Bhasad: An Omnipresent Phenomena at AMU

Ruckus, Chaos, Pandemonium and Tumult are a few words which can very vaguely represent the Hindi word – Bhasad. Actually Bhasad goes much beyond the realms of simple noise or commotion. It is much more than that. Generally, it happens out of desperation but many a times, it is very well planned and executed. Sometimes, it has a clear objective and an ulterior motive.

In Aligarh of my days, Bhasad used to be a ubiquitous activity at all public gatherings. Broadly, Bhasad prone events included – Hall Functions, Hostel Functions, Exhibition Dinners, Sir Syed Day Function, Distribution of Railway Concession Forms, Allocation of positions like Senior Hall Monitor, Senior House Monitor, Senior Food Monitor etc.

Bhasad was an opportunity for the ever ready pranksters, to launch their attack without the fear of getting caught or identified. Bhasad didn’t need a valid reason or an excuse, all the time. The most surprising thing was that even the people who were considered as academic-oriented and gentlemen, also loved to participate in Bhasad. If nothing much, they would always love to witness every bit of it and prepare a spicy and sumptuous eye-witness account to relish upon.

Some instances of Bhasad which I can recall are –
At a dinner, somebody couldn’t wait for the service spoon and he put the entire dish in front of him. Looking at him, another guy didn’t hesitate in using his hands to take out chicken pieces from the chicken curry.

People went berserk at Eid Party at VC’s Lodge and very few people got to eat anything despite the fact that there had never been any shortage at a party hosted by the Vice Chancellor. Some people were seen eating directly from the service bowls in their control.

And, the most alarming thing is that this despicable act of bhasad is also taken up by some Professors, Readers and Lecturers in various parties held at Staff Club.

Stage artists face an extra-ordinary stage fright while performing anywhere on AMU campus. The Bhasad-causing elements spring to their full force if the performer isn’t very good, gets nervous or stumbles somewhere.

The horror of bhasad terrifies the organizers, gives them awful nightmares and sleepless nights before the event they are going to organize. On the lighter side, one who can successfully organize a bhasad-free event at AMU campus, can do amazingly well in Event Management.

Quite exciting enough, when I tried searching the word “Bhasad” on the Internet, I found it on various Alumni fora like that of IITs, IIMs, and XLRI. Someone has gone to the extent of saying that “Bhasad” can originate just to break the monotony at college / university campuses. So it isn’t really a bad thing I guess. After all, this is what we fail to forget of our college days.