Mumbaikars will experience a culture shock if they try to get admitted to the colleges of Kerala. The literacy rate of 96.2% ranks highest among all states in India. Expected to be surrounded by intellectual students and greenery everywhere, one needs to catch up on the politics on the campus, which is non-existent in a metropolitan city like Mumbai.A city like Mumbai is very passive towards politics overall. Here, students are what we call ‘apolitical’. There are elections in Mumbai colleges where 2-3 people stand for one position and are not backed by political parties or supporters. They form a committee, and for the next year, they will organise all the events and take up all the problems; if the students have issues with their representative, they can take it up with the staff member who would be heading the committees. But mostly students stay quiet and wait for another election to avoid this lengthy and tormenting procedure. Students here are unaware of their rights; there are no feelings of togetherness, collectiveness, belonging and responsibility towards their college and people.What happens in Kerala is the opposite of this.Student politics in Kerala is portrayed in the media as cruel, violent. The narrative is: “They are pushing students at a young age to do all the dirty work for politicians in the name of the party they follow. They are giving students complete freedom to roam on campus, drift away from their studies, and eventually become goons.” This news could be true to some extent; however, the headlines don’t cover the positive side of the coin.Born and brought up in Mumbai, it was a massive step for me when I decided to join a college in Kerala. During our online induction for masters, I received a call from a party member asking me if I was interested in joining their party. Like any Mumbaikar, I was ‘apolitical’; I think apolitical is a term that defines the cluelessness and confusion that a person goes through regarding politics. It also comes from the privileges of being upper caste and class.After watching and reading news about politics in Kerala, I was convinced that it is “dirty” politics, from which I should stay away. Reaching college, the first thing an outsider feels is being left out on the campus, wondering how they will survive and who will help them. That is when one will be surrounded by many student organisations keen to help you in every way possible. The tussle to bring their student’s political organisation into power is so competitive that they get involved in all the major and minor problems a student faces. They will support you and help you out even if you have to face people in authority, and before you even realise it, you will have become part and parcel of that party, just like a family member. One will learn what politics means, how to fight for one’s rights, help others, and not unthinkingly following.The word ‘protest’ has a negative connotation in some circles. It is described as a way to bunk the lectures, create an issue out of nothing, and then exaggerate every issue considered a small problem. Still, what ones ignore here is how it is a step towards knowing what is right and what is wrong, to move on from all diplomatic paths and to choose what one believes in; it is a way to find yourself, to come out of the cave which Plato beautifully in his allegory of the cave. The allegory talks of people who have lived in a cave for a long time, believing the shadows shown in the walls to be accurate when, in reality, the actual world/sunlight is outside the cave. These organisations act like philosophers who will guide us toward this light. They not only guide you; they will also make you part of it and teach you how to make a choice.While in college, the students were instructed to be inside the hostel gates by 8 pm. On one day, we were not provided with electricity after a specific time in the scorching heat. The next day, all the students organisations including members of rival parties came together to call newbies like us to join them for a protest demanding a generator, and to remove the curfew which was imposed. This protest was headed by those who were not even the part of the hostel and still wanted to remind us of our rights. There were many instances where committees like this kept on helping students; it started to change our perceptions. Even when they left the college after completing their education, we thrived to be just like them, to be helpful in all ways possible; it is a legacy which has forever impacted the students there. It prepares students to face a world where everything is political.Vaishnavi Nair is a Lecturer at Sophia College for Women.
