Column

Visualise a college going student: A pair of jeans, T-shirt and a bag slung over the back. That’s the typical look that characterises him across the country. So, the decision of Parshvanath College of Engineering in Thane to ban students from wearing T-shirts escapes logic. That I-cards have been confiscated for violating the sartorial diktat seems strange. The reason given by the authorities for the ban - that of instilling professionalism - seems stranger still.

When it comes to dress code, a drive against obtrusively suggestive attires or those with cheeky messages or photographs is understandable. But T-shirts? They are innocuous, perhaps the most decent among casuals. Authorities say they are insisting on formals to promote professionalism. What professionalism? Yes, colleges are temples of learning just as schools. But they aren’t offices where dress codes should be enforced. And professionalism — or concentrating on studies and not dresses, if that’s what the authorities mean by the terminology - isn’t about attires, but is synonymous with dedication and hard work.

Mumbai isn’t just any other city. Its strongest feature has been its cross-cultural identity. Nowhere in Mumbai would you find typical ethnic dresses being worn. The state has always had the knack to take the best from multiple cultures and merge them with its own, thereby adorning itself with a multi-cultural flair.

Dress sense here has always been varied and no one ever tried to
impose one on anyone. Seen in this light, the decision of the Thane college seems inexplicable.

Row over attires is not new to Mumbai, or to the country. Some years ago, some students of a Mumbai engineering college were allegedly not allowed to take a test because they came dressed in T-shirts. Students have faced the stick in Chennai, Orissa, Aligarh Muslim University too, among other places. There seems to be a thin line between discipline and moral policing and students across Mumbai profess that their clothes reflect their individuality which should not be suppressed. This, while college authorities argue that they are only preparing students to dress suitably for their future corporate careers. As a student told me, “We are mature people and are not in school that certain types of clothes should be enforced.”

The angles of comfort and independence were highlighted by another student. “After spending years in school wearing uniforms, the non-uniform rule in college is an opportunity to assert our independence. It expresses our individuality and banning T-shirts is the most frivolous rule ever. When you are spending hours stuck listening to a lecture, you must be comfortable and T-shirts provide that comfort,” was his frankspeak.

Dress codes may be justified at certain places and on particular occasions. For instance, it’s commonly perceived that in temples, people are expected to wear simple, traditional clothes so as not to divert attention of others towards glossy attires. At a condolence gathering, people wear white to respect the solemnity of the occasion. In these instances, one appreciates the moral and social gesture. However, a ban on T-shirts appears too far-fetched, even a wee-bit ludicrous in its purported mission. The thrust should be on stemming obscenity and propagating decency, not in formulating incomprehensible rules under the garb of ‘professionalism’.