Saturday, January 07, 2006

Jai Jharkhand - Part II

When I first landed, the official from the Ministry of Education who'd received me at the airport took me to my university NTU, and put me in the care of these two guys, who were supposed to take me to my hostel room. So they took me to this double room, one side of which was vacant. A guy was working on his computer on the other side.

“Okay Sayesha, this is your room, and this is N, your roommate.”

I tried to keep a straight face, but in my head I was like "WHAT???!!!!" I knew the hostels were co-ed. But to have a guy as my room-mate??? But I tried to not freak out and show my naivety. The guys probably wondered why there was no reaction from me.

“So you’re okay with your room-mate?” They asked.

“Errr… yeah, okay.” I put my suitcase down. It was only when they burst out laughing that I realised I’d been punked.

I proceeded to call all the senior guys ‘Bhaiya’, which shocked and annoyed them no end. I did not get it. What was wrong with saying ‘Bhaiya’? In school, I used to call all the senior guys ‘Bhaiya’! (which, on second thoughts, used to make the process of having a crush on a senior rather disorienting.)

I was severely reprimanded for the ‘Bhaiya’ thing. In fact, I remember saying ‘Thanks, Bhaiya’ to this guy, who stared at me and said, “Bhaiya?? I am no Bhaiya! You see that guy there? That is Bhaiya!” He pointed at a surdaar. “Go wish him happy birthday! His name is J.”

“Is it his birthday?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” He glared back.

So I went and chirpily told the surdaar, “Happy birthday, J Bhaiya!”

Now if only looks could kill…

He asked me to report to his room at 4:30 pm for ‘punishment’. I was there at his door at 4:25, but was so terrified of him, that I decided not to piss him off by being there early. So I decided to stand and wait outside his door and knock exactly at 4:30. Suddenly his room-mate opened the door, and freaked out at the sight of me just standing outside the door, doing nothing.

“What are you doing here?”

“Errr… J Bhaiyy.... errr... J asked me to come here at 4:30 pm.”

“So why are you standing out here?”

“Errr… there’s still five minutes to go.”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! J, kahan se is namoone ke pakad ke laya tu?” (“Where did you get this ‘sample’ from?”)

J came out, and his room-mate narrated how I had been waiting outside for the clock to strike 4:30. The incident was relayed, and I had at least four guys asking me later, “Oh! You’re Sayesha, the girl who was waiting outside J’s room for 4:30 pm? HAHAHAHA!”

(By the way, over time, both J and his room-mate grew very fond of me, perhaps because they really had not seen any namoona like me before. I continued to call him ‘J Bhaiya’ till he graduated. Even now, if I bump into his somewhere, he has that ‘bade-bhaiya-twinkle' in his eye when he greets me.)

Well, I got over the whole Bhaiya thing soon enough, but still stuck to my Bihari (I spent many years of my childhood in Bihar because my Dad was transferred there) way of saying “Hum” and “Aap” which brought me much ridicule, but I refused to get rid of it. Till date. I really like the “Hum” and “Aap” and it’s probably the only Bihari part of me that has stood the test of time.

In NTU, ragging used to be taken very seriously. By those who ragged the freshies, of course.

It used to be done very systematically and there even used to be a committee with a President. It was called the orientation committee (OC) but I think it disoriented a lot of people.

There was no escaping it. Every batch of Indians that arrived in Singapore from India, was taken under the wing of the OC. Of course, there were some who refused to be ‘babied’ by the OC, and stuck to themselves, and I secretly believe that they did not have as much fun as those who did get ‘oriented’. Homesickness flew out of the window, as the OC activities, that went late into the nights, brought in a lot of excitement.

So every night, the Indian freshies would report to Canteen 2, dressed in their 'orientation uniform' i.e. shirt and shorts, slipper in one foot and sock & shoe in the other. If you were part of the IG (Indian Gang) you had to wear the uniform. At first, yes, the local Singaporeans gave us odd looks as we roamed around and ordered food in the canteen in that weird attire, but soon they (and we) got used to it.

