To the ‘tall’ and ‘mighty’ in D-School, you disgust me!
I have told this story so many times now, in front of so many people that in my head when I start to write this it does not sound original. But maybe, after all, this is not an original story or even a unique one. Maybe this is a story that is already known to many. As a matter of fact I know a lot of my own peers who have faced this. So what I am doing here is really not to tell anything unique or unknown to public knowledge, but probably repeating. Repeating words aloud. Words that have been discussed in hushed libraries, joked in front of chai stalls or slowly still sit quietly inside people’s consciousness. But repetition is important. Repetition helps in truth to finally settle once it jerks everyone up awake. Repetition cements the truth. Even though they can be very ugly at times.
This piece is not an analysis piece. No. This is simply a recollection of individual incidents, ones that I have been actively a part of. Delhi School of Economics or what people call ‘D-School’ or ‘DSE’ is one of the premier institutes in the country. When I got into it, my mother announced in front of her friends that I would be the first in my entire family to go to that ‘prestigious’ institution. Of course it is ‘prestigious’. I do not want to give the impression that it is not or that I did not grow or learn anything at that place. Of course I did. I learnt the importance of going back to texts repeatedly or the absolute necessity to understand contexts behind any kind of writing. But that is a story that is celebrated and repeated by the strong and the mighty in academia just way too often and I am not here to add to that. I am here to underline the lesser known or discussed story of disgust that I attach to that place.
On 6th February 2019, a dear friend of mine Aarushi Kalra wrote a moving and a strong piece in The Wire wherein she explicitly pointed out the casteist, classist environment in D-School, but particularly in the Economics Department. She titled that piece “To D-School, Without Love”. While I absolutely agree to everything that Kalra writes and applaud her for braving to put all the issues to light, I am not particularly fond of the title. It gives the impression that it is being addressed to a non-living, four-walled entity. No. The toxic culture at D-School is being spread by living, breathing professors and students alike. And most of the incidents I describe are from the Sociology Department in D-School. I am going to ask why was a renowned Professor of the Department who had been accused by hostel cleaning staff of a University hostel in which she was a Provost given such a thumping farewell by the Department? Even after it was public knowledge that the entire hostel union and students living there went on a strike in support of the hostel staff, why was she celebrated? The hypocrisy that is on display by professors and students who can also condemn casteism and class hierarchies in education in the same breathe is a talent that needs particular research.
There is a vast gap between professors and students that I felt, is celebrated or even encouraged. It felt that most often than not, the professors enjoyed being intimidating, giving the impression that maybe the more knowledgeable you are, the more intimidating you need to be. But why did they feel intimidating? Well many instances, to bridge that gap students needed to speak English and English of a particular diction, tone and a vocabulary. Classrooms were spaces where the professors demarcated which were ‘intelligent’ questions and which were not. And ‘intelligent’ questions more often than not always came in English and of a particular kind. I remember in our first day when the department welcomed us, it was announced that for those who are weak in English, ‘special English classes’ can be arranged. Some months later when students mostly Scheduled Castes, approached a few professors to request if they can write their exams in Hindi, it was vehemently denied citing reasons of professors’ inability to understand Hindi well. The environment was so intimidating that two of my own batchmates fell sick right before exams and one even left the institute altogether. This one particular professor who took our tutorial even mocked a fellow friend for his inability to articulate in English better in front of us! And as it happens, he was an ST. But with the ones who could throw in concepts in languages that were hailed, jokes were shared over cups of tea.
There is a culture to mark terribly in this department. It is as if they enjoy it. Marks sadly, become important for students in a world where they still continue to decide students’ futures. There was no way students can get foreign scholarships or even admissions in universities abroad with the marking pattern of the department. Hence for students a way out was to choose subjects from other departments, particularly subjects like Buddhist Studies or Environmental Studies which marked liberally. But often such students were mocked or slyly sniggered by teachers and students alike. This hidden hierarchy was there not just among departments but also within courses of the department. For some reason, Sociology of Symbolism was considered extremely prestigious and students opting out of it were considered less ‘intelligent’ or not sociologically inclined enough. The hierarchy was often seen among teachers within the department too. More experienced, published and ‘reputed’ teachers were seen more favorably than others. Upper-caste teachers from privileged class backgrounds are ones filled in the department over others.
And can I just put it out there blankly? The department is filled with teachers who are extremely bad in teaching. I came across maybe two professors who I can firmly say taught well, the rest seemed either just too lazy or clueless in holding a good lecture. In hiring professors, the University often forgets that one can have a good grasp over the subject-matter, write well, be published, reputed but still massively fail in teaching. And they lie to you when they say that in Universities, one learns mostly outside the classes. No. I have been a teacher myself and I would go on to argue that of course learning happens mostly outside the classes, not just in universities but in schools and colleges too. But learning happens primarily when the seed for curiosity to learn is sown in the classroom and by the teacher. And that cannot happen in an environment of intimidation and unwritten, unspoken rules of exclusion.
This is of course a classist, casteist space, a space that not just reeks of privilege but also loves celebrating it. The mighty who have written and publicly advocated for inclusion in education spaces, about caste and class are the ones who are casually propagating, leaving behind a legacy that continues to haunt the walls of the most ‘prestigious’ institute till date. We are manufacturing students filled with fear, some who would go on to have life-long issues of under-confidence, disgust towards the subject and academia in general, many who suffered and continue to suffer from a series of mental health issues and considering many will belong to the SCs and STs, could not even afford to treat them. And as for me, I would search for as many engagements as possible outside the campus in a bid to never spend an extra ounce of time inside than necessary. I would bunk as many classes as needed, cut out the time to spend all my energies on writing, directing and producing an independent theatre production and promise that I will never set foot in this claustrophobic, hypocrisy of a space ever again.
Aarushi’s article: https://thewire.in/education/to-delhi-school-of-economics-without-love
