The "introduction " to medical college campus life

During my time as a first year there was no ragging in campus . Not that it was the separation of seniors and first years as was the case years later and the physical ragging of years before our time was the best . We were "introduced " by seniors or rather we were asked to introduce ourselves to the seniors . Of course there were a few conditions . We had to sing a song along with the introduction and that was one of the first places were we could try our singing skills . Of course unlike the stage here it was cumpulsory . How can you refuse when a college bus full of seniors ask you to sing a song . Those who couldnt sing called Yesudas God closed their eyes and sang .

Once i was happy that my friend and me could get a seat in the front of the bus (usually it was packed ) . Here the senior didnt ask us to sing a song . But it was a simple question "Describe first night " .. I still remember i trying my best to prolong the first night so that the bus reached the destination (the medical college trip was around 20 minutes ) without giving out the details . (I also thought why he was asking the details . Didnt he know ? Also how he expected i to know ..As a 17 year old ) .

Along with these stresses :) there was another real problem . From day one the seniors were asking us to remove the moustache . Most of my classmates removed it after a few days but i somehow didnt do it along with my another friend . My seniors were friendly so i was sure they wont harm us but still we were a little scared .. The standoff lasted for more than a week but one day they threatened to bring a shaving blade as i was not complying ( unlikely they would do it retrospectively thinking ) .. The next day i removed my moustache . But only one guy in the bus didnt remove the moustache and he became political leader in our class .. And as runner up i didnt get any consolation prize :(

Since i knew a senior girl who was my neighbour afternoon there was sessions of introduction by her classmates the all girl gang . Compared to guys they were sweeter but still "junior introductions " are never easy . Grilling questions but manageable .

Then there was the medical strike and occasional police arrests for participating in strikes . We were scared for two reasons . If you participate in the strike you may be arrested by police but if you escape the strike you may get caught by seniors . Devil and deep sea . I still remember once sneakily escaping into the college library a safe zone .

I dont know how many of my classmates were underaged married as one session was "marriage ceremony " conducted by seniors as part of introduction . No need of dowry , no parents required and no consent too . They choose random girl and random boy and ask to marry . Unfortunately or fortunately i never got that opportunity ..

When i look back at medical college life I who is against oppression and compulsions enjoyed that period mainly because all my seniors did the introductions in good spirit and all became my friends after that period . And there was never a threat of physical ragging or even emotional abuse . i write this specifically because recently i chanced on a link to my seniors id . Name was ok . But when i double clicked the photo it was a shudder as well as a warm sense of finding a person from the past . Yes he was a senior one of the many who made me "introduce " myself . And the countless other seniors i dedicate this blog to them :)