After dinner, we would be taken to the Sports and Recreation Centre, where the seniors would sit on the steps and we would stand in front of them in a queue. Each of us was asked to state our name, sex (three readings no less: in India, in the flight and in Singapore), where we were from, and what our hobbies were.

I made the mistake of telling them I liked to sing, and this senior guy A, who himself was a fantastic singer, made me play antakshari with myself for an hour, while he and his friends sat and listened. They even took a drinks break, and I was instructed to keep singing without an audience. And I did. Sheesh.

Then we were asked to run 6 rounds (2.4 km) on the track. Now I am not much of a running person, and by the second round, I was huffing and puffing. The freshies were all cheering each other to complete the run. Suddenly I saw this guy running next to me, and I decided to cheer him on instead. "Come on! You can do it!"

Imagine my embarrassment when he told me that he was a senior! After finishing my run, I decided to go and apologise to him for my smartass cheering. Well, looks like I had forgotten his face, and went and apologised to the wrong senior instead (who, by the way, conveniently accepted the apology that I did not owe him in the first place!). All the seniors had a good laugh at my expense.

Group orientation included many activities, most of which were dirty, messy and embarrassing. We were doused in a mixture of cat food and cabbage oil, garnished with some flour and toothpaste, and then finally cleaned up by a collective bath using the big garden hose.

We were also made to walk around the huge NTU campus (it is incredibly huge, so huge that there are buses to take you from one hostel to another), sometimes blindfolded with our own socks. The roads had signs that said 'Strips ahead' or 'hump ahead' and the guys were asked to 'follow the instructions' and 'strip' and 'hump' (ahem!) at appropriate junctures.

Complex numbers was another special activity. The seniors would choose a particularly rainy day when the ground would be really muddy and slushy, and make us lie down on it. Then they would call out complex numbers and you had to form them with your body. For example, 3+4i meant rolling over thrice along the imaginary (how ironical!) x-axis and four times along the imaginary y-axis. And they would keep calling out numbers till we were completely covered with the slush.

(Gosh I just realised this post is becoming too long. Looks like I'll have to do a part III to conclude it.)



64 comments:

Suds said...

Oh! You’re Sayesha, the girl who was waiting outside J’s room for 4:30 pm? ...lol that was funny... U know I have never been ragged but reading ur post it seems I missed something very interesting in life...:) Enjoy...

Me first yeyeyeye..

R said...

hey.i have been following ur jai jharkhan series with keen interst...
waiting outside for 4:30???? hahahahaha..
thats way too cute!!!!
if i were ur senior i wud have bot u a nice dinner orsomething!!:)
waiting for the concluding part.

and yuss.
JAI JHARKHAND!!!

Pi said...

Sayesha, if i remember right - there was one person in my batch who was pretty fond of ragging - i mean - orienting you. guess who?

The Girl Who Sold The World said...

HMPH! Fir se copper? :( Nevermind...I'm the 4th...good enough for now. :)
Now, lemme read.

The Girl Who Sold The World said...

HAHAHAHA.....this was cooool! I'm trying to imagine people wearing slipper in one foot and shoe in the other...lol...it's a great idea though...;)
//3+4i meant rolling over thrice along the imaginary x-axis and four times along the y-axis.//
HAHAHAHA!!! That was fab. Pretty creative and original seniors... :D

Sayesha said...

#Suds,
Getting ragged is real fun! :)
(Sometimes more fun than ragging others!) :P

#Ruchi,
Hehehe... jai Jharkhand! :)

#American Pie,
Hahahahahahhahahahhahahahahah! :D Ok are you talking about the guy who's now married and has a kid? OMG I can't stop laughing! Hahahahhahahahaha! :D

#The Girl,
Yeah, some of their ideas were pretty smart! Nerdy but fun! :)

R said...

i love the one-sock-and-shoe idea!! big time!! we made our female juniors wear suits with sports shoes last year, and guys wore formal with alternate red and white buttons. :D

MeAwinner said...

Hehhee, I was laughing & missing my college days.We were asked to wear salwaar Suit all the time,with V-shape White dupatta and white colour ribbons with Oily hairs(Let the suit be any colour) I can't imagine,now I FUNNY we used look for 1 full YEar !!

