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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:30:00 +0530 It is true that formal dress instills discipline. But college is the only place where we can dress as we wish. In school we have uniform. After graduation in professional life we have wear formal clothes. I want to ask all professors and lecturers of Christ college "whether your daughter wear jeans or not," if yes, why don't you ban it? In our company Friday is jeans day because it is the only day we can wear casuals. In Delhi you can never find a student not wearing jeans. So I feel the ban on jeans should be withdrawn and allow the girls to dress as they wish. Ravi
Date sent: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 17:15:29 +0200 Great stuff! Keep it up!
Date sent: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 20:16:35 +0530 Well, it is a bit difficult to comment on this topic. To me it seems that the college authorities have taken this step after some incidents! That's all I can say about this. Sham
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 10:00:13 -0700 This article reminds me of an incident that happened in a junior school in Los Angeles a couple of years back. Here students in a particular gang dress differently to identify themselves. To get rid of this the school authorities asked everyone to wear uniforms. But students and parents went to court and got a ruling against the school board. That is called democracy. Is India marching to the 21st century? I have some doubt about this when I read this article. Is the college management so stupid to impose a ban on jeans? India is a democratic country, but is it really a democracy? I doubt it. Indian democracy is only for bandhs and strikes. People are not involved in any kind of decision making. Can't any student go to court to get rid of this stupid ban? What about parents? Are they blind to this kind of stupidity? Where is the human rights community? Shridhar
Date sent: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 21:48:08 +0530 Very good coverage. Keep mailing news to us.
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 09:08:38 -0700 My name is Jayashree. I am an ex-Christ college student. I am completely against this idea. I studied in this college in 1992. It has been 4 years since, but I have been in constant touch with what's happening in Christ. I am really disappointed with this decision. I support the students in opposing this. Jayashree
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 11:33:06 +0000 I think that your article was excellent. I hope that the colleges respect individual civil and human rights. Let the students decide what they wish to wear.
Date sent: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 22:16:29 -0700 I thought the picture showing the girls sitting with salwars made them look very decent and Indian. Girish
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 13:56:13 +0900 As with every other thing, this also has both plus and minus points. But a "dress-code" at the college level sounds ridiculous as students in college are people who have just started tasting their first fruits of freedom. Being an ex-student of Christ college, I personally feel that it would be better if the students are allowed to decide what they wear. After all, they are only students, not professionals. It is better if the management focuses on creating a more lively and friendly atmosphere. Madhu Hitachi,Tokyo
Date sent: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 18:49:41 -0400 I am a Ph D student, currently in the USA. I am studying molecular biology at the University of Maryland at College park. The question about a dress code for the girl students is simply a preposterous idea curbing certain basic rights of an individual. How can a rule as this one be accepted by the society? It is purely the mode of dressing that makes a person look vulgar and not the dress itself. (Some men dress vulgarly too even in jeans and a T shirt). While basic questions about the standard of education, quality of teaching, enlightening the students on the latest developments in various fields are major issues which are yet to be addressed by most college authorities, can a college waste its time and energy making "a mountain out of a molehill " of an issue like this? An issue like this should have been a subject of stronger criticism. Nobody has the right to dictate dress code for women -- it simply proves that women to this day and age are still answerable to their male counterparts for every basic right. Shameful!
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 18:24:38 +0900 I had a Christian education and I am very proud of it. But sometimes these guys spoil things. I have seen many like Father Josekutty who talk about discipline and professionalism but they know in their hearts that's all hogwash. These guys must have gone to school with my grandfather. They know things that are about two to three decades old. While students have continuous assessments and regular tests every week, do the professors update their knowledge base? I don't think so. I take it as a challenge to ask Father Josekutty two question everyday in commerce and he won't know a Diddley (does he know this phrase Diddley by the way?) Today if you ask any geography, history teacher in school or college to name the states in the CIS or in Slovakian countries, will they even know? And yet they talk about professionalism and discipline. That's the only tool they have. A Jesuit priest who was teaching me metaphysical poetry once talked about how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west (really? And they still teach that at school today!!!) and I told him that was wrong. The sun seems to rise in the east and seems to set in the west 'cause the sun is stationary and its the earth that moves around. He said, "if you are that smart why don't you come here and teach?" He reminds me of Father Josekutty putting a pathetic defence to ban jeans. What's with these guys anyway? They live in a democratic system and then they abuse the freedom to impose rules. I am sure Christ college uses secular tax payers's money to have prayer sessions in classes. How about some discipline and respect there for a pluralistic society Father?
