Ignorance Is Bliss

When Deepika mailed me the post below, I instantly told her I was putting it up on my blog 'cos I loved it. Her experience of intelligent friendships is remarkable, coming as she is from JNU, one of the most prestigious seats of learning in India. When I was in college back in my hometown, I was fascinated by stories I'd heard about the place, the intellectuals and the oh so romantic spread of the university with its rocks and trees and peacocks. I thought it must be such a coveted place to be in. Not that I aspired to be there!

And then I visited JNU several times after I moved to Delhi. The more I frequented the place, the more demented I found the inmates. Cocooned in their world of bookish knowledge and self-sufficiency, they had no life. The impression was made worse by a bunch of them, JNU intellectuals ,who joined my first workplace the PTI. Parochial, warped and so full of petty politics, I thought they really were a disgrace to that prestigious name. I wasn't alone in the way I saw them.

But for a few exceptions, my impression hasn't changed much over the years. Giving credence to my opinion are some of the infamous rape and molestation cases that have happened over there. The latest in print in newspapers is this so-called scholar and son of an IPS officer, who raped his German friend in a Jaipur hotel. Caught and behind bars, he managed to escape and is on the run. Now the father faces arrest for being mum on his son's whereabouts. It's not one of a case, there are even cases of women being raped in the only co-ed hostel the university boasts of.

So, if you are fascinated by the rocks and greenery of that place, beware it's not quite a safe idea even though the place is infested with students. Perhaps, the only saving grace about the place are the bunch of north-easterners labelled 'fast' by the rest. They stick to their own, give two hoots to the conservative 'jhola kurta' fashion, enjoy their own fests, and of course, the concessions too. In short, they add glamour to JNU while making it to the civil services. More power to my compatriots! Quite a racist one, this one but what the hell, that's plainspeak!