Bangalore: The Government and the university may have "banned" ragging, but it prevails in one form or the other in most colleges in Bangalore.

While ragging was once more prevalent in professional colleges, it has spread to the arts, commerce and science colleges in the past few years, college faculty and students say.

A month after the initiation process on campuses ended, seniors and freshers have different views about it.

Orientation process

Typically on a campus, there is an "official" orientation process to making newcomers familiar with those already there and the college traditions.

While this is supervised by the faculty, there is a lot more happening once it is over.

For the first week or two, till the Freshers' Day in many colleges, ragging does continue.

As to why the tradition is continued by students year after year, John Patrick Ojwando of Kenyan origin who now teaches in a city college says, "Those who have undergone ragging have suppressed emotions and want to take revenge, so to say, and end up taking it out on the next year's juniors. The arts, commerce and science students obviously don't want to feel they are any lesser than medical and engineering students and have introduced ragging in other colleges."

Some colleges like Garden City have set up anti-ragging squads and make sure there is no undue harassment or physical violence. When a senior student of that college was asked about ragging, she replied, "It is make the juniors respect us, this is one way of getting it."

The junior students of course, feel respect should be earned.

A senior engineering college student, Rahul, said, "Ragging can help, because a junior's latent talents, for example, dancing, may be discovered by chance and the students may some day win a trophy for our college at some inter-college competition."

A college principal pointed out that ragging had become punishable under the law and felt there could be nothing like "mild ragging" and it needed to be banned altogether.

Of course, most students would not agree with it.

For some juniors, the ragging process can be emotionally traumatic.

Some become very depressed and added to being home sick if they are in the hostel, start feeling insecure.

While gory stories of ragging leading to suicides may be very rare, most students and faculty agree that it has to be good natured and with good intentions like breaking the ice between seniors and freshers. The dividing line should not be crossed, is the common refrain.

The rougher type of ragging is more prevalent in some professional colleges.

Whether ragging actually creates a more friendly atmosphere on colleges campuses or adds to tensions, will remain a big question.

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