that a person has to go for the breakfast after the first class only once and then he would never look back.

The anticipation and the excitement builds as the class is about to end. As soon as the last words are spoken, some 10 of us (who have already been at the edge of their chairs) stand up and start moving (The others are more civilized and slowly follow). Some of these had been asleep all time long and had asked their neighbours to wake them just 2 minutes before the class is to end, for they did not want to lose any of the precious seconds. The experience for me is so good that when we do not have the first lecture and you have enough time to eat your breakfast, it does not feel complete or as much satiating.

So, on days when I know that the first class will be stretched and there would not be enough time to go to the mess, I do my breakfast early. But everyone is cursing the reason for the delay because it either made them wake up early or they had to miss their breakfast entirely. But my reason for cursing is that it has denied me of that joy or experience which I so like.

Probably, I am trying to find happiness in small little things. But one thing I realize is that you never know what will make you happy. I remember one of our lecturers telling us that people find happiness in the smallest of things, and we students have become such that unless we get that insanely paying job, we won’t shed a smile.