The Great Battle of Wits! ❤️

The Sojourners and The Spartans Battle it Out!

Topic: Hall Life or Commuter Life? Which is More Rewarding?

I MA English | The Gala Friday Show 

Although it’s a bit of a long holiday ahead, [five consecutive days for many colleges], with Gandhi Jayanthi on Monday, again a holiday, still, we had a pretty modest number of students in class today, participating enthusiastically in the Debating Hour, today.

Debating Hour!

The Friday Fever was at its exciting pinnacle today, what with the two teams, with almost equal representation on both sides, battling it out with gusto, at such a feverish pace, convincing their opponents on the ‘authenticity’ and the ‘validity’ of their unique thoughts and ideas!

Aaron tossed the coin, to decide on the ‘opener’!

And the Spartans won… heads down! Tails up! 😊

[On an aside – Let me also confess that, I was awestruck at the names the two groups had chosen for their respective teams.

The Sojourners – meaning – One who ‘resides temporarily’ in a particular place.

The Spartans – true to their name, like the original Spartans, - who were homeschooled until age seven, and so they had to live in their homes along with their parents, where they were educated by Sparta’s women!]

Coming back to the Debate of the Day –

The Sojourners spoke in favour of Hall Life as a Rewarding Experience

While

The Spartans were in favour of Life as a Day Scholar, which they were convinced, beyond measure, gave them the most rewarding experience.

Battling for the Spartans - Aaron opened the argument, saying,

‘Coming to the practicality of the topic, well, we day scholars are not restricted by the bounds of space! We ain’t got any regulations, or curfews or restrictions, that’s a part of your everyday routine. We are simply, ‘beyond confines, regulations, curfews or restrictions’.

Defending The Sojourners, Chris observed –

Love is not only about pleasure. It is also about pain, says Kahlil Gibran. In fact, “Our pain carves out a larger space for love to fill,” he says.

Do you know something? In all our lives, we will never have the opportunity of having this blessed hall life, anytime again! There are umpteen possibilities and lots of luxuries in being a hall resident. You get to meet students from diverse cultures, backgrounds, etc.

Fighting for the Spartans, Jeffrey says –

But whatever said and done, ‘Home is where the heart is! It’s at HOME that you develop a great ‘SENSE OF BELONGING’.

Speaking for the Sojourners, Chris says –

Halls are more like homes. You have hallmates for company. Roomies to discuss! Friends to explore!

Defending the Spartans, Aaron says –

Yes, but again, you’ve got a lot of restrictions. You’ve not quite answered that part – the ‘restrictions’ part! What would you explore in all the world, with so much restrictions on you?

For The Sojourners, Smyrna says –

Yes! In the Halls, we find ways to explore more of the world, in company, in the blessed fellowship of fellow hall mates – that you daily commuters lack bigtime! We grow together in joyful company. That way, restrictions are quite rewarding for us, you see!

Anuradha seconded her, saying,

Hall life makes us systematic and organized.

On behalf of The Spartans, Tara observes –

I appreciate the fact that you guys are systematic. That indeed is a legitimate point. However, you won’t be in a position to appreciate the true value of freedom! As Day Scholars, we can go out anywhere, at any point of time, with a lot of self-discipline on us.

Defending The Sojourners, Chris says –

I would agree to disagree with Jeffrey. Home is not a ‘physical’ entity at all. Home is not bound by walls. It’s a feeling. Induction gives you the feeling of being part of a family – of being in a sense of home, far away from home!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder! So you’ll only get more and more fonder of your home, in absentia!

Talking about restrictions, Helna says - 

Not every home is open 24x7!

Parents also have their own restrictions for you back at home. So it’s not about restrictions, but about safety.

And in the Halls, safety is of paramount importance as well.

As regards freedom, we also have flexibility in timing.

For the girls, curfew starts at 6.30 pm, but for boys we have freedom to be outside the Hall premises even up until 10.30 pm.

Alan from the Spartan army says - 

Hall life, you said, is like family. But you see, sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, and it can make a person claustrophobic as well.

Seeing the same people over and over again can be exhausting as well.

But for us, day scholars, as Tennyson’s Ulysses points out, ‘I’m a part of all that I’ve met!’.

And that’s us, day scholars. We get the best of both worlds. Just like the purpose of a debate – which also has the same objective - to get the best of both the worlds!

Speaking on behalf of The Spartans, Aaron adds, saying –

I heavily disagree with the idea of ‘home’ as pointed out by The Sojourners.

We are all profoundly tied to our surroundings. Physical place has a feeling attached to it. Abstract concepts and ideas are derived from physical realities. Familiarity helps us to grow!

