– Saralananda Prakash
Hostel: an excitement or a daze?
In the journey of our academic life, we can’t evade the life of a hostel at some point. They say– those who have never been in a hostel in their student lives, their lives remain incomplete. The fun, excitement, and camaraderie that exist in a hostel life in the early part of our youth are just unparalleled. Those who have passed that golden period, always cherish its memories in the tender corner of their hearts for sure. However, hostel life is not only a time or place of merriment but also a learning phase that cannot be gained the other way around.
The exploration of life gets a new dimension amidst this exciting world named hostel. A bunch of vibrant young boys and girls who are ready to embark on the journey of life when start to live together far away from the watchful eyes of their parents, their exploration soars up to a new high, making their lives a kind of carnival. But, this does not mean that their lives become a bed of roses.
No doubt that youth is the most energetic phase of our lives, but, it has its challenges, shortcomings, and complexities. When we put a large group of young people together, those complexities also get magnified manifolds. The insecurities regarding their physical appearances, expectations from parents, educational pressure, a rapidly growing sexuality, a feeling of frustration amidst the social do’s and don’ts– so many issues are there to deal with for a young man or woman. Sometimes these all thrust a young man into an unstable state– a state of Daze. As depicted in TVF’s comedy-drama series “Hostel Daze” aired on Amazon Prime the hostel life is sometimes nothing more than an outcome of this daze. So, hostels inevitably become a collective reflection of the confounding state of our youth as well.
In this confusing state of life, practices like ragging religiously celebrated in the premises of hostels of educational institutions often go wrong, if not always. Maybe ragging originated from the intention of just making fun of junior students, and there was no ill motive behind it other than that, but, it is quite impossible to regulate this practice that way only. The daze of life, particularly of youth affects it so much that it cannot remain an innocent act of merriment.
Ragging the menace
Ragging has been being practised in the colleges, particularly in the hostels of the subcontinent as an “Initiation Ritual” of junior students by the senior students. Over the years, however, the word ragging has acquired more negative connotations than positive ones. So much so that, it has to be now categorized as a crime and states are forced to enact stringent laws against it.
The following definition of ragging provided by the Supreme Court of India is classified as nothing but a dastardly act:
Ragging is any disorderly conduct, whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any student indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which cause or are likely to cause annoyance, hardship, or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the psyche of a fresher or a junior student.
However, despite various precautionary measures, a few months ago, in an unfortunate incident of ragging in a hostel of Dibrugarh University of Assam, a young man named Ananda Sarma almost lost his life. This gruesome act shocked society and left the concerned citizens wondering what is happening behind the doors of a hostel in the name of a so-called initiation ritual like ragging. This is just an example that just came to the fore. There are certainly many more such incidents that are not noticed for various reasons, but, have affected the lives of young people negatively.
Rules of Jungles
So, the question arises – why ragging? Why does someone get pleasure by humiliating others? Before we go into it, let’s first have a glimpse at the characteristics of ragging:
- Submission: Senior students would ask the junior students to be submissive to them. A junior has to surrender before his seniors without asking any questions. Seniors will demand unconditional respect from a fresher and the fresher has to show utmost obedience for his survival in the hostel.
- Humiliation: In the name of fun, the seniors would ask the freshers to do any kind of act that may humiliate them.
- Harassment: Mental, Physical, and even sexual harassment are not uncommon in ragging.
- Exploitation: After subjecting the freshers, some cunning seniors would exploit them financially, physically, or intellectually.
From above, it is clear that ragging is nothing but a power game. Taking advantage of the awkwardness of newly arrived juniors in an unknown environment, the seniors indulge themselves in a dangerous game.
To delve into the overall character of this game, I think it is relevant to quote Osho here:
Man is continuously trying in every possible way to be somebody higher, special, superior– but this is politics.
Intuition; Chapter: Politics
So, is it the game of politics our young boys and girls try to play through ragging? From the nature of ragging as we discussed above, indeed it looks like so. In ragging, a group tries to overpower another group which is generally in a disadvantageous position. At least for a while, the seniors enjoy being the omnipotent ones. They expect– all juniors would dance to their tune. They are the mighty ones in their jungle! And Osho says–in politics might is right. It belongs to the law of the jungle.
But, again there is a question – why someone would play the game of politics? In the same book, Osho says– Politics means an effort to prove yourself super
Inferiority complex and ragging:
Does an inferiority complex play a role in the prevalent practice of ragging? We can’t rule out this from the broader perspective. There are many reasons for a young person to feel inferior. He is full of energy and potential, yet the older generations don’t take them seriously. His whole life is dependent on his parents and guardians and he is not allowed to make decisions on his own. Society reminds him that he is inexperienced, immature, and not ready for life yet.
In this backdrop, when he arrives on the college campus where he alongside his fellow students can create a world of their own, they will certainly try to assert themselves in all possible ways. Now, to shake off the feeling of inferiority that he has been experiencing so far in the world outside, he would go to play a game of gaining power. Now, he will try to reign the world. Yes, in reality, he cannot do that, but, will showcase his newly acquired pseudo-might to somebody else who happens to be his junior in this case.
Image credits:
1.Photo by Marcin Dampc on Pexels.com
2.Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com
3. Cover Photo by Erik Mclean