Ragging; is it the only way available for interaction with juniors?

This picture is lifted from google.

“Hey junior, go to the mess and get some food, get some water, take my key and get cigarettes from my room, act it, how do you shit and pie in the train, how do you take shower,….” goes on, the commands and demands from seniors to juniors. Except outside the University campus, within the campus it happens everywhere, in the mess, in the hostel, sometimes even in the crowd. Do they enjoy? Certainly yes, they enjoy it. I see them jeering, laughing and so on. They direct juniors to act all kinds of nasty and hilarious actions for their entertainment, time pass, pleasure, whatever. But deep within I don’t know how many of them realize they are doing  at the cost of juniors’ embarrassment and adversity submitting to them under their compulsion only for one reason because they are “first years”. When a first year boy is encircled with all senior boys, being a junior naturally he gets frightened and automatically becomes submissive to submit whatever he is directed to act. Thereby he is used like an object, don’t you think? His voice is cut off. He can’t utter a word against their direction.  Say, I don’t want to act, he is dead then. All seniors will abuse him and treat him so terribly.

At this time is a season for such menace when many new students join to college as first year students. That is the only greatest fear the new students must be having other than their excitements of being into the college for the first time. On other hand that must be the only entertainment the seniors are looking forward from the juniors other than their eagerness to see different faces of juniors. I don’t know whether raging is still prevailing in the colleges in Bhutan. When I was plus two many narrated how seniors rag juniors in Sherubtse College, Bhutan. I was fretted I would be ragged if I get to go Sherubtse College but fortunately I was escaped. Even if there is ragging in Bhutan I’m very much sure our Bhutanese seniors will not rag so gravely and ruthlessly like Indian seniors do to their juniors. Last year there were many cases reported in ‘The Times of India’ where a student hanged to death herself after she was made to dance without clothes. To that extent I have not seen in my college. But they let them act all kinds of actions. I should say we Bhutanese students here are so fortunate we never get ragged plus when I was in first year I was always protected by Bhutanese seniors. They would not have tolerated if ever they saw us ragging. So do I today if I see them ragging our Bhutanese Juniors. I don’t think we are here leaving our country to get ragged. Some of my friends told me they got ragged in first year and when they reach to second year they get chance to rag others which I hate the both. Neither getting ragged nor ragging others. I’m totally against it.

When my batch was in first year ragging was not an issue at all. The University did not care much, neither gave attention to it. As a result, except us the Bhutanese students, others in my batch must have got ragged a lot. They were in same hostel with seniors. Very often I used to pass by my batch mates in the middle of seniors. Sometimes even in the class in front of the crowd during the break. But today the condition is far better. The University is very strict on ragging. The juniors are kept in separate hostel with a security guard. In the beginning of the academic year everywhere in the campus posters with, ‘no to ragging’, are seen pasted. The Anti Ragging Act is already in place, in pursuance of which University has regulation in place for combating the so called ragging. All seniors student are made to sign the undertaking ‘no to ragging ‘subject to the condition that if they breach the undertaking then liable for both administrative action as well as criminal action. But who cares? Side by side, one way or other juniors are always subject to ragging, but at very minimal level. Despite all these mechanisms in place, ragging here is still not debarred absolutely as I can still see these days some juniors in the middle of seniors, but yes, at least it’s been controlled to greater extent. However, the best part I see in my Indian mates as far as my University is concerned is that after ragging they become friends no matter however they were ragged. I know if ever our Bhutanese are ragged like that in Bhutan,  forget about becoming friends, rather  that would become their lifelong grudge against the senior who ragged them. But here it seems they accept it  as a mode of interaction and a part and parcel of their college life which actually happens very often only for the first few months.

Being simply a senior we do not become different humanity, after all still human being. I don’t see any herald that a senior will be left as a senior and a junior will be left as a junior through out their life. Other than our fate nobody is capable of seeing where we’ll land in future. It‘s not guaranteed a senior will always be a boss no matter where ever they go. When they just reported to the college, struggling to get adapted with the place and rid of their nostalgic heart being away from home for the first time, most of them, what will be their situation if the seniors welcome them with ragging? That’s where I ask don’t we have a better way of interaction with them? Instead of ragging at this time I think they need so many other comforts and helping hands. When we were briefed on ‘no to ragging’ by our Vice Chancellor he said that in Western Countries in some Universities the seniors instead of ragging they help juniors when they join to the college for the first time ever. I think he was right, in the beginning instead of ragging they need a help.  As a senior, yes, they deserve respect but that should not be demanded rather respect should be earned. I see them greeting to seniors, Bhai ya HI, whenever they meet seniors. If there is any reason that the juniors prompted the seniors anger, still I don’t see a reason to let them act all kinds of actions. They need correction but in a better way, a reasonable one, keeping in the mind that after all they are also human being. No human being is born as a means for others' ends rather, as some jurists said; all human beings are born as an end in itself not as a means for something. There is always  a better way of interaction with juniors to make them familiar with the surroundings, but not through ragging. I suppose it should happen so friendly like the tour guides explaining about the campus and surroundings to the tourists.