The tree branches were drooping with the weight of the spring flowers. Ram sat beneath the cool shade of the tree. He was chanting under his breath. He had been waiting for this day for quite some time now. Even though his impatience grew every second, he couldn’t bring himself to go there. Just when he was contemplating, he heard a distant shout of his father. Heart thumping like never before, he jumped to his feet and ran towards him.
His father was running too and as they met, Ram’s father embraced his son tightly. Tears were leaking down his face and he couldn’t stop smiling. Ram was fraught with confusion and wanted the mystery to end. Seeing this, his father informed him-“You got selected, 4 days from now a new life awaits you!!!”
Ram couldn’t believe this. Being born and brought up in a small city, his life had seen more dreams than reality. He couldn’t control his tears, much to his embarrassment and cried too. He then ran to his mother who was surrounded by the ladies from the neighborhood. All were beaming with pride, nobody had ever before cracked an engineering entrance exam in their district and Ram was the very first from their small city.
After exchange of greetings and gifts, Ram began preparing for his new life ahead. His parents bought him everything he demanded. He wasn’t used to this attention. Everyone greeted him with a smile, the shopkeepers gave away free stuff to him. Life couldn’t be better for him. He left for his college next day.
His hostel was close to a luxury for him. He was allotted a room and soon began interacting with the other boys. The day melted into night and then came the much dreaded part of their college life. The seniors came to the fresher’s hostel and bullied all the 1st year students. Ram being the shy one, stood in a corner and didn’t move. One of the senior boys came to him and asked to strip his clothes. Ram was offended and gave a ‘NO’ for an answer. That boy got angry and called the rest of them to help him.
The nightmare began; they forcefully stripped off Ram of all his clothes. They started laughing and took away all his clothes. Ram fled to his room crying. He felt the world fall apart in front of him. He couldn’t bear the pain. His roommate consoled him and told him to calm down.
The next day went fairly well for Ram, he liked his new teachers and his teachers were impressed with his knowledge too. Forgetting about last night he headed towards his hostel only to be greeted by his seniors near his dorm door with a huge pile of clothes. They told him to wash all the clothes and not sleep that night. Ram had no way out, he couldn’t inform hi parents about it as he didn’t want them to be troubled. His classmates had warned him of dire consequences if he complained about those seniors to the college authority.
The torture didn’t end that night. They made him sit on a hot plate, kicked him taking turns, took all his money away and tortured him each night. He was fast losing his interest in college and started locking himself up in his room. Everyone tried to help him, but with in vain. He was suffering from chronic depression. Now he obediently did what his seniors asked from him. Only inside he was dying every second.
It was the night of the college fest. The hostel was empty, the seniors were away celebrating. Everyone returned with a lot of energy and good mood, the fest was a huge success.
Ram’s roommate was singing a song when he opened his room and yelled out in terror. The whole hostel came to see what happened. Ram was hanging by his neck from the ceiling fan. He was dead. Nobody could believe this, they called the college authority and his parents were called.
Ram’s mother went mad. She couldn’t bear the shock of this incidence. His father was very calm. He tried to question the students, but nobody helped him. They didn’t want the same things repeated to them.
Ram’s father was a courageous man. He filed a case against those seniors with the help of a couple of students who helped him secretly. He went to the court every day. Hired the best lawyer, ate less, but gave the lawyer his fees. 11 months went like this. Ram’s father was seeing it go nowhere. He was lost, he had no money and the case was losing its momentum in the court. Repetitive court dates, all with same results.
The day of the verdict came. Ram’s father was shaking with anger; he couldn’t let the murderers of his son be free. But he couldn’t do anything either.
Then the golden moment came, 10 students, Ram’s friends agreed to appear in court and testify against those seniors. Ram’s father couldn’t stop crying. He called them to the court and they testified.
The senior students were sent to jail. Ram finally got the justice he deserved.
His mother was improving and after hearing the news, she started showing signs of drastic improvement. Although he lost his only child, Ram’s father pledged to open a school on his son’s name and make every child competent enough to study further. He made this his new goal in life and worked towards achieving it.
An amazing story, thank you for sharing!
Thank you
nice article! a strange and a bitter truth of ragging still exists in our society.sometimes the extent to which small pranks should go must have a limit or line drawn,else it all ends in losing hope and life.
Hi saumya
Nice picture.
Lives are still lost and I still hear such cases as I am in college. It sad.
Thanks!
thank you Tanu! and I know its so sad and disgusting watching everything around and being helpless.
There is so much cruelty and unkindness in this world. It needs strong people like Ram’s father to stand up and fight back, but in an ideal world, he shouldn’t have to
I think the word ‘ideal’ doesn’t exist for anything in the world. People like Ram’s father are rarely there. the rest of them accept the circumstances as their fate.
This is a heartrending and impressive story all in one. All over the world, and to a greater or lesser extent, situations like this are being played out. His father stood out against his oppressors and won. Sadly, but commonly, this is not always the case.
