How does getting up at 5:30 AM sound to you? If it’s fine, then imagine doing it in a college hostel. When you don’t want to go to bed by 10 PM because your friends are playing games, or you can’t because you have to finish your assignments. And if you manage to get up in the wee hours of morning, you mop around briefly in your room, and your mind is too stiff to respond.

Students at IIT Roorkee
(IITR), face a similar situation. The institute came up with a peculiar
punishment for those who are held responsible for any mischievous or
troublesome activity.

Prof Dinesh Kumar Nauriyal,
Dean of Student Welfare at IITR, said, “If students indulge in alcohol abuse,
fighting; or if they damage the institute’s property, we compel them to attend yoga classes at 6 AM for
a month. The classes take place inside the institute at the Yoga Bhawan.” At
IITR, yoga is mandatory for those who are found guilty in any act of
indiscipline.

This corrective measure was
introduced by Prof Nauriyal in June, 2014. Before ‘Yoga Punishment’ was
announced, students used to pay financial penalty as a punishment for
indiscipline. This method laid a monetary burden on parents. Many a times the
students didn’t disclose to their parents the real reason why such a penalty is
being paid to the institute. He further added, “Parents developed an
ill-feeling against the institute, thinking we are taking money for unjustified
reasons. After initiating this punishment some parents expressed approval,
saying ‘our kids hardly get up at 6 AM’.” The institute is very strict
about ‘Yoga Punishment’. Regular attendance is taken for those who attend yoga
class as a punishment. If a student misses one class, then he/she has to attend
three more classes.  

Other than course credits,
IITR students are even given discipline credits. If they have a poor discipline
record, they suffer while getting placements. This is because, while reviewing
the candidates, companies are provided with the students’ academic as well as
discipline records.  

Students lose discipline
credit on the basis of the intensity of their disorderliness. Till June 2014, they
used to be deducted every year, but now they are calculated in the final year
of the programme. Dheeraj Adwani, a third year Civil engineering student at
IITR said, “Financial penalty did not aid students; nor did the deduction of
discipline credits every year. But Yoga is helpful. It is healthy, and reduces
stress.” 

A fourth year student of
IITR on condition of anonymity, said, “Due to misconduct in a lecture, my whole
class had to go for ‘Yoga Punishment’ in February 2015. None of us could imagine
waking up at 5 AM for a yoga class. But we managed it and tried the
problematic asanas.”

However, these yoga classes
are not just a medium of punishment. There are several other students who
attend the class on their own will. Besides, the class also becomes an
interactive place to meet students from other courses. Another fourth year student
said, “Earlier, we were ashamed of being punished. But after some days, it became
a group activity, and the class enjoyed serving this punishment.”

Prof D.K. Nauriyal added,
“If a student is indulged in drug abuse or causes heavy damage to the institute’s
property, then we involve their parents in the issue. The
institute also asks them to stay with the student for three-six months or more
if required.”

In the past one and a half
years, the management has seen improved discipline among its students. Last
year, around 160 students attended yoga classes as a punishment; whereas, the
July 2015 semester, saw only two students serving the punishment.