[Reader-list] B Grade Engineering College Culture

[Nalin Mathur]

B - Grade Engineering College Culture / Fourth Posting / Nalin N. Mathur


Of Cricket & Regional Divide

With Contributions from Neha Gupta – a friend, colleague and social
counselor


Most Indians would remember 1983 as the year we won cricket's holy chalice –
The Prudential World Cup. But ask people of my age and they will tell you
that it was also the year they were born. Not surprisingly then, it won't be
wrong to say the passion for cricket resides in all twenty three year old
Indians by default. Add to this passion the opportunity to be away from the
prying eyes of parents, glass-pane-window-loving neighbors and being with
some three hundred like minded individuals. The result leaves nothing to
imagine.

Just like the fervor for the game, the culture at college was such that my
mates savored the same belief as our cricket's governing body, of Zonal
Selections. The teams so formed were strictly on the basis on the region the
player hailed from. There were regular and emotion packed matches between
teams from Delhi, U.P., Punjab and Himachal. The remaining teams which did
not constitute of players 'exclusively' from a state had a heavy regional
influence. Being someone who believes in the notion that an individual is at
his truest form when engrossed in a passionate game, such duels were of
concern. Inevitably, one would observe an undercurrent of regional divide
that plagued the atmosphere; and at times highlighted the true emotions.

It was not just on the field but off the field as well that one could
witness the unrest. Those matches that involved two different factions meant
another Heysel Stadium disaster like atmosphere. The joke was that the
playing field has been a witness to less matches and more fights and that
our neighborhood dhaba often doubled up as the maison de justice.

Now, the development of groups is a common feature in any social setup.
People interact and integrate on the basis of a common thread that binds
them. In cases wherein the individuals are subjected to an environment that
is new and to adapt is a must, they generally stick with individuals having
similar cultural background. This is so because out of all things it is
one's culture and not interests and skills, which make him / her socially
acceptable. The same happens in an engineering college where people from
different cultures and background come together. The groups so formed are
basically on the basis of region and ethnicity. So we see that from the very
beginning there is an inclination of sticking with people whom one can
relate, which is absolutely perfect and understandable. However, in due
course of time, as the comfort level within an existing group increases, the
individual becomes content and makes no efforts to mingle with individuals
from / of different groups.

On the very first day I was only too happy to observe that the bulk of
people who were allotted rooms on my floor were all from Delhi. The ones on
the floor above were from UP. To this day I am not certain if the sorting
was done on purpose. The consequence of the sorting was hardly on my mind.
To have a room mate whose residence was only five minutes walk and getting
acquainted to people with whom I shared common friends from school was
reassuring. Hence, I did not look anywhere else for friends. It is my
understanding that most other students had similar experience since in the
first two months or so I never saw anyone mingling with students from other
floors. Hence, my interaction with people from UP was restricted only to the
classroom. Overall, this resulted in regional groupism rather then groups
based on intellectual likings. This was the foundation of the regional
divide that was to be experienced.

There is an interesting point highlighted by a good friend who graduated
from a different institute, but having similar experiences. She points out
the role played by the Alpha Male (or Female) in a group. He or she would be
the pivot around which the group revolved. The internal scuffle among group
members to play the role of that Alpha Male was witnessed too. This further
confirmed by belief in the notion of hanging together on the basis
intellectual likings was crippled by the 'charm' of being socially
acceptable first. She goes on further to observe, that even in universities
abroad, which often boast of their rich diversity, the students from
different countries prefer hanging out together. This may only be partially
true but the existence of various region based clubs in almost all
universities is a testimonial to the fact that region plays a major role in
bringing about the cultural dynamics that exist within an institution.
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