Feature

Adieu Rokeya Hall

Farzana Mannan

All good things come to an end some day so did my hall life. Time to say adieu to Rokeya Hall. My exams are over and I have to vacate my room for someone new. That is how it should be. It all began in 1999 when I got admitted to DU in the Department of International Relations. Never did I think I will be studying in Dhaka. I did not have a place to stay in Dhaka. I never stayed without my parents. It was just something inconceivable. I did not know anyone in Dhaka.

My parents had a tough time persuading me to come to Dhaka. My father who studied in DU told all the nice stories and his experiences in DU. He was convinced for a good education I had to be a DU student. Spend some years in Dhaka University he told. He promised he will buy me all the phone cards I needed to talk to my mom and my grandma. Mobile phones were still not very popular in Chittagong from where I came.

Admission formalities completed I applied for a seat in Rokeya Hall. Everyone said it is impossible to get a seat in the first year. My father talked with quite a few people he knew in the university to get a seat for me. No one promised but they said they will try. I was surprised to see my name in the list of those who were allocated seats in the hall. I will have to share the seat with Antara of the Department of Music. Our house tutor Sayeda Madam called Antara. Antara had a very friendly look and I felt little bit assured. On an early summer afternoon my mom came to leave me in the hall. It was a very sad moment for both of us. I cried and my mother was in tears too. Antara took me to my room. The room even had a name-'Shapna Neer' officially Room No. 51. I was always thinking how I will go to bathroom alone at night if there is no attached bathroom. The room was with attached bathroom. It was a relief.

All my room mates were so friendly. Jolly apa was exceptionally good. She was like an elder sister always concerned about the comfort and well being of us. Once when I got sick she took so much care that I felt I was at home. During the Ramadan she would arrange for the Iftars and Shehri. Though Antara did not have to fast she joined us for the Iftar and Shehri. Shima apa would get up for the Fazar prayers and wake me up. We would pray together. Shoma had all the latest tips in make up. She was very exciting. We lived like a family.

Jolly apa called me the other day from Australia where she lives with her husband. She feels bored there and said the life in Rokeya Hall was so comfortable and wonderful that she would give any thing to come and stay again in Rokeya Hall. I couldn't disagree.

Jafar Sir of Bengali Department was my local guardian and stayed in the house tutor's quarter of Rokeya Hall with his wife Sayeda madam. I would call them uncle and aunty. Whenever aunty cooked something special she would always send someone to call me for either dinner or lunch. Whenever I met Jafar uncle he would always talk about food and advice that I should eat more. He thought I was getting skinny. Jafar uncle liked good food. Even our dining hall dadu thought I was very skinny and gave me an extra piece of potato. Skinny girls should eat more potato he would advise. Evening in Rokeya Hall was very special. Girls would stroll on the green lawns of the hall in groups in leisurely manner. Some sang and few even played soccer occasionally.

I had a very strong belief in ghost from childhood. When I was a child I would sleep with my grandma. I always believed that all ghosts are scared of my grandma. She would always recite 'Doa'. When I came to the hall I tried to find out from Jolly apa if I could bring my grandma to stay with me! No way shrieked Jolly apa. Grandmas stayed home. What could I do? All through my seven years of stay in Rokeya Hall I tried to look for a ghost. I thought I would meet one as my grandma was not staying with me. I never met the ghost. Not even a friendly ghost.

Girls from other halls would refer to our building as an apartment as the building had a lift and the rooms attached baths. But most of the time the lifts would not work. The lift man 'Mollah dadu' did not have much work except selling phone cards to girls. Once he brought 'Pitha' for us during winter. Mollah dadu died few months back. May his soul rest in peace. One interesting thing I observe was that in our building girls of one room did not know the girls of the neighboring room. This I believed happened because we did not share a common place like bathrooms where one would get the opportunity to socialize. This perhaps is another side of living in a room of a student dormitory with attached bathrooms.

Perhaps I will never get back to Rokeya Hall as a student. But my memories of Rokeya Hall, the time I spent in Room No 51, my wonderful moments with Antara, the elderly sister like caring of Jolly Apa and Shima apa, exciting Shoma and ever loving Sayeda aunty will live forever. Adieu Rokeya Hall.

Department of International Relations
Dhaka University