The period from 1975 to 1978 was very tumultuous in the Regional Engineering College, (abbreviated as  R.E.C.) ,  for students, teachers and non-teaching staff. Many small problems could  become huge due to the negligence of the authorities and some due to uncompromising attitude of those involved.

Many of the students’  problems were related to ragging. R E C, those days, was notorious for ragging. Students speaking different languages ​​coming from different states were living outside  their homes for the  first-time. The people and the surroundings were completely unfamiliar to most of them. The homesickness of living alone away from home  for the first time, the lack of home-like comforts and a different diet all troubled the newly arrived youngsters. Along with this there were programs known as ragging of seniors. At first ragging starts as a joke, but sometimes the game escalates to the point of physically harming the freshers. Often the primary goal was to teach children new to a new environment to behave politely and respect their seniors. There were many suggestions for that. In the hostel and campus, normal clothes (lungi mundi etc.) should not be worn, pants and shirts should always be worn, no moustache, seniors should be saluted when they see them, and cigarettes should not be smoked in front of seniors. If anyone broke these rules, they would be interrogated in groups, made fun of, made to sit in non-existent chairs, sing vulgar songs, etc. If anyone refuses to do this, the punishment will be increased. They also complained that some children go home on weekends for fear of ragging. At least a  few freshers could not accept these  without protest. Those  who protested violently used to be  bodily harmed and so on. If anyone complains to the authorities, the authorities will suspend the alleged culprits immediately after a preliminary investigation. A detailed investigation will then be  conducted and a few found guilty  have even been expelled. It was a really difficult time for the wardens and others for three to four months after the new admission.

Another problem was the interference of politicians. No one was prepared for the children in the R E C / NIT institution to become monkeys of political parties. But every year few would try to enlighten the students politically. Since the number of such students was very small, we teachers were able to manage them separately. But when these politically inclined persons get an opportunity like when some  are  punished for ragging, these sleeping heroes will try to intervene.  A very  painful incident took place   in the  campus  once related  to ragging.

Kattangal incident

Among the  men’s hostels, the closest to the nearby  Kattangal market is the E Hostel. I was  initially staying in this  hostel after joining REC in 1969. Later, I   became the  warden here. At that time the residents of E Hostel were final year students. In general, most of them were matured and wanted to  complete the course, get  a job and make a living. But there were also a few trouble  makers.

There was a temporary reading room in each of the hostels called Common Room. There was no TV then. There may be an old radio, but no one cared about it. It is open only from 5 pm to 8 pm. There are some magazines and sometimes newspapers to read. These   Newspapers   used to be delivered at the hostel entrance morning and will disappear even before lunch recess. But magazines like TIME, NEWSWEEK, etc. and even Malayalam weeklies used to be   handed over directly to the responsible persons by the  agent. One of the  student residents was elected as a Common Room Secretary and he   was supervising the activities  there. An attendant, usually a  mess boy   used  to assist him.  When I was a warden in the hostel, the two candidates who contested for the post of E Hostel common room representative were from Kollam. Neighbours, but families who are at odds with each other. Let us call them Raju and Prakash (names changed). Raju won the election by a  low margin and Prakash was furious at that.  Later, Prakash would always come to me with complaints about the running of the common room. At first, I was  going through these but  when I realized that it was part of his personal animosity, I started to ignore it. Magazines started disappearing within seconds of being read, which is the main subject of the complaint. The attendant was also an incapable boy.  He couldn’t figure out how it was happening or who was taking it.

Mr. Prakash was apparently against ragging in the college. He canvassed a few  students to this  small group  which did not have much favour among the  majority of the students. But he gathered together some locals of Kattangal and called an anti-ragging public meeting at Kattangal market. While other boys  didn’t react at first, some did when it developed into a program against their classmates. The people of the anti-ragging organization were searched and threatened and there were some minor skirmishes. Within a day or two this quarrel led to an open war between the locals and the college students s in Kattangal, with the kids beating up the locals and so on. The glass windows  of one or two hotels in Kattangal market  were damaged. In general, some anti-socials fuelled this discontent and caused many conflicts between the natives and the REC students. This went on for three to four days and the locals broke the main pipe line that was bringing water to the college campus from a river four miles away and there was no water in the campus. Then and now there was a severe shortage of water in the campus at times. Because of lack of water in the river

More than 2000 people, including children and those living with their families, were worried about not getting water, even for drinking. It got to the point that locals would beat anyone from the college if they came out. People were afraid to go out with their pants on, and in short, the residents of the campus became like marooned passengers in a shipwreck on a deserted island in a rough sea. Many of the wells in the campus, which had not been cleaned for years, were soon cleaned. People started fetching water with buckets and ropes for essential needs. The college authorities brought some water in tanker lorries from the city or other rivers. Anyway, I remember that this situation lasted for about a week. Later, panchayat members and college authorities stepped forward and restored peace and allowed the  pipeline to be repaired and restore water supply. It is no exaggeration to say that the residents of the campus really went through three to four days of hell.

The two persons named in this incident unfortunately are not alive today. It was heard that both died prematurely. One of them committed suicide and the other drowned while swimming in Kovalam beach. I hope their souls will forgive me if I am wrong.,