Confessions of a JNU guard

“According to the rules, we have to stop them, but many couples get angry when they are caught in the act.”

“According to the rules, we have to stop them, but many couples get angry when they are caught in the act.”

Being a guard at JNU is not a very tough job, except sometimes. There are 50 guards in JNU at any point. Some are at the gates and some at certain points inside the campus. It is the same scenario at night, except patrols are more regular.

It’s not dangerous, but once, some drunk boys in a car started teasing a girl. The boys were outsiders. The girl screamed, so a guard went to check. When he asked the boys to stop, they took out a gun. The guard called the main gate at once to ensure the car was stopped. A crowd of students gathered. The boys called their fathers, and soon, policemen arrived outside the main gate to get the boys out. But the students didn’t let the boys leave, so the police used tear gas. The boys managed to escape unharmed with a police escort.

It’s mostly safe, but these days it can turn dangerous so quickly. What do we do with our lathis when they have guns?

It’s not a boring job, though. There’s always something to do, since we rotate duties. Night duty is quite eventful.

There’s not once that I’ve been on night duty at Parthasarathy rocks that I haven’t had to stop something or the other. Mostly, people go there to drink. It’s a nice place, high rocks in the middle of the jungle. But boys also bring girls. This is very embarrassing for us. According to the rules, we have to stop them, but many couples get angry when they’re caught in the act.

The people of JNU are of two types, across students and teachers: those who say hello to us, and those who don’t. Many simply look through us, unless we try to stop them, in which case they glare so hard that you think you’ll get burnt.

Winters in JNU are far colder than anywhere else in the city. It’s the forest, you see. No matter how many clothes you wear, the cold gets inside and freezes you. The only relief is a fire.

(This security guard has been posted at Jawaharlal Nehru University for three years.)

As told to TCA Sharad Raghavan

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