In India, ragging holds an indispensable synonymity with the whole notion of college life despite its ban. Movies like 3 Idiots, Munna Bhai MBBS have romanticized it and in the Malayalam movie Premam, although the ragging is subtler, the message is not at all ambiguous, where Malar Miss, a main character in the film and a teacher for that matter, justifies the practice and says that it will make a person ‘bolder.’
When these films show the teachers themselves on the other side of the law, it really shows the kind of mentality that is being harbored. Hence, with the number of incidents of ragging increasing, the practice has taken the form of a ritual a freshman ought to go through, and my college was no exception.
“Introduce yourself!”
“Why did you smile?”
These were some of the typical questions thrown at me along with some ruder ones. Perhaps, since I was a day scholar, I was spared from the more humiliating parts which some of my hosteller friends were unfortunately more susceptible to. However, quite surprisingly, many of them didn’t even resist and actually looked forward to it! They believed it would help break the ice between them and the seniors, help overcome their shyness and so on. With such an attitude being commonplace, it makes one wonder about the use of all the anti-ragging rules and committees.
Psychology wise, such a mentality is attributed to the Stockholm syndrome. A prolonged stressful environment makes the victim conform to the perpetrators, as a means of survival and defense. Mean actions are often alternated with kind ones, a treat after a violent dose. A quid pro quo sentiment exists, where mean actions are accompanied by kind ones. The first years that cooperate are rewarded in the form of positions in a sports team, or opportunities in college fests. This way the victim feels that violent actions are justified and thus, won’t resist them.
Such a pattern can also be observed in the case of corruption in the bureaucracy, where officers who agree to do the dirty work are rewarded and even promoted by their corrupt superiors, while those who refuse are pressurized and isolated. These officers who acquire power through such illicit means, lay down the same conditions to the newer ones, just like how in ragging the victims eventually become the perpetrators. The cycle of corruption is in many ways, similar to the cycle of ragging.
When I ask my friends about this, they immediately bring about the distinction between ‘mild’ ragging and the ‘physical’ or the ‘bad’ ragging. But truly, is there anything called ‘mild’ or ‘mellow’ ragging? Is verbal or psychological torture inferior to physical torture?
If that’s the case then racism or even cyber-bullying should be considered ‘mild.’ Also, how can one really quantify such an activity? What one person may consider to be mild is not what another person may consider to be the same What one person considers appropriate or inappropriate, is a matter of their own personal liberty and no one can put a measuring tape on it.
True, after the first year, some of them become great friends with their seniors, but is this the only way to make friends and break the ice? Do we need to dominate or torment a younger person to make friends with them or ‘teach them respect?’
Two years back, a first-year student from my college almost lost his eye due to ragging! Take away the rose-tinted glasses and what you have is nothing but a sadistic practice fueled by a sense of ego and superiority complex, one that will go on and on in a cyclic manner. Discriminating a person by virtue of their age is no different from discriminating on the basis of sex, caste and creed.
In my four years of college life, I have made friends with several of my juniors and certainly never had to forcefully make anyone dance or bully them around for it.
To all freshmen in college, it doesn’t matter what anyone says or how hard it may be, nothing in the world is worth sacrificing your dignity and freedom. If the college won’t help you, there are several other organizations that will.
And to the senior, next time you feel like picking on someone, think of all the innocent students like Pon Navarasu who had to suffer. See them as a younger sibling instead, who has just taken their next step in life. Try to create a welcoming environment for them. A friendship formed this way is worth a hundred times more than the one crafted by perverse practices.
There is nothing cool about ragging, just like there is nothing cool about drugs. It is simply another criminal activity that has been glorified through a naive, corrupt and faulty lens for all the wrong reasons.