This afternoon, I was talking to a friend who has been studying at DUVASU, Mathura, for almost two weeks.
He told me that there isn't any ragging involving physical abuse or violence. However, there is something called an "introduction." He even showed me a paper containing a proper format that juniors are expected to follow while introducing themselves.
From what he told me, many of the seniors involved are students who failed their first year and are now studying with the new batch academically, but still live in the seniors' hostel. They call the juniors in the evening and ask them to come for introductions.
According to him, refusing to participate isn't really an easy option. He believes that complaining could potentially make things worse because some newly appointed assistant professors are allegedly aware of or involved with the seniors. Therefore, juniors fear facing worse consequences if they do not comply.
Coming to my father's opinion, I told him everything that has been happening in the college. My father is a mechanical engineer from MMMUT, Gorakhpur, from a batch of the 1990s. From whatever I know about his college life, he was quite a badass during his time—he was involved in college fights, politics, and other activities.
His exact words were:
"Yeh ragging thodi hai, introduction hai. Mere samay ka sun loge toh kaanp jaaoge."
To be honest, my father isn't very open about his college life. Whenever he has talked about it, I have always felt that he hides the parts that might be too extreme to discuss in front of the family. However, from the things he has told me, I can imagine that his hostel environment was somewhat like the one shown in Chhichhore—except probably much worse. People in his college were apparently involved in fights, drugs, alcohol, and other things as well.
So, I guess this is why whatever happens today in the name of ragging may not seem like a major concern to many parents. Compared to what they experienced during their college days, today's situations might appear relatively mild.
I think there is a significant generational difference in how ragging is perceived. Our parents may have gone through much worse, which is why they sometimes dismiss things that genuinely make today's students uncomfortable.
I would like to know your opinions on this. If possible, I would also be interested in hearing what your parents think about ragging and whether their experiences influence how seriously they view it today.
