Novelist Suzanne Collins in one of her books in the Hunger Games trilogy, wrote a song that went:
“Are you, are you coming to the tree?
Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree”
Such air of angst and discontent was indeed present around Hindu College’s famous (or should we say infamous) Virgin Tree on the midnight of February 13 and the morning after that.
The Background
For those who are untouched with the lore of the V-tree, this is a tree present near the Hindu College library which has been the site of a hostel ceremony observed every Valentine’s Day. A pundit from the hostel is appointed to do a puja around the tree which has condoms hanging from it and the poster of a Bollywood diva as Damdami Mai (any female celebrity in trend, hypersexualised for this purpose).
With the women’s hostel set up in recent years, a Love Guru is also chosen to be worshipped by the women students.
Yes, this is surely problematic but over the years, many saw this as just a casual joke in their ‘sex-driven college days.’ The critics of the practice found their voices lost in oblivion. But this year, there was a whole clamour of voices echoing all across Hindu College.
The drama did not start off on Valentine’s day itself, as most mainstream publications said. To understand the matter in a manner as clear as crystal, we need to go back to a few days before February 14.
It was then when the Women’s Development Cell (WDC) of the college had a talk with representatives from the hostels and the other students. It was agreed upon that this year’s V-tree puja will be more inclusive and certain sexist phrases from the prayer at the puja will be removed.
“We aimed at providing a platform to both the hostel unions and the students to express their views and put across their suggestions with regard to the puja,” says Ekansh Yadav, the president of the WDC.
The WDC was not able to do away with this controversial ceremony fully but it’s clear that it tried to curb the problematic elements.
Alas! This agreement was quickly violated.
The Eve Of Valentine’s Day
Criticism against the puja was actively brewing outside Hindu College too, most notably amongst the collective called Pinjra Tod. Pinjra Tod has earlier been involved in many a protest against unjust curfew and timings in PGs and hostels for women on campus. Its members were ready with their voices of rebellion on the night of February 13 at one of the main gates of Hindu College.
Around this time, some of the boys from the hostel were involved in decorating the tree for the next day, while some were even shouting stubborn slogans like “Hoke rahegi, hoke rahegi, V-tree puja hoke rahegi!” translating to “The V-tree will be worshipped at all costs!”
The aggression only intensified when allegedly, a professor opened the gate letting in the Pinjra Tod members. Soon, a butterfly effect was triggered as the criticism of V-tree blended with Pinjra Tod’s major issue of hostel curfews. Despite the warden’s insistence, the gates of the women’s hostel also were opened from the inside.
V-Day, Or D-Day In This Case
Speaking to several students in the morning, it was found that two schools of thought had emerged: one thought that Pinjra Tod had unnecessarily barged into Hindu College’s internal politics and the other which supported the bold protest.
The next morning, members from Students Federation of India and Hindu College’s own political faction called Hindu Progressive Front extended their hands in supporting Pinjra Tod. Most of the boys from the hostel who were interviewed said that they heard critics say they’ll “cut down the tree altogether.”
However, this statement sounds extreme and its authenticity can be questioned.
Eventually, the puja did happen and a poster from a Manyavar ad featuring Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma in ethnic wear, was hung from the tree instead of the usually bold and raunchy posters.
“The whole puja and the figures that are chosen give off a very heteronormative vibe and hence, it cannot be termed inclusive no matter how they will justify it,” was what Professor Rachna Singh, a History professor from the college thought on this sudden move.
There was even a poster of a heart painted in colours of the LGBTQ flag which was seen as a move towards change by some, and just “tokenistic representation” by a few others. I’m sure it is clear by now that the students of Hindu College were having an ideologically conflicting day.
However, on that rainy morning, the rebelling groups threatened to pull down the posters and stop the ceremony altogether.
How Pinjra Tod’s Facebook page puts it is, “When we broke through the gates of Hindu College to arrive at the spot of the V-Tree puja yesterday morning, the scenes that unfolded were very tense and hostile, ABVP men and residents of the boys’ hostel had gathered in large numbers, adamant and determined in their crusade to save V-Tree.”
While this is true to an extent, what happened next drew flak against Pinjra Tod. Certain boys formed a human chain around the tree maintaining a distance from the protesters, trying to stop them from pulling down the adornments on the tree and creating unnecessary trouble. No violence was involved but at that point, there were protesters began to attack these boys!
Most eyewitnesses claim this violence was instigated by Pinjra Tod but it could have been anyone from the other collectives too. Some boys had a few scratches here and there. There were no serious injuries but such blatant violence definitely came as a shock.
The WDC quickly came up with a post reading “Some political outfits and other organisations (We don’t think they’re even worthy enough of being named in this post) attempted to gain political mileage and push their agendas through by using sheer violence taking advantage of V-Tree Puja.”
Majority of students in the college began publicly criticising Pinjra Tod.
Many felt that Pinjra Tod’s actions on the night before and on Valentine’s day added fuel to the fire in a situation that could have otherwise been balanced. The agreement with WDC was also violated as soon, semi-nude images of actors Prabhas and Sara Ali Khan were hanging from the roof of the boys’ hostel.
Dhols were played and many danced in the college, obviously signifying a victory for those who had wanted the puja to happen in the first place.
It seemed like the fragile male egos of most hostel boys were hurt to the point that they let go of their assurance to hold a more inclusive Valentine’s day and went back to their old ways.
The Aftermath
Now it can be debated whether a different V-Day puja without any sexualisation would have happened if Pinjra Tod didn’t raise their head or the same old puja would have taken place ignoring all previous assurances and agreements. What happened in Hindu College was ironical as Pinjra Tod ended up fighting violence with violence. WhatsApp videos and images of boys being injured were circulated actively that day. Valentine’s at Hindu began to
be dubbed as ‘violent-tines.’
The adamant nature with which the puja was held also showed that the hostel boys weren’t purely innocent either. However, as Shankar Tripathi, a second-year hostel dweller, says, “I do agree that there exist people with wrong thoughts in this hostel but one can’t stereotype everyone from this hostel. They did try to make it a little inclusive, like that LGBTQ heart seemed like a nice gesture to me. It is still sexist and has its issues, and you have the freedom to criticise it but nothing can be solved with violence.”
Professor Singh raises another angle that now points to the ‘exclusiveness’ of this ceremony. She feels the very fact it’s a puja and a male pundit is chosen among the hostelers points to a Brahmanical approach. The hostelers counter this argument stating that this pundit is chosen without any regard to his caste or religion.
This conundrum has become the talk of all conversation in college, with all sides still justifying themselves. However, in this intellectual exhaust, questions still remain.
Have Pinjra Tod ‘s actions backfired? Will Hindu boys’ hostel collectively try changing its attitude? Will the V-tree puja exist in its same form or will it become a more diverse celebration on the day of love? Will it cease to exist all together?
These questions continue to flow through the Delhi University circles while the tree in itself, stands unaffected as the wind flows between its branches.