Which is the first place that every college student goes to for bunking lectures?



The one place where friends are made over shared maggi, cold war’s brew over fist fights and ‘ek hole wala dosa dena bhaiyya!’



Oh and from where everybody flees when someone shouts, “Princi aagayi!”



Of course it’s the college canteen I’m talking about.



Our college canteens see us grow from novices to specialists. They see students turn into teachers during exams and the best presentations prepared over Noodles, Paneer, Frankies gorged down by the dozen.



To say that a college canteen is an important part of our college life would be an understatement. Because it is more than that. As they say, a canteen is not just a place. It’s an emotion.



But as a bookworm or a person who has had a fair share of Hollywood teen flicks, it is safe to say that our college canteens, literally and figuratively, do not meet our expectations. As for exceptions, even if they do exist, there some things you always wish for to have been in your college canteen.



Teen flicks have made us realize a few things that we would love to experience in the canteen department.



Take for example the area of the canteen. We don’t have a campus big enough to hold our college buildings whereas their canteens contain powder rooms, foyers, the sitting area and of course the lineup leading to the food.



Which brings me to the second point. Wouldn’t it be amazing to get in a line and have a buffet system? Where all the food items are displayed instead of being given a mindless stare everytime you ask for a chicken sandwich and the bhaiyya says “Nai milega” to your face. “Chicken nai hai. Paneer wala khana ho toh bolo”



And unlike every canteen scene of a teen flick ever created, where is the protagonist or rather a beefy student in our place hurling arms around and creating a scene for us to enjoy? Oh wait, he is sitting out on the kutta, sulkily eating a hole-wala-dosa because he does not have enough place to show his

anger.



And the most epic of all. Food fights. Because who doesn’t want to drown someone in Hakka Noodles or Chole Bhature.



Our colleges, no matter how uber, will never be able to meet such expectations. Like getting a chocolate cupcake every time you make a purchase. Or an extra coupon to a chaat dish if your purchase extends a 100 rupee dish. It’s impossible in a city like Mumbai.



But, unlike all teen flicks, our college canteens hold the most of our college memories.



So someday, when I grow up and visit my college, I will order a Noodle Paneer Frankie and sit on the still semi-broken chair where I met my best friends. Something which I would have not gotten in a canteen of my imaginative young mind.



Like I said, a college canteen is an emotion.