Disclaimer:

Every post in the blog is an original piece of work by the blogger. Do not use the pictures, posts on the blog without the consent of the blogger.

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by CopyscapeCreative Commons License
Aaditya and Me by Aditya Joshi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License

Friday, April 17, 2009

In Rags

Disclaimer: The name of the person is fictitious. The incident is not. Does not have to be a first-person account.

Rishi sat on the floor cross-legged in his underwear. The only light in the room was that of the street lamp outside the window of his room. He was shaking as he looked at the point on the floor where the floor and the two walls met. His body was wet with sweat and cold water at the same time. His lips moved out of his control. He wanted to let out a cry - his voice box was too choked of fear to utter a word.

"Abe saale bh%%we, yeh le!!" he remembered the words he had heard some time ago. What had followed was a splash of ice cold water and several kicks that landed on him from all angles.

Was Rishi an accused in a police case? Was Rishi a criminal? Was Rishi kidnapped? Was he a terrorist? Or was he a prisoner of war?

Rishi was neither.

Rishi was a student of an engineering college.

All that was happening to him was a part of an initiation in his hostel. All the abuses and kicks, all the serving the seniors food and water, all the strip-to-your-undies-and-dance-for-the-seniors was a part of a 'process' which every junior in the hostel was undergoing with different magnitude.

It was a process to get 'introduced' to your seniors. It was a process that went on under the pretext of "we seniors are only preparing them for the big bad world outside". It was a process that simply had to happen because that was the way it had been happening for many years. ('Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi' translates to 'Kyunki mera senior bhi har%mi thaa' in this case.)

Ragging is prevalent to different degrees in almost all educational institutions of the country. These students who will occupy managerial and technical posts three to four years from now are doing this to their 'juniors' just for the sake of sadistic pleasure or satiation of one's hurt, whatever the case may be!

Isn't it utterly appalling that students are actually committing suicide due to the humiliation and depression they undergo as a result of ragging?

This has to stop. Ragging must go.

To everyone who would be joining an institution newly, do not think someone can dominate you only because he / she has been in that institute for a longer period of time. You do not have to do anything that you are not comfortable with and say that out once and for all and DO NOT encourage any ragging. (The day you look at your abuser and say you don't want it, the abuser will think twice before doing it to you.)

To everyone who would be the 'seniors', let us please break the cycle of ragging. Getting to know a junior or being friendly with him can be done in several ways - which will maintain the dignity and self-respect of both the parties.


To everyone who would be the 'seniors' and who want to rag their 'juniors'...

... I want to see you behind bars.

1 comment:

  1. I would rate this article by 7 stars. very good .. I happened to read this today. It is nice because==
    1. Here you are talking directly on an issue related to the society. You are talking straight.. especially the last sentence is too good.
    2. It maintains the "aadity" way to write articles. I look at the way as very impressive way to make people awake.

    i completely agree with ur opinion. i would say you have expressed the same thoughts of every "anti-ragging" person in a nice compact fashion.
    its like an ayurvedic medicine to be taken with honey
    thanks man to give such an article..

    ReplyDelete