Celebrities & Ragging !

So many people believe that ragging is just a very small problem in India. This perception is because those who face most brutal form of ragging, never speak up generally.

[References included]

■ Amitabh Bachchan, Actor

The legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan in a media appearance said, "Ragging has happened with me too. I passed out my college in the 60s, and at that time also, ragging was existent in colleges, sometimes worse... I really can't tell you guys what kind of ragging I have been through. Please don't ask me." [1]

■ Suresh Raina, Cricketer

The ace cricketer Suresh Raina candidly reveals a ragging past in many interviews to the media. He says, "I remember in the college hostel (Guru Gobind Singh Sports College, Lucknow) in the first year maine bahot maar khayi hai. Khoob pitayi karte the seniors (The seniors used to heavily beat me). There used to be a lot of ragging. I've washed so many clothes I don't even remember. "[2]

In another interview, Suresh Raina's brother Dinesh Raina reveals, "Suresh's cricketing career could have ended within six months of his joining the Sports College... shaken by the experience, the young boy became withdrawn.... He was so shocked and nervous that he never wanted to go back to the (sports) college. He stayed at home for nearly six months, but I finally talked him out of it. I spoke to his coaches in Lucknow and only after getting complete assurance did I take Suresh back to the college." [3]
Had it not been for his elder brother Dinesh, Suresh Raina would have returned to his home in Muradnagar and a promising cricketing career would have been nipped in the bud, due to ragging.
The event marks the beginning of a lasting partnership with the participating institutions - management, teachers and esp. students in their journeys to make 'ragging-free' campuses.

■ Arindam Chaudhary, Management Guru

The management guru Arindam Chaudhary writes about his IIT Delhi friends "Well, their first months in IIT were traumatic to say the least. They would cry in front of me. They couldn’t take in the humiliation of ragging. The humiliation of being stripped totally naked and being made to run around the IIT Delhi campus... The engineering and medical colleges of India are the havens of the worst possible ragging in this country." [4]

■ Arjun Rampal, Actor

Another Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal reveals that in the summer of 1990 he walked into his college and had mistakenly asked a senior to carry his luggage into the hostel. The actor was subsequently ragged for a long time and vowed never to rag his juniors in turn. Rampal is admittedly very much against ragging. [5]

■ Anurag Kashyap, Writer-Producer-Director
The Bollywood writer-producer-director was the youngest in his class at the Scindia School, Gwalior. He was often at the receiving end of severe ragging. He would run and hide in the school library. Sexually abused and bullied as a child, he brooded over his anguish – for years. Kashyap says,“Sexual abuse is common in schools, especially residential ones... Then, I was deeply affected by it" adding,“As a direct effect [of the abuse in school], I built muscle in college, started playing sports, and would often be seen with a hockey stick in hand. I would get out of the oppressive college cliques, forming my own parallel world, all the while protecting those who weren’t strong enough,” he says.[6] An example how brutal, sexual ragging distorts the minds of young.

■ Sujit Saraf, Film-maker
Sujit Saraf, a California-based filmmaker and playwright studied at the IIT-Delhi between 1987 and ’92. He reveals "we crawled on all fours and barked like dogs; we brought cigarettes and Campa Cola for our seniors; we cleaned their rooms; we dropped our trousers so they could measure our penises; we formed human trains — each car holding the penis of the car in front — and whistled our way through hostel corridors; we simulated orgies; stripped naked" [7]

■ Imtiaz Ali, Film-maker
Noted film-maker Imtiaz Ali has a similar experience, "In college, a lot of guys had stripped me naked during the ragging... At that time it was terrible....Craziest thing I've ever done – we've all walked naked...in those days ... it was part of mass ragging that everyone had to do" [8]

■ Prakash Rajpurohit, IIT & IAS topper
Prakash Rajpurohit, ranked 4th in IIT-JEE 2003 and later IAS second topper, ran away from IIT Delhi hostel hitting the headlines. In his complaint lodged with the police, Rajpurohit had said students were asked among other things to enact a honeymoon scene, strip and consume alcohol. [9]

■ Manish Gupta, Director
“I was a day-boarder in an engineering college in Bandra and my friends who stayed in the hostels were forced into sodomy with other boys as part of a ragging ritual.” [10]

