Spring Semester 02: Just a Tradition
English

In January, the hostel reshuffle put
first-years and seniors in the same wing
of C-Block.
C-Block has had the same
anti-ragging notice for years.
Nobody reads it any more.
Aman! Intro time.
Two-fourteen, two minutes.
Now, bhaiya? I have a lab at eight.
Then be quick.
What? Everyone went through it.
Go to sleep, yaar.
Everyone in the wing
knew about the intros.
Nobody said a word.
Mind if I sit? I'm Tanvi.
Breakfast duty this week.
Okay, Tanvi di.
The poha is safe today.
I tested it personally.
Not hungry.
Did you sleep last night?
A little.
How's the new wing?
They call us at night.
For intros. Everyone says it's normal.
I put a slip in the Dean's box.
Without my name.
We read it on Monday.
It's why I'm sitting here.
Aman, what they're doing is ragging.
Even if nobody touches you.
The rules count bullying
and exclusion too.
If I complain, they'll know it was me.
I have to live there.
You can report it confidentially.
And the Supreme Court's guidelines say
zero tolerance for anyone who takes
revenge. I've read them twice.
Will you come with me?
To Arjun sir. He's our junior warden.
A bit nervous, but good.
Finish your tea first.
Thank you for telling me, Aman.
That took nerve.
What do you want to happen?
I want it to stop. I don't
want anyone thrown out.
I just want to sleep.
If I march into that wing tonight and
shout, everyone will know who spoke.
And I don't live there. You do.
So don't march, sir.
The anti-ragging committee can meet today.
I'll ask Prakash sir to call it.
Ragging. In my C-Block.
Suspend the lot. Every
senior in that wing, today.
I'll sign the order myself.
Sir, all of them? Some
of them were asleep.
Beta. Thirty-five years ago, my seniors
made me sing outside their door at two in
the morning. Every night, for a month.
I told nobody. Not even my father.
Did it stop, sir?
When they graduated.
Sir, he wants it to stop.
And to sleep in that wing
tomorrow without being afraid.
Committee at four. I'll chair it.
The anti-ragging committee
met the same afternoon.
Sir, it's a tradition.
It happened to us too.
So did measles.
You move out of C-Block today,
for the rest of the semester.
It goes on your record.
Tomorrow, you sit with Joseph.
And if anyone in that wing so much as
looks at a first-year wrongly, he answers
to me.
Since 2016, the UGC's definition
of ragging has included bullying
and exclusion.
It covers any student, fresher or
not, targeted for their caste, region,
language, appearance, gender, sexual
orientation or economic background.
Nobody laid a hand on Aman.
It still counts.
And most ragging is never reported.
A report by the Society Against Violence
in Education counted complaints to the
national helpline from 2022 to 2024.
Medical colleges have about one
point one percent of students.
They produced thirty-eight point
six percent of the complaints.
And the authors say only a small
number of victims come forward at all.
So the definition has to be read out
loud, where students can hear it.
Act the same day, as the committee did.
And protect whoever speaks up.
The Supreme Court's 2025 guidelines
call for zero tolerance of retaliation
against anyone who complains.
Tell me about your first
week in this hostel.
They called us at night too.
And?
I used to lie awake,
waiting for the knock.
Did anyone stop it?
Nobody said a word.
So you knew exactly what
Aman's nights were like.
We thought it was funny.
It was funny inside the room.
You'll each write Aman a
letter, in your own words.
He decides whether he reads it.
Can I sit?
Hmm.
I saw you go in that night.
I was at the basin.
I should have said something.
I was scared they'd call me next.
You're a first-year too.
Still. I'm sorry.
Is anything left in that famous trunk?
Two laddoos. I was saving
them for an emergency.
This is an emergency.
Two minutes, everyone.
I'm reading this out loud once, so
nobody can say they didn't know.
Ragging is 'any act of physical or mental
abuse, including bullying and exclusion,
targeted at another student,
fresher or otherwise.'
If it happens to you, come
to me or to the committee.
Your name stays private.
Sir, and if we see it
happen to someone else?
Then you call me. The same night.
Try this week: read your campus's
definition of ragging aloud to your class
or your hostel, and tell
them how to report it.
And here is a phrase to keep.
If it needs silence, it isn't tradition.
Support details and sources
are below this video.
See you in week three.