I came across the word ragging while I was going through the morning newspaper and that was how the lid of the memory box opened up and out flew through them my college life linked to that very word which is associated with fun, fear, amusement, pity, laughter, leg-pulling, friendship, amity, etc. Before that, it was in my seventh standard that I was first introduced to this word. It was unclear to me then, but now when I have already had many opportunities to taste its flavour; my doubts have evaporated like mist into thin air.
Six years back, I was a slim petite girl, quite shy and simple. It was my second day at the College of Basic Science and Humanities. After keeping my bicycle at the stand I chanced to meet another fresher, Lopamudra, we used to call her Lopa; her surname was Sahu (or Sahoo, I don’t remember.), which she never used. This improved my spirit as facing the unknown lurking danger, if any, would be quite easier now, after all unity is strength. We finished our formal introduction like which school we had studied, what subjects we had opted for and other small details within that trivial time period. She turned out be of my section and she had the same subjects that I had opted for. This quickened our friendship.
Together we went to common room which was meant for us- girls. It was a small room with one or two benches and the wall and doors were scribbled with phrases and names. I remembered one which went something like this- “You may love a heart that hates you, but never hate a heart that loves you” and there was another one written on the door of the bathroom – “If you dare, open.” Huuhh! Besides, there were some talking, laughing, gossiping, shouting seniors and a few whispering, silent, nervous juniors. My eyes were secretly searching for a seat. “There! I found it.” And before anybody would occupy it I sat myself down, making sure I was at a safe distance from the seniors (Was I? I was soon to find out.) and called for Lopa to sit beside me. Just I was getting comfortable, one of the seniors asked me, or rather I should say ordered me to stand up. I obeyed quietly and followed her instruction. She then asked me to put my bag down and stand straight. Though I was willing to stand up, I didn’t want to part from my new cool bag and put it down on that unclean floor. So I just stood still. She didn’t like that at all and shouted at my face, “Are you deaf? Can you not just follow what I said? Put that bag down, NOW. ”
Taken aback for such rude behaviour and with little idea about ragging, I shouted back alike, “WHY?” She was stunned. The room went silence.
“Did you hear that? This girl doesn’t know how to respect her seniors. She needs to be taught a lesson.” Sensing some trouble one of her friend whom I knew came forward to my rescue and explained me in a simple manner. Since it was time for their classes they had to hurry back to their classes, leaving us free again. But my friend Lopa told me that I should not have overreacted for such a tiny reason. I also felt the same. So the next day I just went up to her and told her sorry and that brought an end to the hatred, she had developed for me. With passing days we became good friends.
Late on, I came across many such instances where we were the centre of leg-pulling. I remember how we were made to sing rhyme and how I had chanted out “Twinkle twinkle little star” and my friend sang “Jack and Jill”, trying our best to avoid mistakes and how we were made to wish our seniors “Good morning sir” or “Good morning ma’am”, and then how one of the boy in our class was made to stand with his face to the wall and pose like Peter. He was, thus, christened with the name “Spider Man”. And how a boy who was in love with a girl was asked to tie rakhi in her hand and how some of the ragging grew sour and ended up with all the actions that I had watched in movies getting real.
But now I look back at those moments with nostalgia and strongly feel that healthy ragging should be encouraged as it brings folks together and unleash the senior-junior strip and bind them into great friends.
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