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Ragging Rears Its “Ugly” Head Again!

Nars — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:13:45 +0000

My first brush with ragging happened when I was doing my engineering. I still recall the day I walked past the parking lot to be caught by a bunch of seniors who wanted to have some fun at my expense. To give them credit, they made me do some silly things like walk up and talk to a girl, throw a stone as far as I could and measure the distance with a match stick, sing a few songs and whatever.

While I was embarrassed doing some of what they wanted me to do, the 20 minutes odd that I spent with this group of boys was so much fun for me. The ensuing 3 years with them was so much fun. They turned out being my best friends and seniors whom I could always look up to in college. To be brutally honest, I benefited immensely from this relationship!

I had the advantage of being a day scholar and hence get away with what my friends called “minimal” ragging. My friends who stayed in hostel had a fair share more and to be honest, they loved it. I still remember this boy from Bihar who landed up being the most ragged boy in hostel. He wasn’t complaining one bit though. Needless to mention, he grew up in college to be one of the most popular and lovable boys around. Everyone seemed to know him and his deep pockets in terms of the connections that he established helped him immensely – helped us and all the groups he was associated with in hindsight.

Realizing the benefits, we made sure to extend the olive branch at the end of every ragging session that happened as more and more students came in through the doors, year after year. That said, farewell parties was a teary affair and the treats demanded from the seniors who got jobs would certainly mean hiring a restaurant! This was a legacy of sorts were I studied and was mutually appreciated.

There were a few snobs there too. They’d run at the sight of seniors and were clearly loners. Our friends would loathe this group and they I am sure don’t have too many nice experiences or friends at the end of the 4 years they spent doing their engineering.

The recent news article on the death of a first year medical student is now doing rounds. This is not the country’s first incident either. It is very sad indeed to see a bunch of jerks go to the extremes of beating up someone to death! I fail to understand what could have driven them up to such extremes.

Being seniors in the system, they are sure “victims” of ragging themselves. If they were victims themselves, they won’t be alive today right? Initial reports in this case and the other cases in the past have invariably unearthed a link to two extremely potent elements – Drugs and Alcohol.

Historically, it’s been proved that the guys who are actually involved in such gruesome acts cross the line under the influence of both these elements – together, this sure is a killer and the effects seen, sadly on others.

The ensuing few days will have increased scrutiny, renewed rigor around the controls to ensure that ragging does not happen and whatnot. The bottom line is the plot has been lost. Knee jerk reactions like this will only ensure that people apply band aid to the situation. Over time, many students will only miss out on a opportunity to know their seniors and know them well.

It is isolated acts like these that can potentially harm a lifetime of friendship and relationships. I wish the root causes are eliminated rather than the larger issue of “ragging”. People must certainly no their limits and I am sure most people do. As someone who has eaten the fruits of the so called pains, I’d hate to see future generations pay a large price for silly acts of a few.

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The Many Faces Of Change

Mukund — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:04:09 +0000

Change is a much commonly spoken about term, especially when there are problems on hand. Change is now looked at as the new management mantra on the block, even seen as solving the world’s pain. The online and print media seem to love gloomy stories so much, because the ‘depicted’ far-reaching effects of it catches the eye much more than reality does. But, when looked at closely, Change is not only about gloom and doom; it really isn’t all that bad!

I had a pleasant surprise happen to me this past week: It was one of those rare times when the in-flight reading material provided by the airline ended up relevant and up to date! I had recently heard someone talk about the advancements in the field of medical surgery, and this article delved into the modus operandi (I make it sound like daytime robbery, but I didn’t bring any names or occupations!) of alternative ways for treating complicated illnesses, which required a major surgery of some form.

The beauty of the innovation spoken about here was that it did not involve any incisions using advanced technology of sorts, but rather making use of the advancements in genetic engineering. These gene-focused innovations would then be utilized to alter the genes in the human body via oral medications. Imagine someone undergoing a major bypass surgery, without the “surgery” being a part of it! This isn’t a science fiction anymore, so wake up – the scientific community already has a basic understanding of the various pieces to the genetic foundation that make up the human body. The remaining aspect of this true innovation is finding the right strains to alter the inherent genes to an “ideal” form.