Ragging is funny & memorable.. :)) NOW !! those days we used to hate seniours for that , now we miss those days :D
cheers !!

Kathy said...

I can imagine your face(getting red) when you were standing outside J's room waiting for 4:30 haha..ur so cute naa^_^ if i were ur senior ill tease u more,after then i will give u a hug & will say ..dont worry sayesha im just jokin'^_~ while giving u kiss on forehead & touch ur hair like a kid & u will smile then^_^ haha..

amit said...

arre whts the fun in life without ragging....its fun being ragged n then rag next year as long as limits r maintained

Anonymous said...

I kept using and still use the "hum" aur "aap" thing, not even realising that it's a Bihari speciality. And here you have another reader from Bihar. Naah, I am not a Bihari, just that I was born in the capital city. Waise this idea of making campus rounds blindfolded with your own socks is quite a punishment, especially for most guys in hostel who I am sure know as much about cleanliness and hygiene as you and I know about space and extra terrestrials. I'm sure if one of the socks was tied on the eyes, the other had to be used on the nose, so that they don't choke out of the stink. OMG, what a sight!!!

Eclectic Blogger said...

//kahan se is namoone ke pakad ke laya tu//

//made me play antakshari with myself for an hour//

'Sample' Sayesha really rocks compared to the actual person.. mebbe we can have more posts from your alter-ego on a new site samplesayesha.blogspot.com!? ;-)

Angelsera said...

hahaha orientation...I went for 1 day..cos my roomie in first yr was ur lovely batchmate and she kinda convinced me to go.
After tt 1 day I refused to go, I found it so immature and the worst part was I was older than most of the 'seniors' thr.
But I remember one thing that happ on tt day cos of which I din dare to look or even face 1 of my batch mates for 2 yrs...everytime I saw him I used to feel so embarassed.

Sayesha said...

#Rohit,
//we made our female juniors wear suits with sports shoes last year

Hey, isn't that the uniform of many morning-walk aunties in India?? :)

//and guys wore formal with alternate red and white buttons

HAHA! I can only imagine how clown-like they must have looked! :D

#MeAwinner,
Haha! I always loved ragging. Both getting ragged and ragging juniors. Maybe that's because I did not go thru anything really atrocious. I have heard some horror stories about ragging in IIT :O

#Kathy,
Haha! If any senior had dared to do what you've described, one THWACK of my hand and he'd have collapsed to the floor! :D

#Amit,
I couldn't agree more! :)

#Sunshine,
//not even realising that it's a Bihari speciality.

I think it's a U.P. speciality too! :)

ROTFL at the guys' socks bit you wrote! :D

#Eclectic,
//'Sample' Sayesha really rocks compared to the actual person..

WHAAAAT? You mean I don't rock? :(
Hmmpphhh! Jao apni 'sample' Sayesha ke paas! :(

#Angelsera,
Dunno about you, but I really enjoyed it. For me, it's one of the great memories of uni life. :)
ps: Trying to figure out who your roomie was. :)
pps: Trying to figure out who that batchmate of yours was. :)

ritzkini said...

hahahaahaha...i need to meet your seniors..smart bunch...
=))

Sayesha said...

#Ritzkini,
Gosh I know you SO well! I SO knew that you were SO gonna say something to that effect! :)

Nerds of a feather
Flock together


;)

virdi said...

hahahaha... u and ur school college ke kisse... :D

V..

atul lakhotia said...

very hilarious post...that bhaiya incidents...ur seniors were so unlucky...a junior girl calling them "bhaiya"...

and what is the fun without ragging...u get ragged and then u rag ur juniors...its fun!!

Pi said...

Sayesha: Spot on. :) I also remember how during your second year, a few of us made you write a poem so that a friend of ours could give it to a junior girl.

Anonymous said...

>>slipper in one foot and sock & shoe in the other.

