In Support Of Ragging.

Tired of justifying what only I believe, I was in search of a subject which all of my friends support. The ‘menace’ of Ragging is an ideal one to analyze in that sense- it’s aura itself urges strong negative feelings in society. However, those who have actually faced its ‘wrath’ tend to appreciate its favors later. And yes..I am one of them.

I am aware of various media reports having disturbing incidences where a teenager was forced, assaulted and even worse. But from what I have observed, this is a very small, dark aspect of ragging. I don’t know if it is intentional, but there are some practically relevant, noble intentions involved in it which are summarily overlooked.

I should elaborate my conception of Ragging now- it is a sort of tradition for interaction, where new joinees/ entrants are treated roughly. Primary motive varies between instilling a sense of being juniormost in them; to breaking the ice to maintain the casual atmosphere. At first, former seems to be form of unethical bullying, but its importance cant be neglected practically- there are instances in life where you have to step backward/ bend a little to get what you want…to avoid being an erect tree which is the first to fall in storm.

You cannot ignore its positive side-effects: whole batch gets united against demanding, boasting, villainy seniors. Psychologically, the feeling that you are not alone in the stinky shit generates a lot of companionship. Against contrasting backgrounds the freshers come, they have the common agony in the name of demanding seniors. And those hardships beared collectively strengthen the bond of friendship for years to come.

Moreover, its worth the effort too- seniors are a pool of knowledge- which Prof doesn’t check copies, which likes to fail students; or which courses are scoring, which are boring; or which places are really good to hang out- there area of expertise is unlimited. They can guide you with tricks to score maximum with minimum effort; to shortcuts to admin bureaucracy, to secret places to have fun. In fact, I have always visualized seniors as dogs with tongue out, willing to give everything in return of some respect, be it superficial.

As a senior too, Ragging presents with the experience of leadership. You must have accumulated all sorts of junk knowledge, and it would surely be nice if that can help someone- thus putting you on morally high ground. The experience is something like getting a willing audience, who are ready to believe whatever crap you tell them- like guiding a herd of sheeps. In the disguise of guiding them, it is sorts of responsibility- to enable the freshers mingle in campus environment.

The responsibility aspect is loaded- which is often abused, giving ragging the bad light. The hardships of ragging aim to break the cocoon of fresher, but it may hurt some. Onus falls on seniors to identify moths who are to be handled tenderly. These moths are the ones who can benefit a lot from ragging, but crossing the line may be hazardous to their psyche. The ‘conductor’ of ragging requires lots of intelligence, and the fools relating ragging straightaway to stripping should be strongly condemned.

I strongly oppose any sort of physical tormenting as a form of ragging. In that sense, ragging also teaches fresher to know when to decline senseless orders. To disobey a bullying superior without annoying him is a technique which comes very handy in life. However, this requires an overlooking authority, guarding against any excesses. Here administration’ role comes to play.

It is suggested that each professor be allotted a group of freshers. Also each fresher be allotted a senior as caretaker. This type of vertical arrangement would ensure ‘supportive ragging’ – fresher can always go to corresponding senior/ professor if he is facing any problem. Besides forging junior-senior relationship, this would also bring Teachers closer to students and problems faced by them, from inception itself.

The whole logic is, to counter ragging as an evil should be avoided. A controlled version of this casual interaction will always be beneficial. What is required is a more supervised system which comes to action only while sniffing development of an unwanted incident. To let go Ragging completely from campuses would render it as an organization, where batches communicate only when need arises, thus missing out on some of most cherished joys of hostel life.