Lest this turns into an article about the complicated machinery the human body is, let me back off to say that this is just an example to illustrate the positive transformation, the society at large is undergoing. With this advancement, the medical professionals and the associated experts worldwide predict life expectancy to rapidly improve to the 130’s (age) instead of the current 70’s / 80’s / 90’s (depending on which part of the world one is in).

In the Western culture of today, where it is about being independent and taking care of oneself in retirement, we have folks that work their entire prime years with the sole aim of building up their wealth portfolio so that “they can retire in peace”. For some, this might mean buying a beach condo in ever-sunny Florida, a lodge in the vast lands of the Aussie wilderness, or a Mediterranean-style villa in the beautiful south coast of France (especially the Nice region of the French Riviera – yeah, how I would love to retire there!)

With the current expectancy levels, most people save up enough to last them 20-25 years of comfortable living in retirement without any additional external support. If the expectancy levels rise to a level where people find the need to support themselves for another 60+ years after retirement, what do you think is going to happen? Make no mistake; people will no longer retire at 60.

What does this mean?

No slam dunk answer; it’s much more than that! Put simply: one cannot continue down the rat hole of the so-called specialization. There is going to be a “generalization of the specialists” at some level. I am not saying being good at something doesn’t count for anything; people will be expected to bring in more than one area of expertise. People will be forced to look at reinventing themselves, be multi-faceted. The upside – one has multiple opportunities, to make it big in life.

Think about it – if one career doesn’t cut it for you (note I didn’t say fail because you still learn from that experience), how nice would it be if you have 25 years of it to look back on for experience, and start afresh? Yes, beginning a second career at the second stage of your life might look daunting and even be too big a hurdle for some, but those who embrace the change quickly will thrive.

Change is good; we need more of it coming our way, and quickly at that…after all, isn’t change the only constant in life??

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Look At Our Laws!

Nars — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:26:24 +0000

The Times of India has been tracking a very interesting story over the last few days. A Legislative Assembly (MLA) member was caught red handed for accepting a bribe of INR 500K in cash to settle a civil dispute. Ever since this MLA has been caught, he’s been on the run. In a bid to avoid being arrested, this MLA has been hospital hopping!

His misfortune or otherwise, the heart hospital that he went to seeking cover first said he was perfectly fit and said here were no grounds to admit him. The MLA then developed a severe headache and then went to another hospital where he has been admitted. This is the National Health of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) where he is now housed on the stated pretext that he is unwell!

In such a blatant act of exploiting the loop holes in the law, this MLA, who has no way to get out of the mess that he is in, is now in hospital. The organization that caught him is complaining saying that this time enables a man in power to tamper evidence.

This is certainly no isolated incident – the fact that the SEBI is moving the high court to seek access to someone who himself has confessed that he siphoned out money, the fact that the state governments of both Andhra and Karnataka took their own sweet time to act on cases where there was immense pressure to act and did all but bare little, the fact that someone who has been convicted for attacking parliament is still alive, and let’s not forget the story of the captured militant from 26/11 who’s still yet to have a formal charge sheet registered against him… the list is just endless.

When the principles of the Indian constitution were being formed, we choose to mirror “best practices” from the land that ruled us for a long time – the British. If the laws we incorporated were on the principles of natural justice, where has natural justice gone suddenly?

While our laws badly need a re-look, I think institutions like hospitals need to act a little more responsibly. If a hospital is intended to be a cause to support a noble profession like medicine, who does their act to house someone on “medical grounds” go in line with their stated cause? It’s easy to argue a case the other way saying we are doing our jobs. If that’s the case, the yard sticks have to be the same and hospitals need to accept a common man who goes to hospital with a burn or an accident. It is in situations like these that hospitals gets on to the moral high ground and says that an FIR is needed for us to accept this person as this is “police case”.

We all know how frustrating these acts are. It’s time for change… but who is listening???

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