There are some evenings that feel heavier than others. Today was one of them.I had just come back from home to my hostel in Faisalabad. The bus ride was long, but it was not the distance that made me tired. It was the feeling of leaving home again. At home, everything is warm. Mama's voice, the home-cooked food, my own bed, no alarms, no worries. And then suddenly you are back in the hostel room, same four walls, same quiet. The bag is still unpacked in the corner and the heart feels heavy. I think every hostel student knows this feeling. We call it hostel blues.... You come back, you sit on your bed, and for a few minutes you don't want to talk to anyone.
On top of that, the weather in Faisalabad has been so strange for the last few days. One day it is very hot, the next day it is cold and windy. Because of this changing weather, I caught a cold. By the evening, I had a proper cough and a light fever. My throat was hurting, my nose was blocked, and my body was feeling cold and tired.
In the hostel, when you are sick, it feels even worse. At home, mama would immediately make you tea, bring you a blanket, and ask you again and again if you need anything. In the hostel, you have to take care of yourself. I was lying on my bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking what to do for dinner. I did not want to order from outside, all the spicy and oily food would make my cough worse. I did not want to eat biscuits either.
Then I thought, why not make soup? Soup is the best thing when you are sick. It is warm, light, and it feels like a hug from inside.
So I slowly got up, despite having no energy. I went to the small shared kitchen in our hostel. I checked what I had. I had some chicken in the fridge, and some vegetables I had brought from home — capsicum, cabbage, and carrots. And I also had one Knorr chicken soup recipe mix packet, which is a savior for all hostel students.
I started making it. First, I washed the chicken and cut it into very small pieces. Then I chopped the vegetables capsicum into small cubes, cabbage thinly sliced, and carrots cut small. I like colorful vegetables in my soup, it looks more fresh and feels healthier.
I put a pot on the stove, added a little oil and a little garlic, and lightly sautéed the chicken. When the chicken turned white, I added water about three cups. As the water started to boil, I added all the vegetables. The kitchen started to smell so good. Even though my nose was blocked, I could still smell it.
Then I added the Knorr soup mix. I slowly mixed it so that there were no lumps. The soup started to get thick and creamy. I added a pinch of black pepper and salt as needed. I let it cook on low flame for 10-12 minutes. The whole kitchen became warm with the steam from the soup.
When it was ready, I poured it into my big bowl not a l, bowl because in the hostel, we drink soup from bowl ...I took it back to my room.
I sat on my bed, wrapped myself in a blanket, and took the first sip. It was hot, slightly spicy, and so comforting. The warmth went straight to my throat and it felt instantly better. The soft pieces of chicken, the slight crunch of capsicum and cabbage, the sweetness of carrot everything was perfect. In that moment, the heavy feeling from coming back to the hostel felt a little lighter.
I finished the whole bowl slowly. I was sweating a little because of the fever, but I felt much better. That soup was not just dinner. It was my own way of taking care of myself when no one else was there to do it.
I realized something today. Hostel life teaches you two things. First, it teaches you how to miss home deeply. And second, it teaches you how to be strong for yourself. When you are sick and alone, you learn to cook for yourself, to comfort yourself, to make yourself a warm soup and say, "It's okay, you'll be fine."
Tonight, after the soup, I took some medicine, drank warm water, and decided to sleep early. The fever is still there, and the cough is still there, but my heart is not as heavy as before.Sometimes, a simple bowl of chicken vegetable soup is all you need to feel like home, even in a hostel room.