Speaking for The Sojourners, Smyrna says –

The Spartans said that, they’re at home with their family, but for us, our family members feel, ‘My daughter is there all alone, and away from us’, and this makes us to long for them, and also give our best in our studies as well, to make them proud.

Further defending The Sojourners, Anuradha says –

Joining issue with Alan, well, I’d like to say that, as you go on in life, it’s not heaven all the way, and it’s not going to be fair, all the time.

You’ll face contempt in life. In the Hall, you learn to solve issues, manage conflict, deal with belligerent people, etc.

I was extremely shaken when I was enrolled for my UG Programme in Gujarat – which was far away from home!

Added shock, because I didn’t know their language as well. But I learnt to live by myself all alone!

As regards the concept of home, let me reiterate that, we are also managing all by ourselves, ‘a home’ by tending to our needs all by ourselves, coping with necessities all by ourselves, and doing the accounts all by ourselves.

So in short, we are also managing our own homes, all by ourselves, in a home, far away from home!

Joining the Spartan bandwagon, Vidhyalakshmi observes –

Since you guys said that, we day scholars don’t have any problems or conflicts, I would like to reiterate that, coming to college everyday itself is a big ordeal for us. I have to wake up as early as 4.30 am, to come to College.

Adding to his team member Vidhya, Jeffrey says –

Yes, I’d like to add to what Vidhya has just said. Indeed, shuttling to college everyday, I feel like spiderman out there in the local bus, with one hand on the railings and the other hanging midway!

Seconding Jeffrey, Jomon adds –

That’s right! If just in case, there’s a bus strike or a hartal, then we’d have to take the trouble of coming all the way to college, using our own modes of transport, which is very difficult, especially if we commute long distances.

Adding to Jeffrey’s points, Annie says –

Whatever said and done, I personally feel that, it’s a real blessing to be close to your family, and to see them every day. It’s a special feeling, you see! That’s because you won’t feel ‘homesick’ anytime!

Aaron, agreeing with Vidhya and defending their Spartan army says –

Yes, family with home, is safer, better and also provides us with the space to mature emotionally as well.

Now The Sojourners add that extra zing to the fire by igniting their ammunition yard –

Says Chris, for the Sojourners – 

Let me tell you guys that, the solution to all your problems is ‘the Hall life’.

You see, you don’t have to commute every day. You can wake up at 7.30 am or 8 am, and still you can make it to your classes. 😊

Especially the food in Heber Hall is so yummy. I really wait for the classes to get over, so that I can rush back to the Hall, just to taste the yummilicious biryani.

Helna, adding to Chris’s defence says –

Back in my UG days, when I was a day scholar, I didn’t know much about the traditions of the Hall at all.

However, my friends who resided in the Hostels, knew much about the traditions of the Hall, the various buildings of the College, and also get to know more about the day to day events that happen in College much better.

Joining issue, Aaron, the Spartan, says –

I quite agree with you when you said that, Halls help us meet friends from diverse cultures, traditions, dispositions, etc.

But let me ask you a simple question – What about people who had to quit the Halls?

What about students who have bouts of psychological issues on them?

Does the Hall really foster people with mental health issues and students who face personal struggles?

I feel, that Hall life is being over-romanticised, not tending to these aspects.

Communal identity is good, but I personally feel that, individual struggles are conveniently overlooked, in the process.

Supporting the Sojourner spirit skyhigh, Helna says –

Talking about students with psychological condition, let me underline the fact that, it’s students who’ve been suffering from psychological conditions because of their troubled life back at home, who come here, and find hall life so therapeutic!

’I’ve known a room mate, who was crying in her room. When I asked her why she looked so depressed, she said that, back at home, it was always a constant quarrel between her father and mother, which makes her so depressed and gloomy.

She says that she finds hall life so therapeutic for her. She doesn’t want to go back home, because she feels, their orthodox parents don’t even allow her to wear jeans, and never gave her a wee bit of freedom anytime!

In the Hall, I can always do something I love, in my own free space, and be myself all the time.

Taking sides with his team mates, Chris says –

How many of us really talk to our parents on what we feel? Do they understand our feelings? But that happens here.

A boy was all alone. He felt so lonely. We just asked him out for a cup of tea.

We didn’t even talk to him. Just went out with him and joined him for a cup of tea. It changed him completely. After the tea, he literally gave us all a hug.

Garrisoning the Spartans, Jeffrey says –

Well, we day scholars have a double benefit – of being with both family and with friends! Also, we don’t miss out on special family occasions, celebrations, anniversaries, etc.

