Dear HCU,
In our country, most girls are brought up believing this one false notion: boys and girls are not the same…
I’m one of those girls.
February 19, 2001.
In a small town called Lingampet, in pouring rain, God sent a special delivery…me.
My parents might have wished for a boy child, but they still brought me up like a princess…albeit with a few terms and conditions.
2 years later, my parents’ wish came true…my baby brother was born.
I’m not sure why, but both of us had different rules while growing up.
And if I’d question that, my mother would say, “Boys and Girls are not the same.”
All the clothes and gifts that I got were pink, he’d get blue.
I’d get a doll; he’d get a remote control car.
I was sent for Bharatanatyam classes, and he was sent for Cricket Coaching.
While I wasn’t allowed to get out of the house much, he’d hardly be at home.
One day, my school coach selected me to join the Cricket Team.
But my mother prohibited me in the fear that I would “become dark”.
I was even selected for the Basketball Team.
But in the fear that I’d “become tall” and wouldn’t get a suitable groom when I grow older, my mother prohibited me again.
Tennis would require wearing short skirts,
Swimming would require swimsuits,
Athletics might get me hurt…
Citing what relatives, Neighbor’s, and the society might talk about me, everything my mother said made me slowly lost my interest in sports.
I didn’t want to become just another woman who never gets out of the kitchen…
So
I started concentrating on my studies.
After months of persuasion,
My father finally gave into my tears and let me travel to Nizambad to attend college.
Initially, I didn’t like Nizambad at all.
The pollution, the buzzing crowd, the fast pace…
I felt scared to even walk the streets alone.
And after years of studying in an all-girls school,
I was suddenly thrust into a co-education environment.
I had no idea of how to talk or behave in the midst of boys…
So
I stayed in my own shell.
I thought I wouldn’t have to live according to the rules I had at home.
I thought I was going to live a carefree, independent hostel life.
But then,
“Western clothes not allowed.”
“If you want to go out, you need your parents’ signature.”
“No use of mobile phones after 10 PM.”
“Hostel gates shut at 6 PM.”
After a few days, we discovered that there were no such rules in the Boys Hostel.
I thought of the same thing my mother used to say: “Boys and Girls are not the same.”
2 girls stood up in protest against the college authorities for this disparity…
But none of us had the courage to join them.
We didn’t want to get into trouble unnecessarily
My 2 friends and I: all we did was go from hostel to class and back and maybe catch a movie together.
This way, the college life just flew past us.
I wanted to purse higher education.
By putting all my efforts, I got admission in Hyderabad Central University.
12 October 2021.
For the first time ever, alone with my luggage bag, I caught a 216 bus and landed at University of Hyderabad.
I felt as nervous as I did on my first day in Nizambad.
But the moment I stepped into the HCU…
It didn’t matter if I knew anything about HCU, but when I stepped onto the campus, I just felt like “hey buddy, this is the world you have been dreaming of, this is your world.”
In these 6 months, I don’t remember how many people I met, how much fun I had, how many memories I made, how much freedom I’m feeling. I love every moment here.
This atmosphere, these sights, and these faces– they’ll remain with me until my last breath.
The campus air was filled with joy, the sound of smiles everywhere, and most importantly quality of education for all to achieve highs in life…
In the campus, same rules for both boys and girls.
Irrespective of Religion, Gender, caste everyone has an Equal Chance to participate, if any sports or other event takes place on campus. There are even unisex teams also.
When there is an issue within the campus or nationally: all students irrespective of any differences come together and protest against the issues.
There might be divisions and differences in the outside campus…but here?
There was no religion, no caste, no rich, no poor, and above all, there was no boys, no girls…Only students.
If you think about, HCU is like our world itself…
It doesn’t matter whether I come from Telangana or Andhra Pradesh,
Someone from North India, or from South India —
Even if we come from different Castes, religions, or from different states, when it comes to the HCU campus, they break the existing differences and live together to study.
There are a lot of difference’s in our country every girl is taught to believe that women shouldn’t talk too much, shouldn’t get out of the house much except to complete her studies, only to throw it all away, get married, get domesticated, serve her husband and keep producing babies–She shouldn’t dare to dream beyond this.
But in the same country, there are women like Mithali Raj, Mary Kom or PV Sindhu
Who break these obstacles and emerge victorious.
How does that happen?
When I was young, I didn’t get to pursue sports…
But I can’t blame my parents for that now.
Society conditions us to believe that ‘boys and girls are not the same’…
But it’s only our own will power that can break that belief.
In just 6 months, HCU taught me everything, I couldn’t learn in all these years.
Now, HCU isn’t just a university for me…it’s a way of life.
- Ramanjaneyulu S
- Dear CSK, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LulRAZRAGdw
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