“These are 40, you have 55 and these are my 60.” Only the canteen knows all the actual efforts friends make to pool in for one leisurely meal.
It would be an understatement to say that the canteen culture is an important part of a school/college life. It’s undoubtedly more than that. Canteen is not just a place, it’s an emotion. Well, it certainly is the hall where your percentage of attendance is always higher than that in the classrooms. There are so many reasons for us to believe that it is the best place of our student lives
A canteen is not just a cafeteria where we go only to have food; it’s the best spot to hang out with friends, it’s an underground area for escaping boring lectures, the safest place for passing love letters and for catching up on all the gossip; the most comfortable location for project discussions, the most suitable environment to plan a trip, fest or “panga” (dispute), and a perfect setting to celebrate birthdays and create amazing memories. A canteen is for all the “Mels and Milaaps” (get-togethers).
It’s that place which always breaks our resolutions of “no fast food from tomorrow”, where the uneaten chappatis, stuffed in the tiffin box with our mother’s love, are set aside, as of course, our taste buds and appetite are much more satisfied with the “canteen ki Masala Maggi, Butter Vadapav, Spicy Manchurian, Special Poha and Cheese Grill Sandwich.”
A canteen is related to sharing and caring; be it raising funds for snacks, shedding frustration, discussing flaws in the administration and authorities, or taking selfies. Merriment and bonhomie can be found in a canteen almost 24*7. It has always been a place of laughter, charm and rejoice, where even the drabbest sound the brightest. What drives us all to go to the canteen as often as possible, is the force of the double Fs – friends and food.
“Let’s go to the canteen” – the four magical words that make college life the best with the best people, and it’s the only place that builds up a perfect ambience for rendezvous, where we love to spend most of the time with our pals, keeping aside all the hassles of mundane living.
We may visit fancy restaurants, like Domino’s, McDonald’s or La Pinoz several times but nothing compares to the satisfaction of fighting over a single samosa with the squad in the canteen. It can be best symbolized by a multi-coloured umbrella, under which we witness the smiling faces, colours, and energy altogether.
Over the course of our school/college lives, where our school/college becomes the second home, it’s the canteen where the whole family comes together for a reunion! It’s in the canteen where the best memories of our study lives are created. Enjoy it, live it, and cherish it because these days won’t come back!
बरसो बाद जब हम कॉलेज के कैंटीन में गए, चाय वाले ने पूछा चाय के साथ आज क्या लेंगे और हमन कह दिया क्या वह मेरे पुराने दोस्त मिलेंगे!
(Years later when I visited my college canteen, the canteen staff asked what I would take along with tea. I replied, “Can I get my old friends back?”)