Today, in my old campus, when I asked for the bill for this nice lunch, they charged me 40BDT (40 cent).
For one second I was dumbfounded!
Wait, what! Is there even a lunch that doesn't cost a minimum of 80 or 100 these days even in the poor, ragged roadside hotels!
Then I realized, how can forget this!
(oh and there was a vegetable item as well)I went to my university today regarding some issues with my papers.
Almost 6 years later after graduation!
And for running around to and fro as you do in an old set up of Public (government) university, I was drained out of strength in that mid summer noon!
When I finished my running around, it was almost past noon. On my way back, I noticed those temporary mini-hotels in the corner of the field campus.
Every faculty building is surrounded by a big grass field with lots of trees to spare you shade.
And in every corner of those fields, there will be at least tea stalls and some scattered bench and chairs.
Where all the shops and tea stall resides, students, even professors sit down for chitchat, enjoy class break or just to pass the sluggish time with friends and folks while smoking, having tea! We used to adore those places.
Those tiny stalls of the campus were our sacred place, an escape from our reality.
Even if there were days of no class, we would still go there spending hours in those haggard shops and stalls.
And those stalls would turn into a nice temporary hotel to serve lunch in our lunch time like a magical pandora box! Those are small in size but even hundreds of students eat, they never run out of food!
You will buy your lunch, and sit on a bench under the open skies with people with whom you share the same campus but perhaps never cross paths!
But during lunch, you would often have a conversation so familiarly with each other as if you were close friends!
And in rush hour, you might not even get a seat!
Lots of students just lean on a tree and eat, some just sit on the open field and enjoy lunch while laughing and chatting in a group!
And that 30BDT lunch was not just a mere cheap lunch. It was a feast to us! A celebration!
As in one day, you just become tired of eating crappy food in the student hall and decide to have a grand lunch.
And this was our celebration, a feast mostly on Thursdays! (As campus off day is Friday)
Or if you do good in exams, presentations or friends from different universities came over...for occasions like this, it was our way of celebrating in campus.
A beautiful lunch outside on heartfelt occasions!
There was a day when 30BDT (30 cent) for lunch used to be a big deal for us!
But guess after many years, I had forgotten that and was astonished that the food I eat which is worth a minimum of 140 anywhere even in the cheapest hotels, cost me only 40taka!
After 6years, the price has risen 10tk amidst all these budget clashes every year!
Isn't beautiful!
Immensely lovely!
No matter how many places you go to study for how many years, I say...
University graduation will always be incomparably extraordinary experience of your life!
Cherish your graduate life while you can folks. That'll prevail as the best moments of life
Everything in the post is mine until it's mentioned