Ragging- An Appraisal

Let me begin by saying that i dont associate to or encourage Ragging at colleges in any form, subtle or severe.Period. That said, this poem was the first i wrote during my BDS days. It started out during my Ragging at GDCH, Hyd, one day as i happend to mention poetry as a hobby, i was told i was been too flashy and was asked to come up with something of my own in a days time or be proven a braggart...... so on the 10th of february 1994, this one came to be.

With a throbbing heart, a wavering sense of anxiety

With the preconceived conceptions of the torture that ragging was

With all the experienced narrations from the Ragged

I entered college, hoping of God, I’d be spared by the demon.

And as the dreaded confrontation came, the demon threw me off my feet

Only to transcend to angelic dimensions and take me…

Into the warm embrace of acceptance.

And even as it ground me into the realms of its true self,

I got to realize that under its hideous mask……

Is the promise of friendship, of understanding, of advise.

Benign arms ever willing to guide and protect you.

And over the confrontation that was,

I’ve come across the clash of egos,

Those inexplicable moments of intimidation,

Of hilarious inquisitiveness, of unreasonable anger.

What it takes is a courageous soul and a tactful cruiser,

To ride these storms of realization that eventually and very surely

Drift you into the calm waters of camaraderie.

And as these wild winds of interaction between….

The Raggers and the Raggers-in-the=making ended…

Cognition dawned on me the farcical set up that Raggings all about.

What I thought would shred my integrity, my self esteem,

Only helped me gather and hold myself together

In getting to know what I am…..

Even as Ragging set out to tell my Seniors what I was.