The relevance of ragging: Another ode to JUIT

Let me start off by saying that, i comment on the real essence of ragging, not that mental and physical torture that masqueraded as ragging throughout medical and engineering colleges, which i actually abhor and think that society is better without it. Now, onwards, ragging my trusty internet connection says is "the practice in educational institutions in India and Sri Lanka that involves existing students baiting or bullying new students" and yes the issue is calcitrant in the indian education system, we hear of deaths and suicides, true abslutely true, some students who don't deserve to be called humans, do indulge in such practices, but not all and somehow somewhere we are worse off without ragging.

Now that the politicaly correct stance is out of the way, i will just like to put a few pointers as to how and why, I being ragged helped me. I too went to an engineering college (most of those who read this will know) and like every single one of the freshers, i was scared shitless too, we were a herd of gazelle who couldn't run if they saw the cheetah, we just tucked our heads into our chests, put our hands behind our backs and in a ridiculous attire of track pants and full sleeved shirts buttoned all the way up, went to eat our meals, where expertly we were prised away from the pack to face our respective individual/group humiliations, made to do all sorts of mundane/perverted/simply strange stuff, but what this did for me, was made me open up to my friends, and come to rely on them for stuff i would never have asked them for, me and my roomie, particularly went through a rough time, our humiliation in a dark room with 7-8 seniors in retrospect was quite hilarious, we still laugh about it, the thing i'm most thankful for, was our seniors, though they did get kicks out of what they did to us, they never took it further than acceptable to the raggee, no one was ever forced to take off his shirt, but they were very particular about respect, you diss them and hell was waiting, which thank the lord very few of us endured that ordeal.

The lessons i take away from my days being ragged, was the awesome bonding that i and my friends had, we had a common enemy: the ragging senior, and in the face of that adversity our relationships of steel were formed, which i'm proud to say, have withstood the test of time.

The comfort level with the seniors: though they ragged us a lot, we were "kid loved" too, at a dhaba if we were eating with a senior, we never footed the bill, while sharing a taxi away from the college, we never paid, my smoking friends never ran out of ciggarettes to smoke (though, they did run a lot to get those cigarettes), the books that were given free and the advice with those books (another note, even though every senior seemed the least bothered with his own academic fate, he/she always was pretty serious in advising us), and to this day while travelling with one of my favourite seniors, while partying with two of my elder brothers, i still don't have to reach for my wallet, even though i know they are not that better off than me. It is the will and love passed from the first batches of our hallowed institution that exists in them, in us, and now in our juniors.

They stripped us of our apprehensions, our homesickness, our school mentality they gave us fear, sleepless nights, friendship, and sometimes love (usually expressed in drunken stupor).

Sitting on my computer in my first alien job (HCL doesn't count coz wahaan sab JP ke launde they), i recognized the fundamental basis of this tradition/act, it is to welcome and test the new recruit and to make sure he/she is a part of the new team, yet everyone is busy, and no one takes the time to meet the new guy, the onus is on him to form the relationships, thank god college in my time was not so, yet my juniors tell me, that now it is so, and if that is true i shall be really really sorry...