Even being ragged is a pleasure at KGP

Guyz, many IIT passouts have mailed me asking me to clarify that IIT-ians are not doing harsh ragging of freshers. I know that in a previous blog post I have referred to a harmless bit of fun that we sometimes have with the juniors, but let me say this: IIT ethos is very unique and does not tolerate rape or harsh torture of students.

This is a burning issue nowadays and many parents are afraid to let their children go to engineering or medical colleges in India. Very recently, there was a sad incident of ragging in Kolkata, you can read abt it here:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Seniors_beat_up_fresher_in_Kolkata/articleshow/2272984.cms

Sad part is that the father of the boy was also beaten up by the rowdies. But keep in mind also that the boy was dressed too stylishly and was being fresh with the seniors so all the blame cannot be given to the seniors.

As other IIT passouts can easily tell you, there are “n” number of ways that we have fun with the freshers but it is always very intellectual ragging and one needs to utilize all kinds of problem-solving skills. For example, in my first week at IIT KGP, my seniors asked me to perform a topological feat: remove my underwear but without taking off my pants! This was truly a cerebral problem, and I am proud to say that I was able to accomplish it, and of course my seniors were totally zapped.

Similarly, one of the girls in our class was asked to mathematically “prove” that she was a virgin! Although as I recall she was unsuccessful and ultimately had to prove it the hard way.

But point remains that the ragging is in friendly spirit and the mood is always jolly. As another good evidence, one of my classmates was told to replace all the bottles of hydrochloric acid in the chemistry lab with his own urine. Lucky for him, he did not have to exert himself too much, coz most of the bottles were still filled with urine because the identical ragging had been performed in the previous year.

So to shout “ragging is bad” is not right, there is also a positive side to it. If your seniors are genuine people, and want to be your friendz, then it is wise to play the game with them. One day you will thank them for it.