A case of ragging? Hardly, students say. After all, it is just getting to know one's juniors.

The state government might have passed an Act this budget session banning ragging, but students are still not ready to give up the ritual of `welcoming' freshers. However, the price to be paid if caught ragging -- two years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000, if not suspension -- has made a dent in this age-old tradition. City college students say ragging has gone down considerably, thanks to the penalty imposed and also due to close supervision by college authorities.

Enterprising seniors find their way out, though. At Elphinstone, freshers weremade to stand and scream mujhe vada-pav chahiye for some time. At the end of the screaming session, they were rewarded with vada-pavs, says a student. Similar was the case at St Xavier's, near CST, though the ragging was much milder. ``At the most, we ask their names, ask them to propose to someone, sing perhaps,'' an SYBA student says.

But two students were recently suspended for a week, for making a fresher read out an obscene poem. Says principal Fr Joe Dias, ``I called their parents, showed them the poem, and also asked for an apology.'' A notice has also been put up, saying students caught ragging will not be readmitted next year, he adds.

The principal's room at St Xavier's overlooks the canteen foyer -- the main haunt for seniors looking out for freshers to be ragged. ``That's a bit scary. We have to keep looking up to see if the principal is there,'' says a post-graduate student, who is spending his sixth year at St Xavier's. Besides, the Indu Anto case and the penalty imposed thisyear have deterred a lot of students, he adds.

Also, whatever ragging that takes place now hardly amounts to anything, he says. ``When I was a fresher, the seniors poured a little water on the canteen table and asked me to swim in it,'' he recalls. But that was five years ago. Today, many students enjoy being ragged, says an SYBA student. ``Many freshers act smart so that they will be ragged. For them, it's a chance to make friends with us seniors,'' she adds.

Not for everyone. At Elphinstone, another boy asked to do a strip-tease burst into tears, says a FYJC student. In the Indu Anto case, the Sophia student committed suicide last year, allegedly due to ragging. It was the furore which followed her death that made the government enact a legislation banning ragging.

And it has not been without effect. Says a FYBCom student at N M College, Vile Parle, ``Once, students were asked to ride bikes in the canteen. But this time around, there was no ragging at all, the college authorities are very strict,'' headds. Concurs principal M K Desai, ``Usually rowdies from other colleges come here to rag students. For the last few years, we have been keeping a strict vigilance to prevent such incidents.''

At the nearby Mithibai College, the notice put up about the penalty has served as a sufficient deterrent. Says a FYBCom student, ``There was no ragging at all, and there were some policemen around when classes started. So no one tried anything smart.''

There was no ragging at RD National College, Bandra, either, says a FYBCom student. At Wilson's College, Chowpatty, seniors in fact went around the college `protecting' juniors, says a student.

But the look of well-being is deceiving, says a SYBA student of HR College, Churchgate. ``Inside the college, there's nothing. But outside, juniors are asked to buy seniors food... girls are asked to go on bike rides,'' she says. Same is the case with hostels. But ever since the college debarred students for ragging a few years back, students have become more careful, sheadds.

While the Act has served as a deterrent, this much is clear: it is not the end of the problem. And with classes for professional courses -- where most of the ragging takes place -- yet to begin, how much effect it will have is anyone's guess.