Bangalore may very well be known as fashion capital of Karnataka and ‘looking good’ mania is affecting young and old alike, so much so that schools and colleges have to now restrict young students from wearing certain kind of dresses.
How does the student community feel about the dress code? Read on:
“Wearing uniforms after reaching college makes us all look like sheep moving in flocks,” says Darshan Demble, student of hotel management at Christ University, Bangalore.
But his classmate Ankith Monteiro has a different opinion. He feels that dress code helps the students to dress sensibly, which eventually helps them to get in sync with professional mindset.
A group of the women brigade of Jyoti Nivas College, Bangalore has a more radical view. “We are young adults, we have the right to dress the way we like. Any move to enforce restrictions will only generate adverse result and we feel like rebelling,” said the girls in unison.
Satyavarath, who is studying Communicative English, initially blamed girls and their insensible dressing for the dress code but was soon made to swallow his words by the girls of his gang - Asha, Kavya and Ani. “Attire should not be a cause of discomfort for the people around us,” he quickly retracted and escaped the wrath of the girls.
Christ college students do not believe that dress code can stop eve-teasing and ragging, as claimed by some college managements. Disha Mehta, a clinical psychology student argues, “Its a wrong notion among college authorities that eve-teasers target only girls wearing western outfits. I have seen boys passing lewd comments on girls dressed in traditional Indian attire.”
Savitha, a final year student of University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore feels dressing is a matter of personal choice. No matter what one wears, it should subscribe to the popular concept of dignity scripted by society over generations.
Lisa M, a parent, believes young adults should have the privilege to choose their clothes, but common sense should prevail over their sartorial taste. “If children violate the norms of decency, then its the responsibility of teachers and elders to bring them around,” she contends.
Raghavendra Shet, DVS College, Shimoga.
Dress code is necessary to tame the instinctive behaviour of students which may lead to disastrous consequences.
Seetha Nair, journalism student, Mysore University.
Dress code may stand for uniformity but it kills the freedom of choice. In a majority of instances, dress code is targeted more at girls than boys. Thus, the patriarchal notion is acting as a driving force to make dress code mandatory among girls which is a hurdle to social change and strengthens gender based discrimination.
Varun K V, hotel management student.
I cannot gel with the idea of dress code for boys. I wish managements paid heed at least to weather before enforcing constricting neck ties during summer.