I have always maintained that any sort of behaviour from a person is primarily because of what he or she is as an individual and not because he belongs to or is a part of a particular community. And I have always defended this stand too because I truly believe in it.
But something that I have been noticing around me for a long time makes me a little less bent on this.
I see that the language of people from DU is very different from that of people in any engineering college as also from someone who is studying in a professional college doing a course like BBA, BBM or even journalism. For that matter, the MBBS lingo is different from all of these too. And I really wonder how varied the culture in these places could be to bring about such a difference because it is probably not just language but something more too.
Really! I see friends from school who are now doing different things and the transformation in everyone is very visible. The ‘DU crowd’ is distinguishable from the ‘IIT/DCE brand’ very easily. In fact, having been a part of DU for nearly three years and having been using the metro for more than a year, I can even tell which group of people are from which college quite accurately. Looking at people I can tell that they’d get off at Kashmere Gate because they are going to DCE or at Rajiv Chowk because they are going to NSIT. Within DU, the wannabes of Khalsa, Stephen’s and Hansraj, the Venky we’re-the-coolest kinds, the JMC chicks, are all very different from each other too (No offence, people! I’m not doubting the genuine cases of these institutions). And it’s really amusing how that can be.
Oh, it suddenly feels like DU is quite crappy. Crap!
How if anything has to be appreciated, it is everything from ‘mast/tashni’ to ‘hot’ to ‘pretty cool’. They’re all very common terms (at least in Delhi) but they’re still representative of people from different institutions in some sense.
Almost all my friends who are future engineers and doctors have a certain degree of crudeness (Not in a negative sense) whereas, those who were quite crude even after school ended and joined DU have a polish (genuine or fake is another debatable topic though).
On a personal level, I know that the difference in culture can become an issue big enough to lead two people who are at the same level initially to being led in completely different directions and lose on compatibility.
I don’t know if I am being able to convey what I am thinking but I am highly curious about how this happens. How is it that people had started identifying me as a person with the ‘DU attitude’ right after 1st year? Why do people from say, JIMS or a similar place have an air about them which talks of a completely different world?
I am still very sure that this does not mean that the individual style gets lost but in this case the influence is definitely heavy.
DK, Subhadip and Sayani Di, I’m expecting some psychological/sociological, etc kind of reasons from you guys. Enlighten me, please. 🙂
Fuchsia 
Totally agree. Though like you said ppl do retain their individuality as well. Don’t know how or why it happens. Probably the admission process tends to sift similar ppl in a coll. Or maybe ppl change after being in the coll and doing similar things (Marx’s materialism).
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Yes Tarun, had I known you’ll be coming to read this post, I’d have mentioned your name in the end to explain the philosophical economics behind it too.And did you notice my long sentences too? But I’m sure they’re not in Amiya’s league. 😀
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I’m not even that sure about whether people change in different colleges or not…. but peoples perceptions about others definitely change… the number of times ive been called a “DU chick” or a “DU ki chokri” by my engineering n medical friends….n i just dont c y…..but at the end of the day, i guess some part of us does get moulded into the way vr expected to be…i dont think im making ne sense…..
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ShreyaYou’re making some sense to me. Like you said, maybe some part does get moulded…DU ki chokri too? Thank God I never got that one. 😀
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hmm.. i was actually looking forward to something like this.. almost expecting it..from you. Its really tough to answer this.. coz we can attribute a variety of reasons to why it happens.. one of them could be the rigmarole that an engineering student goes thru is very different from what someone in du faces.. plus the fact tht in an engg. college they hem you in with all kinds of things.. the whole environment’s very different.. and you have people from all over the country coming in.. whereas in du most of the people r from delhi(not so sure though!).. makes a world of a difference.. and its just the tip of the iceberg.. there are a million other factors too.. the technical jargon vs. the cool lingo of du.. lotsa things!
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and thats why the du brand is so distinguishable.. and engg. students barring some have a typical expression on their faces ..so its no big deal really.. hehehe..