This is clearly not the case. 2 out of 100 fight back. I thought of inspiring
Although it is so sad (and incredibly well-written), I like the fact that Ram got the justice he deserved. Maybe that’s why his father was strong enough to achieve his new goal : he knew that his son was in peace.
You are right. You know in a country like India, fighting back is really tough. Thank you for the compliment. Means a lot
By reading this, people should realize what they should not do.. Too good
I hope so Priyanka! I really do!
beautiful, spacious, relaxing blogsite – such a refreshing change!
That’s a nice thing to say. Nobody appreciates the site design, thank you so very much!
i really liked your story…similar things happen in my country too…i can relate to it…people are treated unjustly but as your story ends in someone getting justice, sadly in our world, it isnt as easy as that…all energies are consumed, life is wasted but justice remains a myth
Justice remains a myth here too. The rage has reached to its infliction point now. But the authorities don’t budge. 5 cases out of 100 get real justice. I have tried to stay positive.
Why have you been writing on human interaction in tragedy of late?Your work is always really good,but much pain in recent posts -not that pain in the human condition is absent, it is not.What do you believe readers will understand from your stories?
Hi Bri
Glad you asked this question. The thing is, Charity Spring does cause related work. I try to spread awareness about the different causes through stories. Will you ever read a boring post telling you about ragging or rape or poverty? I for one, wouldn’t read anything boring.
I have written many self help posts as well. But then I think that nobody out there is creating stories and educating people about the causes that are harming the society like never before.
If you read some of the comments, some people don’t even know that some of these causes exist! Its a small effort from my side to spread some awareness with a little creativity.
I know it can be a bit overwhelming to read only sad stories about causes. For that, I have started interviewing people from the social sector, who are making a difference in some or the other way. The last two interviews justify my point. I try to make this website as different and free as possible.
I have a theme and I am quite proud of it. I am sure you will like my work. I will try to improve. Please bear with me
It’s inexplicable how college administrators turn a blind eye to such cruelty. I know of some colleges and universities where proper administrative measures have almost eradicated such incidents. We need codes of conduct for students and counselling – for freshmen and bullies.
Exactly. The main culprits according to me are the authorities who fail to stop such incidents. Its tragic. Sadly, it is not stopping. It’s still relevant and very monstrous!
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What a sad story, but with an ending that at least gives hope of human decency.Thank you for sharing.
I am glad you liked my story
Hello Tanushree, I must say that was just heartbreaking. We have the same problem in America, but it’s usually left to the sorority houses, they call it hazing, and it’s supposed to be illegal, but they still do it, the only difference is you don’t have to be in a sorority if you don’t want to be, but so many young kids are swept away by the pride and false prominence they think they get when saying they were part of Phi Kappa Delta, etc. I cannot believe they were just blatantly torturing him, and no one stopped it. He had such a bright future! I don’t know where this was, or if it was only a story, but tragic it is. Well written tho, I couldn’t stop reading, and I love that you’re trying to help others. Gives me and others hope!!! God Bless you and yours, Deb
Thank you very much. we as individuals can do our bit, even if its a small step its still an effort to do some good for the huamanity.
Thanks for that wonderful story.
The focus of education in the world is confined to knowledge of the external world and at no point are we made aware on how to deal with our emotions or be sensitive to emotions of others. The internal world we live is a circus in emotions and we don’t know how to handle it. Ram was a victim of a ragging leading to depression. If the culprits were sensitive to Ram’s state of mind or if Ram has the tools to deal with his stress things would have been different. Ram’s case is a view of the world and society we live in today, where dog-eat-dog mentality prevails. We are either the oppressors or the oppressed.
Exactly and most of us are ignorant. The rat race is worse than ever. We are fast losing our minds in the race to achieve the maximum. Humanity is lost somewhere!
I am taking this as a fictional story – but one, judging from all the comments, that is all too real in its basis. Thank you for telling it – the first thing is always to be brave enough to tell the story. Good on you!
Thank you so much, Its my story, fictional. People feel strongly!
a captivating story
Thanks!
so sick of bullying. Happy justice was served and others stood up for what was right.
Justice is always served if you have the courage to speak for yourself. God helps those who help themselves
This brings to light many issues that “freshers” encounter in different settings where a hierarchy is created by older members. Thanks for sharing, visiting, and do continue your creative efforts!
-Kevin Dufresne
http://www.kdufresne.me
Thank you. I will.
Hi Tanushree, Thanks for your visit on our page and for your likes. Like our newly put Facebook page here http://www.facebook.com/Shekinahtoday
Wish you very best
ShekinahToday Team
What a sad story but glad Ram had a strong father to stand up for him. He’s a real inspiration.
Beautiful story. His father’s perseverance is so touching and it’s a good thing those students finally got the guts to fight the injustice. Thanks for sharing!
this is a great story compact with inspiration, justice and hope… very touching ….
Thank you!
Hi Tanushree, I just nominated you and the team for the very inspiring blogger award http://honestspeaks.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/a-very-inspiring-award/ No obligation to accept, I just wanted you to know. x
Thank you so much!
Its an honor, thanks!
amazing! I was looking for something and I found it here