To the girl who’d inhabit my room after me
Hello, there! You don’t know me and neither do I know you, but there is something that we will share in the near future. Something that holds a special significance in my life at LSR and will do the same for you, even before you know it. It is my room – Room 153, Upper Ash.
It’s a fine room, isn’t it? It’s a room of your own. Virginia Woolf believed that a woman must have a room of her own, so here you go now – after sharing your space with another person for two years, you’re finally on your own.
These walls are really high, aren’t they? They’ve seen it all, you know. If they could talk, they’d tell so many tales. They’ve seen many of us at our worst and our best. They’ve seen pangs of homesickness hit us. They’ve seen birthdays being celebrated and a girl grow another year. They’ve seen tears, and they’ve reverberated with laughter. They’ve not been left alone, through all this, you know. They’ve been adorned by the many women who’ve lived here. They’ve had posters put up everywhere and photos too. They were putting a part of themselves up there, in a way. I joined in the tradition too, when I became a resident of this room. You know I’d put up a decal of some tree branches and some birds.
This room has housed many before me and will be a home to many more, even after I’m long gone. But it has so many stories to tell. It has heard secrets and been a place where long conversations have happened. It has seen tears and seen many women, at their worst. It has also seen them happy. It has created memories, and now it has become one.
This room was my happy place. And I made sure it stayed that way. I’ve spent many an afternoon cleaning and scrubbing it – ensuring that it remained clean. After all, a happy place must not become the stuff that nightmares are made of. So, as I leave now, I’m leaving a part of me behind. It’s more than a room for me. It’s more than a bed and a table and four walls. It was my home. It’s a part of me, and I will be a part of it. This place became an inseparable and important part of my life for the one year I spent here, for how can you separate a person from their home?
As I leave, I’m wishing you luck and hoping you’d make many memories here on your own, as I did. You’d adorn it your way. You’d make it your home. This room will see many highs and lows of your life. It will see you grow and before you know it, you’d be leaving too – giving it away to someone you don’t know. Having a room of one’s own after two years of sharing feels odd, doesn’t it? Enjoy yourself because even though it’s only for a year, it’s a room of one’s own. It’s going to be a part of you; it’s your home.
_