Hard lessons outside Kerala

There is a sense of pride among Malayali  parents when they say their child is studying in Chennai or Bengaluru. Between the scramble for seats and the limited time gap between the announcement of higher secondary results and closure of admission, both parents and the child miss  out on learning more about the institution they will be calling their second home.

With the latest incident of ragging  reported from a college in Karnataka and social media protest by students regarding harassment by the management from an institute in Bengaluru, parents are waking up to a different reality. We speak to few ex-students and celebrities who share their experience and guide future students.

The latest incident is from within Christ University, a  30-year-old institution in Bengaluru which is much sought-after by Malayalis. This month the campus was dragged into the spotlight with a student being hospitalised after a suicide attempt due to an alleged sexual harassment by a faculty.

A student was lauded for her blog on the campus that functions during a strike and how her inability to get there will affect her attendance. Adding to this, the sacking of a faculty for backing students regarding biased dress code has given rise to heated media discussions and widespread protest, which is helmed by a Malayali ex-student, Arjun Krishna Lal. Arjun passed out two months back.

He was working as a journalist while studying and has also penned a book that asks, “Shouldn’t there be a certain degree of compassion and understanding from the management’s end?   Dress codes which allow foreign students to dress up as they please and Indian students to cover up, attendance percentage of 85 and  inhuman attitude by security guards are just the tip of the iceberg here.”

His advice for parents opting to send their students to study outside Kerala:  “Parents need to set aside their preconceived notions about what institutions outside Kerala might be like. They need to see if the management culture matches the way they and their children are. Parents should support their child unabashedly and students should be in regular touch with parents about what goes on within the campus.”

Popular VJ and actor Pearle Maaney who is also an ex-Christite had a different take on the matter and says, “I love Christ University, it made me strong.” She adds “Parents should let their kids choose whatever subject they want to learn. If a child is not ready for certain kind of rules then he or she shouldn’t study there, pick an institution that is lenient with rules. I believe strict dress code and attendance percentage ensure to bring out focused students.”

The Christ University Management was unavailable for comments. Actor Tovino Thomas who did his engineering studies in Coimbatore says he had taken a no-ragging stand as a senior.   “My brother is one year senior to me, so he had given me few tips to tackle ragging and since I was a day scholar I did not have to face a rash ragging. But I took a ‘no-ragging’ stance because I know how it is like for a home-sick  child to suddenly stay away from home in an alien environment. In such a situation ragging can put you down. Asking a junior to sing or dance is more like an ice breaker, but anything more than that is a crime. Most juniors do not bother to complain or tell anyone when they are ragged and suffer in silence. So don't indulge in ragging juniors”

Actress T. Parvathy,  who is also a psychologist,  says, “many parents send their children outside the state for higher studies hoping that they would become more responsible in life  after having lived in a pampered nuclear family environment.  They take into consideration the marks of the child and their financial situation and randomly pick a college.  No detailed investigation into the  management or functioning of the campus takes place. The kids are going into a new place, new atmosphere, with no friends.  Parents should at least take care to send them where a few of their existing friends are going. Children are brought up in a spoon-fed environment today.  Parents should consider the mindset and attitude of the child before choosing a college,” she adds