Cultural fests where all colleges come together are the hub of such petty quarrels. Hiral Patel, a college student says, “Cultural fests are events where many students come to cheer for their respective groups, and this is where we have fights. Girls get into brawls, the most common one being for the cheering cup. But it’s all a part and parcel of the game and you have to accept it.”
Fighting publicly affects the college’s reputation. “Sometimes when the brawls publicly, it does affect the institutions reputation. Not only big fights, but also silly insignificant fight go beyond school campuses. Certain fights are so silly that you could just talk them out rather than react to them and create a scene. I remember there was a classmate who liked spreading rumours, some students just let it go, but when things got out of hand, they caught her outside school and started beating her up,” says Khushboo Nagpal, a second year student.
Students although in hindsight see these fights as a juvenile outburst, many say that these take on a ugly turn in public places. “Sometimes it’s upsetting how students just fight over impractical things, like losing a match and end up beating a person who is not responsible for it. They take it forward to cafes and homes, instead of conducting themselves like mature youngsters,” says Nitin Dugar, a final year student.
Aparna S. Gharpure, a child psychologist says, “Brawls have now turned public due to the attention they get. Youngsters being volatile, they are generally provoked by people outside the college, and even before a mature individual steps in, youngsters just pick up a fight. Apart from fights over matches, body president elections and trade unions, silly fights during culturals are on the rise.”