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| Sunday, 17 October 2004 |
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Student life in an alien world : RAG week RAG is such a dirty word in Sri Lanka. No, I don't mean a piece of cloth; I mean the scary one associated with the start of university. So, when my 'college mum' revealed that she was the college RAG rep, I got a little worried. "Er... what does that entail?" I asked, backing away slightly. "The usual," she said, "organising events, publicity that sort of thing." Aaaargh!
The university RAG society organises university-wide fundraising events like dances, three-legged pub-crawls and collections on the High Street. The college societies hold localised events like bake sales and 'bachelor auctions' (don't worry lads, strict rules apply). RAG societies have more non-monetary fundraising drives too - like collecting clothes, and food for disaster relief. The money raised is collected by the university RAG office and distributed to charities, which range from the local hedgehog hospital to the international medical charities. RAG also organises shramadhana-type efforts ranging from helping build houses for the homeless to teaching someone to read. RAG week at Oxford happens in Trinity (Summer) term when the students know each other well enough to organise a parade and do silly things to raise money. A favourite is the 'Assassination game' where each participant has to douse their allocated victim with water before the game ends (3 days). If you are taking part, that's 3 days of looking over your shoulder (whilst simultaneously tracking your victim). The water pistols come out and chaos ensues. Teaching rooms, dining hall and libraries are safe areas, but everywhere else is fair game. The only way to claim immunity is by wearing a pair of underpants on your head. I was 'assassinated' whilst on the public payphone to my parents. I'd forgotten to put pants on my head (try explaining that one to your parents!). People do the weirdest things for charity, like sponsored jelly-eating, skipping, abseiling, sitting in a bath of baked beans ... just about anything that you can get sponsored to do. One girl in my college volunteered to shave off her lovely thick hair for charity and raised a sizeable amount. This good-natured silliness is in marked contrast to the bullying practised under the same name in Sri Lanka. On the last day of RAG week, the RAG parade winds its way through the city. People line the streets to watch and, hopefully, make a donation. Each college decorates a float, based on that year's theme My personal favourite was the joint St Peter's-Merton float based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld. Being a small person, I got to be Cassanunda (a Dwarf). Somewhere, I still have a sign that says 'here be dragons'. So you see, RAG is not such a dirty word to students in England, if anything, it's something to be proud of. - Jeevani Mantotta |
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And she seemed like such a NICE person! It turned out that University
RAG in England stands for Raise and Give, and involves student
organisations that raise money for charity. Each Oxford college has its
own RAG society.
