The University of Hyderabad campus is deserted but for a few students residing in its hostels. Most students returned to their hometowns before the lockdown after the COVID-19 outbreak, but a few had to stay back owing to exorbitant flight tickets or long and uncertain train journeys to their hometowns, especially in West Bengal and Northeastern States. The administration has been ensuring that these students get their basic necessities and internet connectivity for online learning. The students have no complaints, except that the social isolation in a near-empty campus can be overwhelming. There’s ample time to focus on studies but it isn’t easy, they state, coping with isolation and anxiety as they keep track of pandemic-related news.
In mid March when the Telangana government directed educational institutions to close down, the university had issued a notification strongly advising its students to vacate the hostels by March 23 or 24. However, with the lockdown and the cancellation of flights and trains soon after, a few students couldn’t return to their respective hometowns. And the university came up with a contingency plan to safeguard those who stayed back.
The university has several hostels for men and women in its North and South campuses. Students we spoke to talked about the empty corridors and the dedicated staff trying its best to keep the campuses spick and span. Both North and South campuses have a mess each to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“The mess staff wears protective gear while preparing and serving us food. The seats are two to three metres apart in the dining hall and when we queue up, we stand one metre apart,” says Thano Jishing, who’s pursuing masters in computer education. He hails from Nagaland. When he considered the options of returning home, flight tickets were expensive and he was wary of travelling in crowded trains, contracting infection on the way home.
There are approximately 140 male students in the South campus hostels and around 400 in the North campus, as against 5000 to 6000 students in normal circumstances. The campuses have a store each that stocks fruits, vegetables, and other essentials. A 24/7 health centre is functional too.
Empty hostel rooms have been sealed and students have been advised to continue staying in their allotted rooms and follow personal distancing at all times, even when they step out for a stroll inside the campus. Sports facilities have been closed and students are asked to not walk in groups.
Entry and exit gates are guarded and those who need to venture out of the campus are required to fill a form mentioning why they need to do so.
Parents of students who’ve stayed back had been worried but eventually, the students state that they and their parents have come to accept things and are grateful that they are safe within the campus.
Yet, the problem of isolation crops up. T Venkatesh, an M.A. Political Science student who hails from Suryapet, stayed back to focus on academics as he wasn’t sure of the facilities back home. “I am in the fourth semester and want to take up M.Phil. There’s a lot to do, but at times, it feels strange that there’s no one to talk to. There’s no problem of electricity, water, food, and internet connectivity. It’s loneliness. I don’t usually like video calls, but now I’ve begun to do that to connect with my friends,” he says.
Chandrawali Goswami, in her final semester of M A Political Science, has been reconnecting with her school friends, when she’s not studying or watching movies. She had booked tickets to her hometown, Guwahati, dated April 25, but all flights were grounded from April 24 midnight. Since she cannot venture out to meet her friends in other hostels, she has made new friends at the mess. “I meet the same seven or eight people for breakfast everyday. We got used to it. When the staff members come to clean my room, I feel grateful for their help. The other day I thanked the mess staff for ensuring we don’t go hungry,” she says.
The women’s hostels have fewer inmates and hence food is cooked in the men’s hostel mess and transported to the women’s mess.
Students try to keep themselves in good cheer but admit that anxiety gets the better of them occasionally. An eerie silence descends on the campus at night and sleep doesn’t wash over them that easily.
Akaito Chophy, a Ph.D history scholar from Nagaland says the biggest challenge is staying confined to his room, since the library is closed. “I’m not used to being in isolation, so it’s a struggle. Sports facilities have also been closed. I used to put in six to eight hours of academic work each day, now I can barely manage a couple of hours,” he says. In the larger scheme of things, he understands the lockdown was unavoidable: “That’s the only way we can prevent the virus from spreading further,” he sums up.
