Ten Myths about Ragging

I`m really glad to find a coherent account demolishing myths surrounding ragging. I live in a small residential University in Bangalore which till my second year had a tradition of what was called soft ragging. This basically meant that they didnt make u strip...but there was public humilitation usually verbal, some seniors were very unfriendly, and NO ONE ever smiled at you. If you smiled back...you had to cut your smile.

All in all...it was nothing compared to what my friends went through in engineering and medical colleges and within a month it was over.

In my second year, one fachha complained about ragging. The University took strict action and suspended the raggers for a year. The student body was outraged..these guys were`nt doing much..they had made these boys sing. How were we to carry on interaction with first years. In a student GBM someone even proposed a resolution stating that no senior would even speak to a first year.

In the past four years there has been no ragging in law school. and things have remained pretty much the same. However two major changes have taken place.
1) first years use the campus much more freely. My batch used to go into the sanctum of the first year hostel as soon as possible. The new batches can be found int he library, gym, comp lab, gardens till 12:30.
2) The seniors who did`nt rag...which were a large majority have begun interacting with the first years. Earlier since one had to maintain a common front against juniors you either spoke to them as inferiors or didnt speak to them at all. Now...that problem is done away with...

Finally, the sickest thing about ragging is the power kick one gets from putting someone else down. If your only claim to fame is being in the institution a year more than I have, that does not really give you any great rights.

veeresh

here is a translation. ragging was good for ts rajendra at your time. now that your son will go to college its not good ;-)

regardless value of ragging for my view is that the bihari`s spoilt it, when they started ragging in hindi and poorbi. ragging in english was more or less civilised. however i must say that guys who attend day-schools tend more likely to be sissies.

i disagree with fuji that its about establishing peckering order. seniors and juniors dont generally belong to the same group so their is no threat. the peckin order stuff is more valid in jail.

being challenged to venture outside one`s comfort zone can be an opportunity for personal growth.

but these kind of challenges have to be presented in a well-regulated environment (resembling perhaps veeresh`s merchant navy experiences?). college kids are hardly the people to conduct such growth sessions; unless that is, the institution in question has well developed traditions that have been tried and tested (as maybe in the defence academies?) and do not damage individuals ``permanently``

for those who wish to experience very challenging environments (not physical as such but more mental) there are courses conducted by at least one organization that I am familiar with. In a short space one is able to grow and realize new facets of one`s personality. A lot of the processes are extremely uncomfortable but the processes are well designed.

most of the college ragging is silly, amateurish and occasionally goes very very wrong.

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Dear Rahul,

You have raised some interesting points. I want to be personally in touch with you, have to discuss some things about the sexual element in ragging. Can you please mail me at shivamvij@gmail.com or let me have your ID?

Dear JagDeCat, I`m associated with an anti-ragging campaign being run by an NGO. They are taking out a website on ragging for which they want content. I will be editing the site, the contents of which will also be put in a CD and sent to all sorts of people. I invite you to write about your experience in detail. You can write to me at shivamvij@gmail.com.
Thanks
Shivam

Dear JagDeCat, I`m associated with an anti-ragging campaign being run by an NGO. They are taking out a website on ragging for which they want content. I will be editing the site, the contents of which will also be put in a CD and sent to all sorts of people. I invite you to write about your experience in detail. You can write to me at shivamvij@gmail.com.
Thanks
Shivam

Dear veeresh,

I don`t agree with you, I mean, even thirty years ago, the seniors you thought you `learnt` from, were adolesecnts only a year older than you, and were only interested in some sadistic fun out of torturing you. However, I respect your memories, and agree that people can have good memories of ragging, specially if they have themselves been raggers! Would you mind putting down your experience of ragging in a detailed essay for our website? Please write to me at shivamvij@gmail.com
Thanks
Shivam

Dear nikki7777

Are you sure you were `ragged` in the US? Or was it hazing when you joined ceratin frats?
Anyways, ragging is often in extremes, and people like you who insist that it can be fun, ignore the extremes. You said, ``However, there are always those who will push society`s buttons and there is nothing one can do to prevent that.`` So let the world demolish itself, let society condone everything anti-social, we`ll just enjoy life. That`s what you are saying?

