Ragging took its beginning in about 300 B.C in Greece when the senior athletes started to tease the newly admitted ones. It remained as an art form and is even continued now providing ample opportunities to freshers for their overall development. But it is to fast becoming extinct now by the action of the Supreme Court and successive governments by banning it and the crackdown by the police. Even the juniors are not showing interest these days. The days when we got ragged by our seniors were the most thrilling and entertaining ones, though fear was also there in between.
Our hostel warden gave us a brief introduction that ragging is strictly banned and for any complaints we had to consult the hostel secretary. Secretary who nodded his head for every word after some time came to every room and threatened each of us that no complaints should be heard. And that was how we got to know our hostel and situations better.
And these were the days when we learnt the meaning of the word ragging (since we had to by-heart the dictionary meaning as it was written all over the hostel as a warning to seniors). Day after day every evening when we returned to the hostel there were the series of entertainment. Our first job was to throw our under-wears on to the electric tube and blow it from the floor to make it fall down. Meanwhile the next person would have already took hold of us and make us shave whatever we have left over our face. In the midst there would be blue-film shootings and speeches, action songs, mimicry etc.
It was during these days that we learnt the MH anthem and prayer songs. The prayer song was later sung as a carol during Christmas time by all of us, visiting all the senior’s rooms. An action song with the Santa Claus wearing the lab coat and all of us our under-wear over our head (so that we don’t get by the rain which is actually imaginary)
And on yet another day we were all herded to the college union meeting which was actually that of Students Federation of India, the communist students’ party. And we were late to the hostel and missed the juniors only bus to hostel. When we reached there was everyone waiting for us. We were prone to ragging if we just stepped out of the steps of hostel (doesn’t mean it was that safe inside). And I became a victim for them. I had to collect coconut from all the trees which were actually the windows around the hostel. And the usual imaginary cricket where I was the bowler, batsman and even the fielder and umpire as well as the commentator.
And later I found a way to get rid of some of these acts. In the evening one could go to some spiritual or religious meetings where there was no ragging at all. And exhibiting the gag reflex which we had just learnt in the mess hall when one was overloaded with food. But what we could not get over with was the money escaping our pockets for the food items, cigarettes and all sort of things (and for one among us even sanitary napkins)