Date sent: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:40:16 -0400 Hey are we going back to the dark ages or what? Maybe these colleges would want to introduce the purdah system next. Remember, most forms of suppression, especially where women are concerned, have historically started with a restriction on the dress code. Maybe, these colleges have an ulterior motive in enforcing such illogical codes.
Date sent: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 10:46:46 -0400 (EDT) It's a good decision taken by the management. I am a student who did my engineering in Bangalore. I am doing my Masters in the USA. After coming here, I felt that the tradition of our country is far, far better than anything else. I am proud to be a citizen who comes from a country with a rich tradition and we have to fight to preserve the tradition. This is one of the brave and enthusiastic steps taken by the college. I urge the management of other colleges to follow such culture. Hats off Christ College.
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 07:22:17 -0500 I think what Christ College has done is okay. Though choice of dressing should be left to the students, the college has all rights to impose whatever dress code it feels right for the college. Right from school we have uniforms, formal dresses in professional colleges, khaki dresses, blue dresses for labs, white coats, ties, etc all of which are not questioned and are perfectly legal. I don't see any reason why there should be any discussion on this at all now regarding Christ college. It's their internal affair. If the students want to join the college, let them else.. I can only pity those who had only jeans in their wardrobe. Srivathsa NS Bangalore
Date sent: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 14:05:48 +0200 I am very happy that you have not only explained the problem, but the real exposition of the cultural gap with your explicit and verbatim of the various voices. I am of the opinion of the college. Now studying in a German university where the morality and all that have very less value, I feel they like India just for the simple reason that it has a good culture. Recalling the words of US President Bill Clinton, "If we want to study about the family system, we have to go to India." In any family system, women play really an appreciable role than men, especially in shaping the future of the child -- in turn the future of the nation. Douglas Antony Louis Piriyakumar Stuttgart, Germany
Date sent: Wed, 8 Oct 97 18:45:53 PDT I do support the college management on banning shorts/mini-skirts. However, I do not understand why they have to ban jeans. For sure I feel wearing jeans is not indecent. I think all girls should at least be given the freedom of wearing dresses of their choice (which, of course, includes jeans). I remember an incident which happened while I was doing my I PUC in Vijaya College (Basavanagudi branch, Bangalore). Professor Atre was our principal. He was a very strict man. He once suddenly banned wearing jeans to college (for both guys and girls!!). The whole college protested against this and formed a big union and gave it the name "Indian Jeans Keeping Force (IJKF)" !! This union could then convince the college management not to ban jeans. Hurray!! IJKF won!! Hope all girls from Christ College win the war in lifting the ban on jeans. Giridhar Shankar California, USA
Date sent: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 15:17:01 -0700 (PDT) I am a design engineer at Silicon Valley, USA. I was surprised to read this article. It's quite insane. Indians must learn to treat people of age 17 or above as adults. Respect their views, thoughts and individuality. It's ridiculous for a college to decide what dress code is right and what is not! In fact, any dress can be provocative if the intention is so!! Instead of focusing on such mundane aspects of life they must prepare our students to face the world of today. Sheela S San Jose, USA
Date sent: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 11:44:56 -0700 I think that the college's rule for a dress code and a ban on jeans is absolutely ridiculous. I don't see any reason in that. It is inevitable that there is going to be Westernisation in India and it will begin in sophisticated cities such as Bangalore, Bombay. There are no ethical issues here is play. There is a generation gap and the faculty has to understand that. The gap is to be breached. Enforcing rules upon the young generation will only make them more rebellious, and worsen the situation. Students who are 18+ have the right to wear clothes as they like. Its weird that the college has no ban on smoking on the premises and I mean even in the parking lots, but will enforce a clothes ban. I think people in India pay more attention to these stupid and ridiculous problems rather than tackling the more relevant ones such as teen smoking, sex and education.
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