’96’ actress Gouri Kishan shares shocking experiences in Chennai school after PSBB issue

The arrest of commerce teacher Rajagopalan of the prestigious PSBB school in Chennai for sexually harassing his female students has sent shock waves throughout the state.  He has now been booked under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act POCSO and is in jail now.  The school management and all those involved have been summoned for inquiry giving hope to the victims and their families.

Following the harrowing PSBB incident, several other students of various schools especially in Chennai have called out similar traumatic abuses meted to them by perverted teachers and staffs.

Actress Gouri Kishan of ’96’, ‘Master’ and ‘Karnan’ fame has shared her shocking experiences while studying at the Hindu senior secondary school in Adyar, Chennai.  She wrote a series of posts on Instagram expressing her anguish and that of her several others.

Gouri wrote “Revisiting memories are thought to be nostalgic, but not so much when it’s about childhood trauma. In the formative years that we spend in school, it pains me to
think of the number of students like myself who have been put through so much agony!
Schools are supposed to be a nurturing ground for a student, not a place you fear of being labelled and branded for your worth.”

The promising actress added “After speaking to several of my school mates about the same, we ‘ve all come to a collective realisation that there was a great deal of ingrained normalising that had taken place in the school environment. Slut Shaming, Casteism, Bullying, Body Shaming, Character Assassination, Objectification, baseless accusations thrown at students, consequentially having a profound impact on a child’s self esteem. Most of us from HSSS, myself included, have faced all of the above, first hand.” 

She however refrained from taking any names and continued “I don’t wish to take names of the teachers who caused the emotional mayhem, but it certainly does not discount the fact that I wish to see a serious shift in culture. The environment in school was toxic as hell, and my heart goes out to each and every person who faced similar trauma-hearing personal accounts of PSBB, CV has been distressing, to say the least. Honestly, at this point, I’m genuinely shocked that in spite of the messed up schooling, many of us turned out quite alright but childhood trauma (especially unresolved ones) run deep and is proven psychologically that it is the reason behind several issues we face in adulthood too!”.

Gouri Kishan has emphasized “Having recalled this unpleasantness has been traumatic but a huge burden off my chest. Now I wish, more of you come out with your personal accounts in order to take this up with the school administration formally, so that we can at least hope that the forthcoming batches don’t face similar abuse! I hope this gains more traction so that we don’t stand witness to another generation of students growing up in toxic school environments. Do use the hashtag and share your personal experiences, your identity will remain anonymous! This ingrained conditioning and
normalising has to STOP now!” 

The young actress who holds a Triple degree in Journalism, Psychology and English has lauded the efforts of singer Chinmayi and others who are taking up the issue and fighting for justice to the victims.