Hahaaaa :-))

Gosh Sash, how did you feel while undergoing all that ragging? Or maybe it isn't that bad and is actually fun? I have never experienced any form of ragging. My college exp. was in a girls' univ in Mumbai, and somehow, I escaped, perhaps becoz I joined late. Good for me? :-) Wonder how a girls' team would have done it :-).

Jina said...

hehe..ROTFL..I wonder ..what would any of ur seniors who might read this post feel..proud or desp???...And dat reminds me even when Im doing my post grads I was hardly ragged and I regret it :(

Pi said...

ursjina >>> My batchmates and I made Sayesha do all these funny things. It was so amusing to see the look on their faces! I would gladly do it again.

Anonymous said...

hahaha G I Jane Sayesha rolling in the mud doing 3+4i.

@Amrican pi, I wish I was in your shoes :p

Calling seniors as Bhaiyyas. Now thats a nasty thing to do. I mean it is ok to refer to a senior girl as didi but since it is a general trend to have a gf who is younger than you or at most of the same age, a junior girl caling you bhayya seriously ruins your chances of finding a date. I used to make such girls sing item numbers at odd places =))

Tinku

Pi said...

Tinku >> "since it is a general trend to have a gf who is younger than you or at most of the same age"

I dont think Demi Moore will agree with that.

Anonymous said...

@American pi - Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas surely will. Moreover desi trend is even more orthodox!

Tinku

Anonymous said...

So bhola bhala lai dat :)

I like the 'Hum' 'Aap' usage... it's so respectful.

Orientation was really fun... Thanks A-Pi and co. for the memories :)

Unknown said...

The Mythical Mr. Boo will be leaving for Las Vegas in the next couple of weeks. He's very excited, as we all are, and we hope he earns lots of money. He wouldn't mind if you called and wished him good luck ;)

Sayesha said...

#Virdi,
:D

#Atul,
I totally agree, college without ragging is like pani puri with tap water! :O

#American Pie,
HAHAHAHA! Thanks for reminding me about yet another hilarious incident! You guys even made me corner her and ask her what she felt about him! :D

#Harshi,
//Gosh Sash, how did you feel while undergoing all that ragging? Or maybe it isn't that bad and is actually fun?

It's really fun!! I enjoyed myself thoroughly! :)

#Ursjina,
Hahaha! A lot of my seniors do read this blog, you know! ;)
ps: Seniors, what say? What do you feel? :)

#American Pie,
Ah! And there's the reply! Thanks! :)

//I would gladly do it again.

You wish, buddy! :D This time, I'll rag the hell outta you 'cos now we're friends, and so we're at the same 'level'! ;)

#Tinku,
//@Amrican pi, I wish I was in your shoes :p

Haha! Buddy, yeh G I Jane toh teri waat laga deti! :D

#American Pie, Tinku,
Sheesh! You guys're beginning to sound like tabloid reporters now! :D

#Viv,
Hahaha! And I also taught the 'hum' and 'aap' to a few who have not been able to shrug it off! ;)

//Orientation was really fun...

It totally was! :)

Sayesha said...

#Jarod,
Errr... did ya leave a comment on the wrong blog? Who is Mr. Boo? Who are you? :O

Anonymous said...

Oh! You’re Sayesha, the girl who was waiting outside J’s room for 4:30 pm? HAHAHAHA!

But you seriously had a rocking good time!! was an interesting dress code, and so you're a singer too! and who would've thought you'll have to 'imagine' a real axis, and actually roll about it!

:)

oxymoron said...

hey sayesha, brought back memories from my orientation. add 2 yrs to the timeline of the grp orientation activities, and that becomes my orientation. things didnt change much over the yrs!
and u were on the other side of the things then.

Angelsera said...

oxymoron,that wud make u..my batchmate..interesting.....

patiala pataka said...

“Is it his birthday?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” He glared back.

So I went and chirpily told the surdaar, “Happy birthday, J Bhaiya!”

Now if only looks could kill…



Hahahahaha..... somehow I imagine Virdi as the sardarji...

virdi said...

