RAGGING: A MENTAL SICKNESS

In September 02 Anup Kumar, 19, committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Kanpur. In his suicide note, Anup said that he was going through mental agony due to the sexual harassment by second-year students of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow, in the name of ragging

On 7 March 2009, Aman Kachroo, 19, a first year student of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, Kangra, HP, India, had repeatedly complained to his parents about the brutal ragging that took place on the Medical College campus — often by completely drunk third-year students. On Friday night and Saturday morning (March 6-7, 2009), the boy was beaten so badly that he died of brain hemorrhage

Satwinder Kumar, 28, ended his life on 3 March 2010. He was a student of the Advanced Training Institute, Mumbai. In his suicide note he named seven seniors who had ragged him so much that he left for home for Kurukshetra rather than take mid-term exams. Before he could reach home, he committed suicide by throwing himself before a goods train in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district

I can just finish my post with these 3 news also as they explicitly define the whole situation. What kind of legacy is the newcomers of college are receiving and how it continues to run every year? Every year the joy of getting into a good college is replaced soon with the fear of ragging. Parents shudder more than their wards. College authorities also have strain on their mind as they have stress of managing this social sickness.

I always have this peculiar feeling what whoever had started this ragging custom has nothing ill in his mind. I mean we all are very reserved and conserved till our school life. We don’t know how to interact with the outer world and how to describe ourselves in front of others. Many of us are having hidden talents but they are never shown up as they are covered with a thick layer of shyness and hesitation. A forced introduction by any senior may help to bring some unusual and hidden talents of us or at least we will be able to communicate with others and interact comfortably with rest of the strange world then.

But it eventually deformed and turned into a social evil when it involved physical then mental and finally sexual harassments. It has more become like a JEHAD whose meaning no one knows but love to do that. I felt ashamed when my friends currently senior to me love to say “ maar ke rakh di juniors ki class mein ja kar “ , “ abbey bahut maja aa raha hai ragging lene mein “ , “ aaj fir tang kiya in baccho ko “.Ironically this all were having crying faces last year on the name of ragging. I’m lucky as till now I haven’t been ragged. My college is very strict and even the seniors are very good. Our director had given a speech on ragging at the invocation function referring it as a mental sickness of senior to exploit their juniors. Our college was also full of sign boards having message “welcome freshers “or “instructions of no ragging and repercussions of it “. It was really shameful to watch that how this introductory formality have become a hectic evil.

The only measurement can be this that seniors must remember their own faces while taking anyone’s ragging how they were thrilled and horrified last year. How insecure they were feeling while entering into the campus. The parents of seniors must advise their wards to refrain from any of such futile and trash activities. Their one immature step for enjoyment may devastate their whole future. Ragging rules are not stricter and they are being followed also. So we must vanish this social blot as fast as we can. Juniors must be having smiling face with full of enthusiasm and zest while entering college and not worried faces with insecurity in mind and trembling legs and parents must have broad chest rather than a stressed mind and burdened shoulders.