You said: ``There are more pressing problems such as poverty and indifference in our society that seemingly intelligent and caring persons...`` No dear, I leave poverty eradication to even more intelligent people to you. I`m happy being dumb enough to be a human rights activist.

You said: ``A little `horseplay` never hurt a fly!`` But it is not `little`, and it`s not being done to flies. We`re talking about sexual, physical, abuse, we`re talking about mental rape here. All this in the name of ragging. Suicides, and even murders! How can you be so insensitive to it?

You said: ``Moderation in all things is the key to an eventful and productive life, not denial.`` Okay, so we won`t kill 100 people, we`ll be moderate, we`ll kill only 10 in the name of ragging. No?

Shivam,
Ragging is a part and parcel of college and univ life...but the extremes to which it has been taken is most appaling.
When I had stepped into college, I was told that ragging will help me get to know my seniors-something that you had also mentioned in the article. The little ragging (singing, wrong directions to the class, treats in the canteen) did not bring me close to my seniors at all. In univ as well, the ragging was not very extreme with anyone, but it didn`t help towards fostering friendship...
I haven`t been ragged nor have I witnessed any form of extreme ragging. But I do know places where ragging has led to disastrous results.
Any form of activity that hurts people, physically or emotionally is wrong.
A good effort by you all to bring this issue to light.

I remember my time being ragged. It was no fun. For one reason that i used to refuse to do whatever my seniors used to tell me. That of course led to more hostility on their part. Suffice to say, I never really got to know them and still don`t talk to any, even if i do meet them here or there, and btw, this was Very Mild Ragging, compared to the accounts given here.

Call me over-sensitive, but why should i humiliate myself, to satisfy someone else`s `Power Dreams`. Plus, I was always a little out-spoken for my own good, when younger. :)

This practice of ``making a man out of boys``....never tried it on others, never liked it myself. I`ve grown up to be perfectly well without it. So just a thought but i think others might grow up well without this practice too.

Good Article, and Good Topic.

i like the article.

though there are some good points that one gets out of ragging, it is more like the silver linign from a looming cloud.

nevertheless, this teenagish desire to look ``macho`` and ``in`` are sustaining ragging.

Well written article, Shivam. I like the style of putting things down point-wise. And then running a synopsis at the end. Easier to read and react to.

I think ragging as a tradition had a time and a place in history, which may not really be relevant or required anymore. But then, we can get into another discussion on whether history or tradition have more truth!!

This tradition, in evolved/older institutions, probably had self-correctives, like finessing the difference between exploitation and evolving. In my own case, ragging as a junior for a year on a Merchant Navy training ship helped me evolve highly required survival skills as well as the habit of not assuming anything, always going back to the last known fact before proceeding. It also honed my risk-taking abilities. Most of all, I learnt.

Today, learning (and information) is available from a variety of sources, not just seniors and peers. What would pass of as acceptable a generation ago, would simply not be acceptable anymore. Likewise with ragging.

Finally, I do not think change in ragging scenarios can be enforced. These have to come from within society.

saminashah

I`ve heard that Elvis Pressley was your student. True?

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May I briefly respond to some of the interacts on my article on ragging. Firstly, let`s not drift into hazing. Hazing and ragging are different because every fresher has to undergo ragging, whereas only those frehers undergo hazing in Western countries who wish to join certain clubs, called fraternities or sororities. Hazing therefore, is partly voluntary, whereas ragging is forced on you.

Secondly, I was struck by the sexist comments of `nikki7777`. The pointless association of ragging with archaic notions of `manhood` has been dealt with in my article. Yes, MEN should be welcomed with flowers. Why not? The subcontinentaal tradition says that a guest, a newcomer, is like god.

Those of you who are speaking in favour of ragging are requested to clarify whether you have yourself been raggers. If yes, then I can understand why you are justifying ragging. Obviously, your conscience doesn`t allow you to admit that you committed a crime, that you had been sadistic in college.

And to those who have praised my article, many thanks.

The website of our campaign is under construction. In the meantime you can join our maailing list by sending a blank mail to anti-ragging-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You will get to read a lot more articles that are pro- or anti-ragging. Be prepared for some heart-wrenching stories.

Shivam
shivamvij@gmail.com