Only young die young and the evil seems to live forever!

While the title seems to be inspired from Iron maiden's song "Only the good die young", the thought behind this post isn't. The recent 'breaking news' that garnishes our spicy media are "21 year old raped by her dad" and "19 year old Aman Khachroo dies after allegedly being lynched, err, Ragged they said. 

When did healthy ragging, used as fun way of understanding juniors, take such a sinister and ugly turn? Well, if you do some research over Google and read the stories here...it seems it’s prevalent since ever.  From juniors being asked to piss on live wire (naked wire with electricity passing through it) -  to outright humiliation in terms of beating the crap out of juniors and asking them to do the daily chores, including washing undergarments. The stories date back to as early as first university of the world at Bodh Gaya, known as Magadha University. 

Kaamasutra, some say, is a horrific tale of juniors being subjugated to sexual harassment by seniors. The expressionless faces of statues at Khajuraho temples are evidence to same; Vatsyayana (writer of Kama sutra) was a rebel student, history reminisces.

The issue (Ragging) has never been given enough coverage nor has it been taken seriously by College authorities, often owned by big politicians or by trusts, which are run by big politicians. It affects the college’s reputation they say. The condition in Govt. Colleges is plainly appalling, as no one gives a damn anyways.

I remember a local friend who was ragged in our engineering college. The dude came back next day with two truck loads of punks who beat the crap out of the entire classes of 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th year-ites. We greased our palms as well in this ordeal. It was chaos in college and hostels. He was not rusticated as he belonged to an influential family and we loved every part of it. Our batch was considered like Mars, God of War. I think those who rag, including professors who are unnaturally difficult on students should be subjected to such fate.

 

No wonder my room mate from mechanical engineering devised a crude rocket launcher in the first three months of his stay in hostel itself. He used a cement sewer pipe as a launcher; the rocket comprised a packed tin with all the explosive ingredients extracted from Diwali fire-crackers. His idea to avert a ragging attack was to blow the seniors to smithereens and rightly so.

 So what are the ways that students can actually evade ragging?

 

1.    As juniors and especially in hostel, always move around in a mob cutting across faculty.

2.    Know you wardens and Rectors, be nice to them and always keep them informed about happenings in the hostel. People might think you are a snitch, but ^&%K that I say, being alive is more important.

3.    Keep a hockey stick and baseball bat (no illegal to keep) always handy around.

4.    If seniors are known to be wielding Desi Kattas (country revolvers); arrange for a 303 bore rifle from neighborhood and carry that, always…what, you think I am kidding? If you are going in a college where seniors carry guns, they are probably goons and from the face of it, it speaks oodles about the state in which you are, and procuring a gun is definitely a child’s play, err, teens play.

5.    Like my friend did, work on a rocket launcher, you don’t have to actually make it. Just let the seniors know you are. It can have backfiring effect though (Not the launcher, the situation). So be cautious.

6.    Always carry a basic model of mobile phone; the seniors might take away jazzy phones to use for a month or two. Keep emergency numbers stored at top in contact list, in any difficult situation, just dial it and let the people at the other end know.

7.    Wear very simple clothes, the more you look funky, the more you are prone to the onslaught.

 

Well, these are only some of the few points I came up with, or rather, lived by during my days in hostel for the first couple of months. But then, that was the time India also went to war in Kargil and that’s when it hit us (first year hostel gang) that the best form of defense is actually offence and that’s how we began on our rampage mission in mobs, we actually ragged the seniors who tried to come to rag us. It was not mere tit for tat, we bitch-slapped them to their requiem. Next time a senior walks by you give them a cold look and say, “If you even dream of ragging us, you better wake up and apologize”, okay that was Mohammed Ali’s quote, but still works just fine.

********All the students who have succumbed to evils of Ragging, I pay them homage. May they all rest in peace.******************