Ragging in the sixties: Fun not harassment
View(s):Dikovita Kankanamge Nishantha’s body was found hanging from a tree in the jungles of the Peradeniya campus two weeks ago. It was not an isolated death of a University student related to ragging. Rupa Rathnaseeli in 1975, jumped from the second floor of Ramanathan Hall to escape physical ragging carried out by female students of the Hall. Rupa was confined to a wheelchair and not being able to cope with her physical state, committed suicide in 1997.
Many suffered physical injuries, some committed suicide and two students died from kidney failure following spinal injuries due to violent ragging. D.K. Nishantha was the chief witness in a case of ragging. He and his friend in 2011, were assaulted and sexually abused by senior University students in a vacant room at the Peradeniya campus.
The Peradeniya campus: Then freshers walked without fear
Could it be that the brutality and obscene methods used in ragging in most of our campuses today, resulting sometimes in permanent physical and psychological disorders and in certain cases, death, stem from the breakdown of the university system, the absence of facilities enjoyed by the earlier generations of students, politics or simply the current ethos prevalent in campuses?
The picture however, stands out in stark contrast to what it was fifty years ago. In a collection of essays written by University alumni and published in the souvenirs which marked the Golden Jubilee, ragging had been the baptismal to the campus system. It was good fun, left lasting impressions and was an act devoid of physical harassment. The closest the students of yesteryear got to suicide was when they held “fasts unto death” as the last means to get their demands granted by the authorities. Deaths were not reported even when the demands were not met with.
The souvenirs published for the jubilee celebrations of the Alumni have been sent to University libraries in the hope that they may have an impact on the present generation of students and wean them away from their regrettable practices.
Gamini de Silva writing on “Remembrances of days in the University” for “Pera-60” explained how the rag took place with the arrival of seniors which was likened to a Viking invasion. (Seniors arrived one week after the freshers.) “We were subject to individual ragging on our way to lecture Halls. Group ragging took place mainly in the Common Room on the ground floor next to the Dining Hall. Questions were asked at a quick pace and if the reply was smart, we were in danger. It was an offence to smile or cry before the seniors. However, when we sang as ordered, we were accused of singing out of tune. The rag terminated at the end of the second week with an oath-taking ceremony.”
Wilfred Mediwake (now deceased) writing on the title “Of boys who became men” said that in 1960, seniors (at Ramanathan Hall) arrived with an aura of confidence, superiority and arrogance. Their pomposity and aloofness were nauseating at the beginning.
“When they came, all hell broke loose. Some appeared to be field commanders but who never ragged personally as they were too “senior’ and it was infra-dig for them. Ragging was left to the more recent foot soldiers who had just become second year seniors. There however, was no sadism, the freshers were not masochistic either and both the raggers and the ragged enjoyed it. No violence, no verbal or physical abuse, no insults, no intimidations, just foolish, childish acts and deeds which in the real world would be considered as downright silly. Yet, these were the acts that levelled mighty mountains, filled deep ravines, spread soft moss to tread on and blew off the dust from the eyes of those who believed they were unequal. It was how this simple, yet devilishly fascinating process, acted as a great leveller.”
Following such a “humbling” process, freshers were accepted to the University-system.
At Marcus Fernando Hall, Dr. Ariya Abeygunaratna (1963 entrant) had gone for ragging even when not asked. He as such had been ordered to recite a Sinhala verse to find whether he was “qualified” to be at Peradeniya. Following his performance, with the skills he claims he gained at the Ananda-Nalanda Big Match, the seniors had concluded that he was more qualified to be at the Chicago Medical College.
At the same Hall, the rag-week in 1960 had ended with the Freshers’ concert which had songs, dances and skits with the Warden being discreetly absent. The proceedings had started according to N. Sivakarunathan, with the Hall Anthem sung and seniors taking the Hall Salute. “Songs were bawdy, dances were graphic with freshers gyrating to rather ribald and sensual melodies. The skits were not for the prudish.”
Major Derrick de Silva’s role as asked by Namel Weeramuni, was to march like a soldier and salute the seniors whenever he bumped into them.This was in 1960 when Ramanathan Hall was a male bastion. And at Marrs Hall, Rev. Sydney Knight says during the ragging period, seniors had to be addressed as Honourable Seniors. They however had ensured that ragging was confined to the Hall.
The rag for 1963 freshmen of Sir James Pieris Hall (JP) was to direct traffic at the “kissing-bend.” Duties had begun under the watchful eyes of seniors such as M.G. Kulta. However, this had resulted in the formation of a long line of traffic on the Galaha Road when a gentleman patiently awaiting his turn to proceed had pulled up to a Ranjit Bopearatchchi who was doing his turn. He had asked “enjoying first day of campus life?” to which RB had replied “yes, quite.” Pleased with his performance, RB had looked out for the seniors for approval when he found them emerging from behind trees and under the bridge asking RB whether he was trying to get them suspended? “That was Professor Thambiahpillai!” Seniors however, confined them to “barracks” for the rest of the day, accusing them of enjoying the rag.
Ragging at Sanghamitta Hall was totally banned. However, the dress code for dinner at Sanghamitta was the formal attire. Lalitha Dissanayake (nee Herath) writing on “All in the Family. The Sanghamitta Family…” says being a forward fresher in 1960, she went to dinner clad in cloth and jacket when the Warden Dr. Ram Aluwihare (“Alu” for short) warned her about the dress code. Seniors led by Dr. Savithri Gunasekere (nee Ellepola,) a respected 4th year senior, joining the freshers to protest against Alu’s verdict, went that night to dinner dressed in cloth and jacket. And it was followed with a sing-song and baila session outside the Dining Hall. This, Lalitha writes may have helped Alu to change her views on the local attire but such was the solidarity of seniors with the freshers.
The fresher who made history in 1960 however was Neville Edirisinghe when he ragged his own freshmen opposite the Arts Theatre. Writing on “From Peradeniya to Eternity” he brags “upon my fierce orders, they were doing the KP March (alternately bending and rising while marching with the left and right hand thumbs position changing from near the mouth to the rear area) when two seniors – Rajendra and Illeperuma spotted me and chased me back to my Hall.”
He writes, “We got ragged, thoroughly ragged by the b—-y seniors in the first year. We ragged and thoroughly ragged the b—-y freshers in the second year, the third year and the fourth year. And at Marrs Hall, at the end of the second weeks’ ragging, freshers had the oath-taking ceremony which was a serious affair meant for sound fellowship-building. Boundaries were never exceeded and the rag ushered all into a highly complex social stage which induced freshers to be a productive part.It is a pity that such a sportive and inspiring concept had been badly spoilt by sadistic foul play in later years.”
By 1963, Ramanathan Hall was converted to a women’s Hall and officially, no ragging was allowed within it. Sheila Wickramaratne was walking down Ramanathan Drive on her first day wearing the same covered shoes she wore to her village school. Some seniors who had been amused at seeing it had ordered her to remove her shoes saying that the campus was not a school. She was then asked to wear them in her hands and jump which Sheila says helped her to get rid of her inhibitions. The seniors later became her close pals.
The most common form of ragging however was the handing over of a wild flower to a fresher girl by a male fresher on bended knees and declaring his undying love of course done on the orders of the seniors. Flora Nanayakkara (nee Abeysinghe,) writing to Golden Jubilee – 1963 considers this as innocent fun. But she says such declarations have also been taken seriously. She should know!