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DeepakWell, you’re just telling me that the environment is different in engg. colleges and that is something I know. What followed was my curiosity to know why it is so. I’d have liked you to expand on the rigmarole bit a little. DU has a lot of people from other states. It’s almost a 1:1 ratio. In my class itself I have UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, HP and so forth. So I don’t want to say that DU doesn’t get that kind of exposure.And dude, I don’t think it is technical jargon vs cool lingo. What is pitted against the cool lingo is the crude language because trust me, you can find enough of technical jargon here too. And you’re talking to an Eco student about that. I can give you loads and loads of jargon.Lastly, I did not mean to say that the DU brand is distinguishable as a stand-alone entity. I meant that the different colleges as brands are distinguishable from each other.Maybe it’s no big deal but I felt like writing and then receiving people’s viewpoints on it.So even though I don’t agree with most of what you have written, I appreciate your comment.I’m a little curious about your expecting this post from me though. Wanna elucidate?
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@richaright out of school, in college…more or less first time independent in a way out there in the world (notice in a way) these yrs are quite important for anyone’s life and the college, circle of friends, environment around you matter a lot in shaping up the real u for the coming years. so yeah, u r right when u say that u will find difference in an engg grad, an IIT grad or a du grad……..everyone of them have their own set of positive attributes of cuz of reasons mentioned above as well negative too………..An individual identity is shaped up by these yrs along with lot of other factors…….cognitive upbringing in form of family, school, neighbourhood……etc etcRemember my post “Traces” thats wat i meant too……….i can still make out who is fron which kind of background with reasonable error 😀 its very easy………@deepakricha gave u a perfect ans, u need to step in DU or JNU to see that u will find people from almost all North Indian states atleast…..and my exp of engg colleges (IIT and BITS Pilani apart) tells that its not different there too……
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Your post made me think of examples and that made me agree completely with your observations. It’s like what Tarun said – half the job of differentiation is done when similar kinds of people get slabbed in similar institutions, and then that similarity further gets strengthened during college years when these people act/ behave/ think/ get influenced by fads etc. in a similar way. Then of course there’s the usual stereotypical aspect Shreya mentioned (drawback of commenting so late – I end up rehashing others’ comments), the “DU culture” or “engg culture” that has taken on a definitive form in most people’s minds makes them see a person in that light, whether or not that person gives much reason to be seen that way. You see, say, a wannabe surd and you get to know that he’s from *this particular* college and you go “obviously wahan ka hi hoga yaar”. Never mind that his coll has a lot other people who do NOT subscribe to that stereotypical image of the coll… but you don’t see that. Someone gets down at Kashmere gate, you assume “DCE”, turns out DCE and you’ll remember that you were right. You won’t remember all the times you weren’t right cuz, well, they don’t count. You’ll only remember that it happened “so many times” that you could identify a person’s affiliations correctly because that kinda positive connection, the feeling that “things do fit”, leaves a more lasting impact.So yeah, stereotypes/assumptions are often built out of reality but then the reality in turn gets coloured by stereotypes. Both feed on each other and make the process of brand identification (if it can be termed that) even stronger.
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DKHmmm….I remember the post.AmiyaHmmm…I guess it’s true that the stereotype overshadows the others.I think I somewhere got lost in all these words. And I get a feeling that I haven’t got what I was looking for.But I get what all of you are saying. Something strange…
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“Any sort of behavior from a person is because of what he / she is” – I agree. What a person is depends a lot on his / her environment. As a child, he is influenced mostly by parents. As that child grows, his relatives and friends play a part. Notice here that the child doesn’t have much choice here. At around 16, when the person is as intelligent as he is going to be, moves to college, he makes a choice – about his career, his future and unknowingly about his friends. He meets new friends, enjoys the new found freedom and experiences this whole new world together. So, naturally, they influence each other – in the way they talk, they dress, their attitude.Are you enlightened enough, or shall I continue?
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I’m not enlightened enough.You’ve talked about individuals and their influence on each other. But how is it that there are some very distinguishable characteristic features of specific types of colleges?So you may go on… 🙂
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