■ Rahul Dev, Actor
“I did my engineering from Bangalore and stayed in a hostel there. Though the seniors with their presence sparked off fear telling us to jump around holding our crotches, we challenged them and did not give in to their unreasonable demands. But I can't describe the tension that we went through at that moment.” [10]

■ Sona Mohapatra, Singer
“I was horribly ragged in my engineering college in Odisha. Ragging is deplorable, and must be banned. Be it physical, mental, minor or major, ragging is a very perverted show of power, conrol and humiliation, and not way of getin anyone to join a community and blend into it. There are more interesting ways of doing that.” [10]

■ Aditya Datt, Director
“My cousin who had gone to pursue studies abroad had become a victim of bullying. He was made to pull down his pants and was molested by his seniors….” [10]

■ Shakti Kapoor, Actor

Shakti Kapoor, a Kirori Mal College (Delhi) alumnus, didn't attend college for 10 days after a few seniors tried to rag him. "I studied in KMC, the same college where Amitabh Bachchan studied. Ragging was common then. I remember a group of ... seniors tried to rag me. They took me to the hostel and wanted to do something weird with me. They asked me to pull my pants down and go around the college. But I escaped," he recalled.[11]
Another example how sexual ragging has been prevalent in Indian colleges even in 1960s.

■ Sundar Pichai, Google CEO

Sundar Pichai, Google CEO was subjected to "jump on a table and do something absurdly self-deprecating or lean out of a balcony and hurl... epithets (at a senior's bidding) at some unsuspecting passer-by" at IIT Kharagpur. [12]

References

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSGZ02ef45Q.youtube.com/watch?v=kSGZ02ef45Q

[2] “I would never date an actor: Suresh Raina”; The Times of India, 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-24/news-interviews/31230637_1_cricketer-suresh-raina-dream-girl-talks

[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/I-would-never-date-an-actor-Suresh-Raina/articleshow/12381805.cms? - Retrieved 2016-08-05]

[3] Sharad Deep (2011-02-02). “Kid off the Blocks” ; The Hindustan Times Ghaziabad. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/chunk-ht-ui-cricket-topstories/kid-off-the-blocks/article1-657403.aspx

[http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/kid-off-the-blocks/story-CAdQjnlXZnGwKGPFZaoISL.html - Retrieved 2016-08-05]

[4] Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri (2010-12-09). "It’s We Parents and Teachers Who Create Raggers Out of Our Children". [Business and Economy]. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
http://www.businessandeconomy.org/09122010/editordesk.asp?sid=5805&pageno=2

[5] Garima Sharma (Dec 12, 2010) “When Arjun Rampal was in DU”; [The Times of India]. Retrieved 2013-12-19.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-12-12/news-interviews/28248877_1_arjun-rampal-anurag-kashyap-college-thing

[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/When-Arjun-Rampal-was-in-DU/articleshow/7082892.cms? - Retrieved 2016-08-05]

[6] Parul Khanna (5 July 2013). "'Anurag Kashyap, the Godfather'". [The Hindustan Times]. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/Anurag-Kashyap-the-Godfather/Article1-1087684.aspx

[http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/anurag-kashyap-the-godfather/story-SW0CUzKTN8ElmqC7WKjPxL.html - Retrieved 2016-08-05]

[7] Sujit Saraf (2006-10-14). "‘TEN MINUTES INTO CAMPUS LIFE, I WAS ON MY KNEES WITH A LEASH ROUND MY NECK’". [Tehelka]. Retrieved 2011-10-26.

[8] "I had 6% attendance: Abhishek Chaubey". The Times Of India. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[9] Amba Batra (2004-07-22). "Victim of IIT ragging prepares to help freshers". [Indian Express]. Retrieved 2011-10-26. Retrieved 2013-01-26

[10] “Just stop this ragging” pages 2-3: The Times of India, 2013-01-08. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

[11] Divya Pal (6 Dec 2011). "'Shakti Kapoor: Ragged in KMC'". [The Times of India]. Retrieved 12 March 2014.

[12] Souvik Gangopadhyay [18 Aug, 2015]. "'When Google CEO Sundar Pichai was 'ragged' by seniors at IIT Kharagpur'" [The Economic Times - Telecom]. Retrieved 2016-08-05.