HYDERABAD: Canteen at the Loyola Degree College, Hyderabad, is like a second home to all the Loyolites. It witnesses a plethora of people within it, doing their own stuff like munching, gossiping, yapping, brain storming, writing notes and finishing projects.
The students say that the canteen offers a variety of eatables and is not heavy on the pocket. Sagarika Emmineni, a BCom (honours) second-year student swears by the manchurians available in the canteen. “Though it is not readily available, it is worth the wait. They’re extremely tasty and I never get bored eating them. The canteen also has a lot of chocolates — from eclairs and snickers to temptations,” she says.
The canteen is also a place to catch up with students from other departments as the campus is huge and students are scattered. On their part, the college management provides students with much-needed freedom and seldom
restricts their presence in the canteen.
Ajit Singh, a first-year BSc animation student, makes it a point to first visit the canteen before going to class. “I land up in college at about 8.45am, though my classes begin only an hour later. I spend this time in the canteen socialising with people from other departments,” he adds “The breakfast menu at the canteen is amazing. Poori is my favourite. Though the canteen is not very sophisticated, it is quite ventilated and never gets stuffy.”
However, the best part of the canteen, everyone agrees, is that “they give us credit. We buy stuff whenever we want and pay up later,” adds Dhaval Vasani, a BSc animation final-year student. “The canteen is also a great hideout, as the lecturers do not come to the canteen and spy on us.” Vasani loves the tea in the canteen and must have it twice or thrice a day.
Sonali Naidu, a second-year BA mass communication student feels it’s hard to ignore the canteen. “After college, we have to pass by the canteen to reach the exit gate but we finally end up spending hours there. The variety of snacks they offer is amazing and my favourites are egg, curry puffs, fried rice and masala dosa. The ice cream scoops are a big hit too,” she says.
Observes Kepler Jones, a second-year BA communication student, “We brainstorm ideas for short films, ads etc in the canteen. It even doubles up as a perfect location for a shoot. In the past, we’ve done a lot of production in and around the canteen”.
— rahul.d@expressbuzz.com