Patiala & Sayesha

NO NO NO... I am not getting instigated by the "Surd Comments" you both have planned and said against my name... Its a conspiracy against all the surds of the planet... I know these "Surd Comments" are because all of you are jealous of the Tarakki the Surds have done... Even the Prime Minister of India is a Surd and the most anti Hindi speaking state has a Surd Governor...

I am very calm... Very calm... Phew!!! Phew!!! Phew!!!

//Virdi wipes the sweat of his forehead and counts till 100//

V..

Unknown said...

LOL...your personality seems radically different from what i had understood after reading your previous posts!!

i was part of an engineering college that slaps raggers with a fine of 10000 bucks!!..sigh...i missed all this action...

But on a different note, from what i saw myself, Singaporeans are extremely friendly people and damn cool to be with!!

Sayesha said...

#Chints,
//sash the singer, put some of your recording online also pls.

Haha! You dun wanna hear it. Remember my dhamki to my friend that made her go to sleep immediately? "So ja warna Sash lori suna degi!" :D

#The Anon,
Yeah, the whole experience, complete with my dress code, and my naivety, was fantastic! Something I'll remember all my life! :)

#Oxy,
Hehehe... TIG, eh? Hope I wasn't mean to you! :P

#Angelsera,
If you figure out na, let me know! We'll both orient the hell outta Oxy then! ;)

#Pat Pat,
Arre nahin! Our Virdi toh looks so seedha-saadha, bhola-bhala, and has no dadhi! J Bhaiya was a fultu surdaar, and a fierce one at that! :O

#Virdi,
Breathe beta breathe! Tere baare mein koi baat nahin kar raha... apne aap ko itna important bhi mat samajh! Ja jakar homework kar! :D

#Vik H,
//your personality seems radically different from what i had understood after reading your previous posts!!

Huh? What do you mean? What had you understood earlier? What am I now?? Confused...

Ajay said...

hey gr8 post first time dropped in here... HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sayesha said...

#Ajay,
Welcome to Sayeshaz! Thanks for dropping by, and happy new year to you too! :)

Manish Kumar said...

Sayesha long time back I asked u which city u belong to! And u evaded the answer by saying I have been thru many cities so which one I should call my own?

At that time my guess was UP !

my hmmmmm for last post was for that! Nice to know that some of ur school time memories are related to my current state ...

and ragging incidents were funny too..

Lalit Singh said...

Ragging is fun at times... really... i still remember how i was asked to perfrom the liril commericial and handed a big leaf...

//calling everyone bhaiya
lols...

Complex numbers activity is fundoo

Neha Sinha said...

wow.. i mean baap re...ragging is darawna...mera number nahi aayega naa :((

waiting for part 3 :D...

hotICE said...

hey!! nice page in here.. me in final yr at college and your accounts of ragging is flawless.. suprised though that it happens in NTU too...

Sayesha said...

#Chints,
Haha! Sash is tough, but not heartless, bhidu! :D

#Manish,
Thanks for the explanation. I owe you dedh rupaiya :)

#Lalit,
Liril commercial and big leaf! HAHAHA! :D

#Pandora,
Haan re, tera number bhi aayega! Just stay chill, you'll be fine :)
ps: Here's a tip - what seniors really can't stand is a bad attitude, avoid that and take it all in good humour, you'll do fine :)

#hotICE,
Welcome to Sayeshaz! :)

//suprised though that it happens in NTU too...

Jahan jahan kisi hindustani ne apna kadam rakha hai, wahan wahan ragging ke naamonishaan chhod gaya hai! :D

oxymoron said...

sayesha,
u weren't mean while 'orienting'.
i remember another thing, we were spared the complex nos drill coz it never rained so heavily during our orientation.
PS: angelsera n sayesha ganging up against me - hmmm.

Sayesha said...

#Oxy,
//we were spared the complex nos drill

Yeah now I remember your batch didn't have it. Lucky you! :/

//angelsera n sayesha ganging up against me - hmmm.

Hehe... yeah man! And we're gonna catch you on a day when it rains very heavily! ;)

oxymoron said...

catch me if u can ;)

Anonymous said...

