Goa trip

The night before:

Our train was to leave at 5:10 am on Friday. Since I knew that it would be difficult for me to get hold of a taxi which would take me to Dadar station in such wee hours in the morning I decided to spend Thursday night at the hostel. Atleast I would have some company while going to Dadar and whatever problems we might face we would tackle them in a group. I was told by my friends at the hostel that there was a group of hostelites who had gone to Goa and was yet to return and possibly would return by Friday morning. So, there would be plenty of vacant beds for me to occupy.
Two days before I was about to set out I came to know that another classmate of mine had also planned to stay the night at the hostel. Anyway, that didn’t bother me as I knew there were plenty of beds on offer.
So, I went to the hostel on Thursday night after I have finished my dinner. I reached around 10:30 pm.There we chatted for some time and then we were about to hit the sack when my friend Kushal’s roommate entered at around 11:30 pm (his name is Harshad Phadnis aka Phaga).He had a smile on his face as if to say “Gotcha buddy, I know what you were trying to do”. Phaga was not supposed to come back before Saturday or even Sunday. So,there goes one bed………but no problem……..there were still many more. But Phaga not only brought himself but also news that Halbe was planning to come as well. I found out that Halbe called up Phaga at around 8 pm and then it was 11:30 pm. So, I thought that Halbe might not turn up. But as luck would have it, he did and with Sirsikar in tow.
Still no problem…………there were still quite a few beds left. But now I have to act fast so that I get the bed of my choice. I quickly moved to another room and to my ‘pleasant’ surprise I found that Deep, Ronak, Veera gossiping with Manish in that room. But…..I told myself not to panic……no…there is nothing to get perturbed about. The group of hostelites which had gone to Goa was yet to return. As I left Manish’s room, I found myself facing a group of hostelites talking to Bakshi who was sharing his experiences in Goa. As you would have guessed by now, he was a part of that group of hostelites which was yet to return.
Some really scary thoughts crossed my mind……….would I have to sleep on the floor or in the corridor (the hostel rooms are so clean that I would rather stay awake than to sleep on the floor or anywhere else) or on Dadar station’s platform. I was running from this room to that one and to the next one. By God’s grace I came to a room which Mudassar shared and since he was away to Alibaugh I got his bed. I thanked my stars. Had it not been for them, my so called friends had almost ensured that I did not go to sleep and ‘burn the midnight oil for no reason’.
I wonder what was so elusive about the hostel that night. Everyone lived at well connected places but I. There were no particularly great facilities or amenities available at the hostel that could possibly entice them (Even I thought about it 142 times before I leapt for it). Nobody watched any movie or listened to any music or gossiped to spend the night. Everyone slept; so why not at their home???

to be contd..........