Healthy Ragging

A few days back, I got a call from a would-be law student’s dad. When he was done with queries regarding the college, the things his son would need, placements etc. he handed the phone over to his son who I could make out, reluctantly, only reluctantly, took it.

The conversation

‘Hi’, he said. A reluctant Hi, mind you. ‘How are you’, he said. A reluctant greeting again. The chap was nervous. I was amused. But then a very sure question from his mouth, surprisingly:

"How is ragging"?

"You don’t need to worry about it at all", I answered smiling.

"5 Point Someone"?, he asked.

"Sorry"?, (I didn’t get him).

"Ermm...Have you read Chetan Bhagat"?, he clarified.

"A bit".

"Do the things mentioned there happen during ragging"? he asked. The kid was keeping me in good mood. I was amused first, I had smiled before and now I laughed.

Five point someone

The thing is this: if you are going to make ‘The Five Point Someone’ a Bible for deciding what constitutes ragging, you better be an atheist. Read five point someone for a perspective on ragging and you are a ten point loser. I don’t care if you adore Bhagat or think he is trash. I am not concerned. I am concerned about ragging. Why so serious, son?

Now, I am going into a little pedantic mood. Excuse me for that.

What is not ragging?

If a senior asks you to sing a song, dance, do a pole dance etc. and you consider this to be ragging; you’ll be ragged.

Now, this is not ragging. This is interaction. Positive or not; I don’t know. Some would say it demeans the junior. Not really. If it does, then you and I are being demeaned day in and day out by various stakeholders. Being demeaned then should be a habit by now.

So here is the verdict: interaction (read singing, cat-walking, pole-dancing) happens and a ‘reasonable’ person ought to take this in his stride. How and why? Read on.

Psychology

Understand the psyche of such seniors. I did psychology till grade twelve. Even if you haven’t should have heard of ‘peer pressure’. These seniors want to be cool and a part of the ‘in-group’.

Secondly they are playing ‘tit-for-tat’. They were made to do to such things and thus they make you do it. They are playing with you. Just like your boss will play with you. Just like he’ll make you do menial tasks because he was made to do menial tasks when he was not the boss. But that is it. Most of them don’t want to harm you.

Strategy

Now, be reasonable. If you are asked to sing; sing. If you are asked to dance; dance. They aren’t judging you for a competition. So don’t be conscious or shy. If you feel uncomfortable, do it still. Life makes you to do a lot many uncomfortable things, anyway. These are little, innocuous things. Just do it. Get over with it.

Another thing: feign sycophancy. Pretend that you can boot lick till the boot is shiny (just kidding). But still, be humble. I mean pretend that you are a humble guy. Do this with your seniors as you will have to do this with your boss. Don’t be cocky. Cut the red, upright cock’s plume for a while. Cut down the volume of the cock-a-doodle-doos. You will be fine.

Taking a stand

Do I support this sort of interaction? No. I am all for having fun for a while, getting to know each other and then helping the junior out. But yes, some people will demean you, through words. Let them go on and on. You don’t listen.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones

But words can never hurt me".

Sticks and stones? No.

And yes, no one can dare use sticks. I know gory stories that happen. These are sad, and very unfortunate. Its great that a great many voices were raised and action taken. But please don’t take these incidents to be the norm. Nobody will get physical. They won’t even touch you. You can take me on my word.

What if they do or try to do so? Most probably they’ll be stopped at the ‘trying’ stage. And even this is a one in hundred cases or less. If they do hit, don’t hit back. You’ll be sacked as will be your senior. It is a lose-lose situation. Instead complain to a senior or the warden. And complain it as loud as possible. Like a wounded cock. Fear no one.

The senior who did hit you (took you by the collar?) or tried to do so will be punished real bad. Some 20 thousand rupees fine will be slashed, letters sent to his mom and dad or even an expulsion. He might even be put in a correctional home. I mean ‘Jail’. And people hate jails. All thanks to the rules on ragging have really hardened in the last couple of years.

Its fun. Really.

Someone may ask you to ‘moot’ on some problem. That happened to us. It is a law school, after all. I also did recite some Hindi poem when I told them that by hobbies included poetry. And yes, we were made to do some Indian army style marching, some Western pole dancing. All this was fun.

