COPS AND THE CAPTAIN

*


Down Memory Lane


An army officer’s unusual hobby


My uncle Balraj had been a captain in the British army, and had seen action in Burma during World War II. After the end of the war and his retirement from the army he settled down in England where he got a highly remunerative job. He visited us once in two years, and his visits were looked forward to since he was an entertaining talker and a jolly person.

An entertainer


He was dark and plump, but very well dressed. He was a pipe smoker, and whether the pipe was lit or not, it dangled forever from one corner of his mouth. His friends called him by his initials, JSB. The boys and girls from the neighbouring houses gathered in our place when JSB came on a visit. He regaled them with stories of the war which he told in a lively rollicking style.

JSB had a rather unusual hobby. He was an avid student of the origins and developments of language. He gave us fascinating accounts of how some words came into being, and how their meanings changed during the course of time. Most of what he said has been forgotten, but the story of some words stuck in my mind.

Origin of ‘cops’


One such word was ‘cop’. We now use the word to refer to a policeman, but without knowing how the word came into being. It is supposed to be derived from the old English verb to cop, meaning to catch, or get hold of. A policeman is also referred to as ‘copper’, that is one who cops or catches offenders. “Mind you, he may be a copper, but that doesn’t make him a mean metal” said JSB with a chuckle. “And when you write cops, make sure not to add an ‘e’. That would make them woods”

There is another theory too about the origin of ‘cop’. In 1829, Sir. Robert Peel organised the first police force in London. Members of Peel’s force were dressed in blue uniforms with large copper buttons. These conspicuous copper buttons it is said gave the name coppers to the police. This was later shortened to ‘cop’. London policemen were sometimes called ‘peelers’ or ‘bobbies’ after Sir.Robert Peel, who was affectionately known as ‘Bobbie Peel’.

JSB gave us many such accounts about various words, always interlaced with boisterous humour and guffaws. We were enthralled by his witty exposition of the origin of words. He passed away in his nineties about fifteen years ago.


*

RAGGING THOSE DAYS ...

It wasn't so bad after all!


Of late a lot of criticism has been levelled against ragging in colleges, and efforts are being made to ban it officially. Ragging is obviously considered an unpleasant aberration of student life.

Ragging fifty years ago


Over fifty years ago when I joined the Madras Christian College as a postgraduate, ragging was considered a pleasurable activity and was enjoyed not only by the seniors but also the juniors who were ragged.

The change from then to the present has been an attitudinal degeneration perhaps. The humour and the intellectual duels of yore have given place to rough tactics, manhandling, vulgarity and the humiliation of the newcomers.

Those days in the MCC, ragging was confined to the hostels (or Halls as they are called). So no lady students were involved, and no sexual innuendos were there. Ragging consisted mostly of some challenges thrown by the seniors and the meeting of these challenges by the juniors. Some threats were made, but mostly humorously. For instance the juniors were told that if they had moustaches, half the moustache would be removed, and the juniors will have to live with their half moustaches forever. Naturally the juniors were clean-shaven when they came for the ragging. A mighty senior asked me, "What happened to your moustache?" "I was asked to remove it," I said. "Who asked you?" he demanded belligerently. "You did," I said. And he broke into a faint smile and moved off.

When we moved into the Heber Hall we were expected to learn the Hall song. This was based on a Ceylon Bila tune, and composed by Prof.Chandran Devanesan, the warden. "If you come to Tambaram, Darling/ Come to Heber Hall/ Heber is a paradise/ Fish pond and all". The fish pond in question was a small pool of water in the middle of the hall. And though there was a threat hanging over us that we would be ducked in this pond, no one was ducked against his will. The seniors avoided physical contact while ragging. The Heber Hall song also had this verse: "If you want to marry, my darling/ And to marry well,/ Stick to a Heber lad/ And send the rest to hell".

Jolly good fellowship


Clever answers to tricky questions by the seniors were genuinely appreciated. On the last day of the ragging, the students gathered in the indoor auditorium of the hall. A list of topics was kept in a hat, and the junior had to pick one and then speak for about five minutes on the selected topic. These topics lent themselves to double entendres, and the juniors who wittily took advantage of this were applauded generously.

After the speech, the junior was asked to kneel and close his eyes. "Now you are to taste the Heber grape," intoned a mighty senior, and a neem fruit was fed to the junior. And by the time his grimace ended he would be given the "Heber honey", which was castor oil. And then came the momentous words as the mighty senior laid a small, wet branch from a neem tree on the junior's head and said, "Barbarian, rise as Heberian". And the ragging ended there. The seniors embraced the juniors amidst hearty laughter, and they all went to the mess together for a special dinner.

By the time the ragging ended, everyone knew everyone else. And many lasting friendships were formed. Ragging was a blessing that way.

If ragging has degenerated today it is only because of the degeneration of the minds of the youngsters. Violence is ready to erupt at the least provocation. Vehicles are stoned and public property damaged for the flimsiest of reasons.

Ragging is perhaps a casualty of this violence.








J.VASANTHAN



© Copyright 2000 - 2008 The Hindu

PUBLISHER'S NOTE !

PUBLISHER is one who publishes the articles of another person ... well, with that definition I deem to call myself a publisher for JV !!

I have got all the URLs for all the articles he wrote in METRO PLUS of THE HINDU.
So I hope I can keep posting all those articles regularly here in his blog at some reasonable intervals. You, the regular readers, can always knock at my inbox, in case I fail to keep up my word. (dharumi2@gmail.com)

see you, often hereafter.

cheers!!