Edited by: Yashasvi Arunkumar (UG 2020)
Photographs by: Rohan Surti (UG 2021)
It’s time to welcome a new House of Representatives at Ashoka University. Having attended all the election events so far, I have observed many young and enthusiastic candidates ready to take the stage (and hopefully, the responsibilities that come with it). Now that the dust of the election is settling down and the votes are finally in, one question lingers in my mind: who’s not easily found on the candidates list?
According to the List released by the Election Commission, there were 37 candidates contesting for 15 seats in the House, but nearly all of them were first- and second-year students. This is, of course, not to discount the work that they have done and will do. In fact, I respect many of the people running this year, and I know several of them have already done some great work within and outside the House. However, I could find only one individual from the current third-years (UG 19) running in this cycle, and it got me thinking about why senior representation matters, at least in Ashoka’s elections.
Ashoka is a comparatively new university still in the works, growing as we speak. The third-years have had the opportunity to see the college grow. Back when they joined in the Monsoon semester of 2016, Ashoka was still a small, somewhat close-knit community, with campus culture still in the making. I myself have had the privilege of knowing many of my immediate juniors, who joined us eagerly in contributing to Ashoka’s initial growth. Having seen the earlier stages of Ashoka (physical and cultural), the earliest batches have observed exactly where Ashoka has come from, the swift and sudden changes taking place in a short period of time, and where it can go from here. As fourth-year students cannot contest elections (since we’re leaving in a few months), the third-years staying on for a while longer are the next group of people who come closest to knowing Ashoka’s tireless journey.
Even if Ashoka were an old college, having been on campus for nearly three years provides students with a lot of insight into the workings of the institution. This is specially so if they’ve worked with various groups on campus: the HoR, the administration, clubs and societies, etc. It’s not as if this is national politics, where the youngest member of parliament is 30 years younger than the average age of MPs. Here, it’s only a gap of 2 or 3 years between student candidates. Even so, those years in a fully-residential college with an intensive academic environment can provide a wealth of experience.
I do love seeing students with fire in their eyes, ready to put their names on the candidates list and get elected to the House. Politics, especially student politics, should not be considered a chore, a boring responsibility that nobody is willing to take on. However, there are times when younger students have entered campus discourse and student politics with idealistic plans that, though they have good intentions, tend to shoot extremely far (it’s not always a bad thing, of course). From my experience interacting with my fellow batchmates and immediate juniors, by the time one is halfway through their third year, they tend to be slightly calmer, though still interested in making a difference. We’ve seen a lot of Ashoka in these years, and that has made us realize that sometimes we need to pause and think before making important decisions. To have some of these pauses in parties and student governments is as essential as a fiery enthusiasm.
Finally, it’s important to realize that each batch has its own needs and perceptions. Current first-years may require something completely different from the Batch of 2022, which will join Ashoka in September 2019. In the same way, current third-years may have some needs in the future that my batch or the second-years don’t. It’s good to have a voice from each batch in the House (as much as is possible), to let each undergraduate group have a say.
Once again, I don’t want to belittle the current candidates and say that due to their age they shouldn’t contest. On the contrary, the First House had only first-year candidates during that election cycle, and the Second House had only first- and second-years running. But now that Ashoka is changing at a very rapid pace, and the number of batches on campus has increased, we need as many voices as possible representing various levels of experience. We need third-years for the same reason we need first-years: each group brings different ideas and rationales to the table, and all these rationales are important.
In addition, the current list of candidates includes people who do have a lot of experiences with Ashoka under their belt, and will continue to gain more insight as the months go by and they reach their third year. I believe that these candidates, no matter what batch they are from, have a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see what they will bring to the table. That being said, I wish the new House of Representatives the very best for the future.