For the Spartans, Alan adds to say –

As one who had left the Hall, I now find that, I can really be myself here outside the bounds of the Hall – a bit more lenient and a lot more free!

Adding to Alan’s points, Jeffrey says –

At home, as a day scholar, I can be myself. I can be in casual wear, watch TV, eating peanuts, legs pointing skywards, lounging on my sofa! But in the Hall, you can never experience this concept of ‘Home’.

Raising a red flag against the Spartan line of defence, Chris says –

You see, back at home, even if you want to watch cricket at 12 in the night, you’ll feel a bit awkward, since parents would want you to turn down the volume!

You can’t enjoy watching cricket the way you enjoy watching cricket with friends in the Hall through the projectors.

Now, Tara, fortifying the Spartan firewall, added to say –

Well, joining issue with Helna, I wish to say that, conflict is inevitable. A person should not run away from conflict. They should have the guts to face the conflict!

In the account that Helna gave of her friend, it seems to have a hint that, conflicts can be done away with, by ‘escapism’ mode!

Now, Anuradha swiftly intervenes to defend her team mate Helna, saying –

But it’s not conflict. It’s toxicity! That’s why she came out of her home! Escaping conflict itself requires a lot of effort!

Now, taking up cudgels for the Spartans, Aaron says –

You ‘Sojourners, - well, you talk about a beautiful communal living! But the moment you talk about a ‘community’, don’t you think there’s a hierarchy of sorts, a domination, a system, in every ‘communal’ living that tends to form hierarchies, dominations, subordinations, etc. People who don’t have the mental capacity to brave those systems, can be shaken and even broken!

While romanticizing excessively on the ‘glories’ of the ‘Hall’, there’s also the possibility of ‘overlooking’ or ‘sidestepping’ the inconveniences, and the toxic hierarchies that can even mar the idea of the system – that of an ideal community – an oppressive hierarchy!

Strongly vindicating the Sojourners’ stance, Chris says - 

But don’t you feel that we’re always under hierarchy- be it at the work place, at school, or at home! In the Halls, you always have the option of being a ‘follower’ or an ‘unfollower’ of traditions. That in itself shows how democratic the ‘system’ is, and not ‘oppressive’ at all!

Helna, supporting her Sojourners, says –

Hall can make you or break you. But home will shrink you. Home can never make you or break you. You will remain the same always!

Adding to his team mate Helna’s observations, Chris says –

A sense of complacency develops at home, because it doesn’t require you to step out of your comfort zone anytime.

Adding to Chris’s points, Smyrna says –

There’s no downplaying the fact that we grow at home. Yes, we grow at home, no doubt! But we grow more, over here!

Anuradha, seconding her team mate, says –

Yes! You can’t be tied to your parents all of the time. Being away from home teaches you to be ‘okay being alone!’.

Helna also avers with Anuradha, saying –

That’s very true! I’ve never travelled alone anytime in my life. But once I came to the Hall, I practised travelling alone from here back to home, etc.

Now, shielding the Spartans, Aaron says –

Chris – you said that, complacency develops when you’re at home. But for a person like me who enjoys the various vistas of the city, I drench myself in the culture of Chennai. Day scholars can immerse themselves in a larger spatial context, unlike the Hall residents, where your spatial context is very limited.

Jeffrey, throwing his weight behind Aaron, his fellow-Spartan, says –

We’re exposed more to the life and culture of the world, than you guys. Everyday we meet a lot of strangers, travellers, and other people of all hues, in the course of our daily shuttle. But you guys are living in a Utopia, while we experience real life every day!

Countering Jeffrey, the Spartan, Helna says –

But you experience life alone! On the other hand, we experience life, and enjoy life in the company of our good friends, which is a different feel altogether.

Seconding Helna, Chris says –

For you [Jeffrey] it’s all about transporting! For us, we believe in travelling!

That’s because, unlike you guys, we don’t take the same routes everyday. We take different routes each day, unlike you guys who take the same route on the same bus every other day!

Upholding the valiant Spartan spirit, Aaron, in summing up, says –

Summing it all up, I’d like to say, that there are limitations and exceptions on both sides. Obviously, this is a very constructive and rewarding debate we’ve had today. Let me just emphasise on the importance of one’s surroundings and one’s background! Indeed, place, environment and the context matters a lot!

That’s how we evolve! That’s how we grow!

The Sojourners and The Spartans in one Snapshot

Teacher’s Remarks: Well, that brings us to the end of yet another lively debating hour today.

I felt that, it was much akin to the athletic tug-of-war event, where both the teams are equally pitted against the other – on a war footing! 😊

One observation