The Wise one says…

I wanted to do this post for quite sometime, never actually had wish or will to replicate the cringe that followed those first few days..the exact trauma in my head like a really bad spoof of some really bad movie. No I was not ragged.. it was just the way I was (am).. socially awkward, embarassing.

I had my coolest outfit on (I wish it was spiderman..) but it was a white cargo and a blue shirt, a fake bag and sneakers on. It was all a new buy..there had to be. I was a fresher. No, I was not a bit nervous. I was sure that ragging only happened at cool colleges, not at the places where people who possibly had multiple failedattempts at IIT JEE ..sort of camp for four years, hiding for a time long enough for their neighbors ,relatives, every one they knew to forget that they once took the JEE !

So here was I, all dressed up, reached the classroom, sat by this boy called Ankit Kukreja…who now is I guess the Mech topper. Hunting down for a bench mate was kind of necessary. Just so as you know who are you having your lunch with…and just that you dont get ragged or something. Now this was a huge assumption both of us made… that we will not be ragged if we stayed together. We are like surprise goodies seniors were hunting for. Dull Dim freshers who would cry at the next slap.

I went inside the canteen to get a sandwich (who brings food the first day..now that is very very lame) and got caught by the seniors…
Now these bunch of obnoxious seniors wanted me to tell them about Priyanka Chopra in Hindi. And as I did…they didnt want her resume!! I wanted to grab that sick man by his Dhoni hair and smash his head. I dont know what sort of pleasure would he derive from this. A girl joins us, and wants me to bow. I did. Then she became all bossy and began to shout. Now I usually respect women ( ) but I shouted back at her, only to invite her boyfriend to grab me by coller (that guy was I think the founder of the dance soceity here).
“Go complain to whomever..”
and then he over pronounced his name syllable by syllable.
I didnt realise what just had happened until I reached home… I escaped a beating (there were more to come in the coming years)

I got to know this guy called Rohit Singh…who was right in front of me. His hand would rise up every once in while to answer the seemingly perplexing mineral chemistry questions.
“Hey..hostler??” he asked
“No..to my relief!” I said
“Ya you bet, with all the ragging going”
“Is it really?? I did just fine till the lunch break” I could say proudly
“Oh..you are not a hostler. I have heard they enjoy a matinee show if you know what I mean”
And I didnt know what he meant. And I didnt dare ask either.

Seniors were frequent to visit the class that day, would make you swim…or play badminton. I didnt invite a lot of ragging..until I was asked to open my mouth. When I open it…people hate themselves for lettimg me ever do that. Then they get angry and want to chase me, or beat me or just slap..but this is a fact took me 3 years to understand.

Our English teacher wanted us to learn some hindi words, beacuse seniors would ask it while ragging. Wow..it indeed was a socially accepted, recognized phenomena. During our math lecture, this really excited guest faculty wanted us all to apply some theorem which I didnt even knew (still dont) the name of..forget the application. I was in the civil department it does had its share of lunatics. me..to begin with. There was this really stupid guy who was unanimously voted the CR just to get a few kicks out of his pompous ego for making it into DCE. There was a bunch of girls , one of them never returned to the college after the first day.

I still remember walking back to the gate in a bunch, crowding the RTVs and never looking back into the eyes. But I still ended up meeting Ajay(Goel) on my very first day. He had been to our class twice for some civil engineers soceity..twice and met me in the metro.
“So you guys in civil??”
“Yes sir”
“I am you senior”
“So, you always wanted to take civil” asked someone from the curious crowd..wanting to know what was going to be done with/to them
“Actually, its kind of a legacy for me”
“SO..you are really civilized” I did say that…and laughed at my own little joke
“Dont you dare cross your limits..”
ooops..I had presses the trigger

He wanted one of the guys to be tarzan in the metro, a girl to be jane and rest of us had to clap. So I had to get off before I could watch any of it..

On my several meetings with Ajay at different occasions, having told him that he ragged me on my first day..he had no recollections about the tiny incident (nor about the lil joke I cracked).

All in all it was a scary experience. Yes..accept it or not, ragging makes it scary. Whether it occurs or not.
First day, I thought it was done over with. Less did I knew More was to follow..

One of my friends got picked up on a bike, had to strip (the least he can tell).
The same day this seniors approached us ( a group of 7) and said
“Meet me at the gate. And you..” pointing at me “Come with me”
I protested
“If you all wanna reach home safe…make him sit on the bike”
Now if you are sane, you would never dare to make a statement like that
I protested, walked with the bunch, jumped into an RTV and waved at the unruly biker.
of course, lived under fear of being recognized for a couple of months.
I was so irritate, I once wanted to do a sting operation with my really cool flip camera phone.. (but didnt)
Talking on the phone was something that could get you out of tough spots…and I did use it a lot of times.

It was scary..but some tell me I was the one who always had something to say..and make it worse for rest of them. The last incident made it kinda too bitter and less sweet in some sense. I even called up a faculty person I knew before hand to tell him about the bike incident…but he wanted me to “go with the flow”.

Glad am I to be on the sopho-”moronic” side. I enjoy not being chased or hunted… its better that way.