Mysorean

This time it's not just the police; academicians too have joined the brigade and launched a campaign against tight clothes, jeans, skirts and T-shirts.

Banning cell-phones is one thing but asking students what to wear is another issue. It does seem fair to ask students to switch off their mobile phones during class hours as it does indeed disturb academics. Not many students seem to have an objection to this.

But enforcing a dress code on students is moral policing, students say.

"The ban on sleeveless tops, tight-fit outfits and jeans clearly seems to target girls," says a postgraduate journalism student. "It is not only sexist but a completely old-fashioned male chauvinistic attitude resurfacing," she adds, almost enraged.

During engineering, the dress code used to be a T-shirt, One pair of Blue jeans [Yes! Only blue! Why? Because sky is blue! I don't know yar!] & bathroom slippers. Only during the first year [that too because of ragging], would we ever wear formals [Yeah! With those open cuffs and slippers].

I absolutely cannot relate to this rule from Anna University. Considered to be one of the top 10 colleges in India (according to one the recent surveys by India Today) , and one of the top 30 in Asia.

Why can't students be made to learn that they should not wear 'indecent' dresses? Why does the University feel that the students it has selected after so many entrance barriers don't have the basic dressing etiquette? [Getting into Anna University is the toughest through TNPCEE]

In this age of MMSes coming out of schools, this move is a reverse gear. Instead of educating people on the right and wrong[What else are educational institutes for?], we are trying to implement more unimplementable rules. There's an age-old saying, "Don't judge the book by its cover". By wearing formal clothes, you are not going to make students study and concentrate better. You ought to teach better. Somebody needs to give this funda to those authorities at Anna University.

Students, as a group, never bother anyone unless they are needled like this. Let them be the way they are. Help them realise what they should do and what they shouldn't do. Don't teach them by force. There are other methods too. Try them first. Students are the future of this country. Their energy must be harnessed towards positive things than distracting them with such dumb rules. [As if there weren't enough distractions already!]