Gone are the days when student unions used to take on college managements through hard-hitting wall posters. With many college campuses banning any political activity, Facebook seems to have become the primary medium to mount criticism.
The humour that they showcase aside, meme pages of colleges have become the main medium of criticism on the institution.
From a bar on intermingling of students to restrictions on attending inter-collegiate culturals, there is no topic that these memes don’t target.
Take the case of a group of engineering colleges which is known for the ban on interaction between girls and boys.
“Verum Kai Thane Da Kuduthen…ithuku enquiry ah! (I just shook her hand. They have instituted an enquiry for this!),” exclaims the meme with the dialogue written over a popular film sequence.
Given that this is admission season, students of engineering colleges also put out memes highlighting the “donation” menace prevalent on their campuses.
In many colleges, these Facebook pages are run just by one or two students. The page that has got much traction over the last two months is ‘Viveka Memes’, run by students of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College in Chennai. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the administrator of the page says other students now voluntarily pitch in with ideas.
“Professors also share these memes. But we remain anonymous as we do not know how the management will react,” says the student. Within weeks of its launch, the page garnered almost 5,000 likes.
Most arts and science colleges such as Loyola, Madras Christian College and D.G. Vaishnav have students running such pages. And they often take swipes at each other, trying to make themselves look cooler.
Mobile applications such as Meme Generator and Fonto make it quite easy to produce memes quickly.
“The timing is also important to get traction. When the trailer of Rajnikant- starrer Kabali was launched, we put out a meme within five minutes. It is the alumni of the college who message us with encouraging words,” says another meme maker.
Students agree that the best meme pages come from colleges where there are too many rules and regulations.
“In a way, this is the frustration of the student community that you see on these pages. The colleges have no forum to express our views openly,” says the meme administrator of a popular engineering college.
Students agree that the best meme pages come from colleges where there are too many rules and regulations
Published - June 03, 2016 12:00 am IST