Some of those ‘raggers’ are now very good friends. And regarding sticks and stones and ragging, I’ll leave it to Chetan Bhagat. That happens in his books. Not here. You know, he needs some masala for his books. Just kidding.

Yours reassuringly,

LegalPoet

PS 1- The recent definition of ragging is very wide and includes causing mental and psychological harm etc. Someone in IITD tells me how their seniors ran away from the first years fearing that they might accidentally rag their juniors. Ha! Food for thought for Bhagat.

PS 2- I think that is about it for this series? Or do you have any topic in mind? Please do suggest.

ANGEL

Sitting by the Sea Side
Serene Silence surrounds me
Tip off the cliff staring right at me
The undying waves challenging me

I came across a Little Girl
With a balloon in Her Hand
Dressed in Impeccable White
Her Smile as Lovely as "Life" Itself

Angelic her Face Was
She saw me,Came towards me
She Held my hands
And Said "LET GO"

Shocked I was
But somehow it felt good deep inside
The touch of Her Palm
Cleansed my Soul

Her Eyes said it All
She Knew me
But a Fact Bewildered me
What is she"Talking About"

"You Know Me" I asked
Her reply sent a chill down my spine
Her voice eased my pain
The Anguish within me seemed to vanish

"Nothing in Life is bigger Than Life Itself" she said
"Love it and It will Love you back" I promise
so small she was
But her words were mesmerizing

I nodded my head in acceptance
She displayed her lovely smile again
She took away all my sufferings
With Her;While i was Sitting by the Seaside

Addiction

The whiskey in me
Made me dance in my dreams
My thoughts running amok
Adream I wish would come true

I thought of things
I know I sholdn't Have
But my mind was not under control
Now the grass comes into Play

The deadly cocktail,
Took its toll;Realizing
I donot belong here
Calling the devil of outer World

The Angels seemed more Devilish
THan The DEvil Itself
The Devil Smirks
A sinister born

The Bell kept tollin
The Hammer in full swing
The evil singing

I tried to block that thoughts
Rising for some Air
The Skyline seems to calling
Earth had become magnetic in nature

The lifelessness became Lively
With cocaine by my side
Calling me with Open Arms
I relented,But no use

The addiction in me
Betrays me,Each time
I was Trippin',But
I kept it Away,Maybe for some other time

The deadly cocktail
HAd taken its Toll
It took me to the outer World
Among the devils

A New World

I wandered into a different world
With so many shining suns
But only one Moon,Riding High on Spirits
With no Despair

I tried to delete the past
With the sea high on tides
The Evil by my Side
A World unimaginable

Tried to get away
But it haunted me
In my sleep and Sunshine
It got difficult

Under the starlit sky
With each of them mocking me
Trying to pull
I ran far away for some Light

Light seems to Fade
Love seems to Crop
Life seems to come to an end
Trying to delete the past
And redress the present

The Traitor within me

Lying on my Bed
I tried Hard not to think
But my Mind Betrayed Me
And I realized my sleep has become a traitor

Yes, the Traitor is within me
Which has become Difficult to fight with
I know It has to stop
Trying to make myself stronger

If it would have been for the outside world
I would have murdered it long back
But it grows stronger each day
Never giving up, It murders me from deep Inside

Life seems to have come to a Halt
I wish I could Kill it
But instead I gave up
And tried to live with it
Hoping it will Die its Own Death

Mystery

Standing by the endless river
Beyond The Horizon.I stare
Under the shining Moon
The Mystery yet to unfold

The Tide within me grew
I thought I was alone
There was a conspiracy against me
The Mystery was unfolding


I was in a Misery
I decided to get out of it
Someone was watching over me
And suddenly I wanted to unleash my soul
I tried hard to unlock the Mystery

But the World was again conspiring against me
I unlocked the doors
TO discover the real me
I found the keys of the door
Which would unlock the Mystery

LyF:2

LyF was better
When you were not there
It could have better
If you were there

I made a mistake in LyF
I fell in Love
I know I shouldn't have
But I wish It would have been in my hands

I tried to move on
But in vain
Your Love seems to pull me back
In your Arms,which I wish
Were open for me

But I have learned to Live
With you in my dreams
Without you,in person
But LyF never stops
For anyone,Not even you
It just encountered a Hurdle

I tried to overcome the hurdle
But fell,face first
It hurt
But your absence hurts more

LyF was better
When you were not there
IT could have been Better
If you were there