Orientation dress - U forgot to add how we had to put on a towel like a cape, with our nick names written on a piece of paper and stuck on the cape...Talking abt the nick names, I still call some of my batchmates by their nicknames...almost forgot the real name..:D

Sayesha said...

#Oxy,
We'll see! ;)

#TIG,
HAHAHAHA! Thanks for reminding me of the towel cape thingie! You know, we only introduced it for your batch, we never had it! And the nicknames! HAHAHAHA! Remember the guy I nicknamed 'Jagga'? He's been 'Jagga' for years now! I think many people still don't know his real name! :O

ps: OMG, are you Jagga?? :O

Angelsera said...

//He's been 'Jagga' for years now!

Hahaha, I recall someone calling his home in India and asking for 'Jagga'..

If I am not wrong the same thing happ w one of ur batch mates also (Harbu)

Deepa said...

College Day's will be the best ,the one which everyone of us wud luv live again and again...
Something like Rewind Play...Rewind Play...kinds.
(PS:Exams very much included)
for obvious reasons ...;o)

Ravi said...

I almost knew there would be a part 3. This ragging it seems has a big role to play in making you what you are now.

PS: WV back?

pingoo said...

lol ! that was hilarious :).

Chitra said...

"slipper in one foot and sock & shoe in the other" ?? He he he he three much :) :).

Raj said...

Hey, I am not just from UP, I'm from Lucknow. Isliye hum poori nazaaqat ke saath baat karte hain. When i moved to Bangalore, a lot of people got puzzled when i used to say "hum" instead of "main". Bachpan ki aadat hai, mushkil se jaayegi :)

I remember having to wear white shirt and black trousers during the ragging period in college. it was fun.

ritzkini said...

/*Nerds of a feather
Flock together
;) */
ooohhh noooo...not going down that tp-poetry lane,again...
:)

Sayesha said...

#Angel,
Hahahaha! You know what? When I read your comment, it took me a minute to recall Harbu's real name! HAHAHA! :D

#Deepa,
I second that, but I'd probably exclude university exams! ;)

#Ravi,
Hey! Yeah man, trilogy bana diya! Ab koi iski movie banao, aur hamein dher saari royalties khilao! Muahaha! :D

//WV back?

Yeah, had to, cos the spammers came back to Sayeshaz! :(

#Pingoo,
Long time man! Thought you stopped reading my blog! :)

#Chitra,
Hehe... you had to see it to believe it that we were roaming all over campus in a foreign country, dressed like that! :D

#Raj,
Wah janaab! Lucknow! Is saal I'm not going to India, warna I'd have gone to Lucknow, Dad's posted there now. Some day... :)

#Ritzkini,
Hahaha! Darr gaya kya Kinnu? :D

Bhavdeep Singh yeh keh kar gaya
Jo darr gaya, woh marr gaya!
:D

Kaala Kavva said...

arre!!!!!!!!!!
mera comment kaha gaya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hawwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

nahiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii


keh do ke yeh jhooth hai!!!!!!!!!


sayesha... tujh pe shak hai mujhe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sayesha said...

#Ze Exaggeratorr,

Comment? Kaun comment? Main kisi comment ko nahin jaanti!

Seriously yaar, I never got any other comment, not even in my email!

Kisi aur ke blog par daal diya kya? :O

pingoo said...

//Long time man! Thought you stopped reading my blog! :)

Shut up !

Sayesha said...

#Pingoo,
Baap re! Bachi ko daant diya? Aaj kal sab log Sayesha ko daantte hain, Sayesha blog chhodke ja rahi hai. :(

Kya kaha?

Jalebi? :)

R said...

you r right!!!!

ritzkini said...

@sayesha
/*Bhavdeep Singh yeh keh kar gaya
Jo darr gaya, woh marr gaya! :D */

sounds so much more scary than surd actually is !
:D

Sayesha said...

#Chints,
Sash believes in live performance, not digitally enhanced and uploaded types. Gana sunna hai toh yahan aakar suno! :)

#Rohit,
Who is right? :O
Me? :D

#Ritzkini,
Haha! It does, doesn't it? :)

Anonymous said...

Best regards from NY! » »