I Think Therefore I Am

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

RECs -True to name??

I still remember the two years of hard work I put in to get through the competitive engineering entrance examinations...days and nights of months of labour(not labour of the kind some perturbed might be thnking of) finally resulted in myself getting an admission into one of the famed RECs(or now as u call them NITs)..though I think I was destined for larger things in life..I still remember the day I reached my college..as i set foot into the ramparts of the hallowed corridors of RECK..I had been prewarned from all and sundry about the extent of Ragging (or "Official Introduction" in simpler,plainer terms)...This college was notorious for going out of its way in its "hospitality"....

The first few days were blissful..escorted by security guards, we "freshers" went to attend classes and then returned in the company of teachers..away from home with a new sense of freedom, I supposed this was to be my Shangri-La...But gradually, the ugly head of ragging raised its head,just like the Phoenix from the ashes...The bakras could be "ragged" by the seniors from only his state..and I came from one of those states which was famous for having atleast a couple of students having fractured legs,backbones and what not..A dozen of us were told to sleep in one 10* 12 room,eat together and remain as a group..(Thanks god, we were told not to shit or bath together..I cannot imagine what wud have been the plight of the one who would have been with me)..all in the name of promoting unity and making us battle hardened to face the vagaries,troubles and penury that our future life would present us..

The ragging period was one chapter I'd like to forget..not because of what we were made to do but because during those 5 months, we people were made to forget that we could to be friends with other non-state friends.Is this what was envisioned by Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru when he dreamt of creating "Institutions of Excellence"??where students would have to fight with their best friends just because onbe of his juniors had said something to the other friend's juniors over petty,inconsequential issues( including girls...though some may think that fighting over girls is not trivial)???

Friends, don't assume me to be against ragging..its just this sort of "regionalism" or "groupism" that hurts me..I've had more and closer friendships with people who don't understand our language,our culture completely...As I have grown older (naturally a little bit wiser..though I believe Genius is never recognised in its lifetime),these questions have been troubling me now..Are the Regional Engineering Colleges really promoting what they were supposed to do..or have they become centers for promoting regional enmity???

These are just my personal views..No malice, offence, copyright violation, infringement, misrepresentation is intended.
Thanks all for bearing with me..Brickbats and/or comments welcome...