KUMARA KRUPA ROAD:On Thursday, many students of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath walked into their campus to find an intriguing installation: bras were draped on some of the sculptures.
This came as a reaction to a circular issued last week reportedly directing students to wear clothes they were comfortable in without making others uncomfortable. A couple of points were specifically aimed at girl students, a student said.
Most students of CKP City Express met were apprehensive about talking about the row, saying the matter was internal to the college and its students. Some opposed the idea of a dress code.
“Artists like to dress differently,” said one, while another said, “It is an individual choice.”
“I studied in Ken School of Art before I joined here. There was no dress code there, but students preferred more traditional clothes,” said a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) student.
Many, however, believe the issue would have died down had it not been for the media coverage.
CKP is hardly the first college in Bengaluru to implement a dress code. At Christ University, boys have to be dressed in formals and girls in ‘Indian clothes’.
“I have been caught for not wearing a dupatta, and for wearing leggings,” said a BA student. “Making salwar-kurta compulsory is one thing, but discriminating on the basis of material is ridiculous.”
While she is comfortable in Indian clothes, many of her friends feel they are ‘not their style’.
“All through school you wait to get to college so that you can express yourself freely, but how can you if you are told to fit into a certain world?” she asked.
Mobika Maring, a second year MA English student at St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, thinks undergraduate college students are too old to be told how to dress.
“In PU, it might be acceptable, but not after that,” she said.
“The Indian education system is so restrictive, and I know that dressing is a small part, but if you take that away from students too, how do they express themselves?” she said.
At Christ, someone from the administration stands by the security guard to ensure students do not walk in with sleeveless tops, lowers that are above the ankle, or anything ‘too revealing’.
A student from Mount Carmel College pursuing journalism said it is a relief that she and her college-mates do not have to follow the churidar-kurta dress code, but wonders if that might change following the announcement that the campus is to be opened to boys for post-graduate programmes.
At Seshadripuram College, students are instructed not to wear skin-hugging clothes, printed t-shirts or clothes that end above the knee. “But I think it inculcates discipline,” said Poornima Ramesh, a recent graduate of the college.
Abhay Koushik C V, pursuing MBA at RNSIT, and Amith Amarnath, in his final year of BA, LLB at Christ University’s School of Law, believe that dress code should vary based on the course.
“We are trained to be in formals from the under-graduate level, and that’s what we wear on the job,” said Abhay. “But it is not essential for other courses.”
Amith is happy with the ‘formal’ dress code he has been assigned.
“But we have a Bachelor of Hotel Management course in our college, and the girls are allowed to wear short skirts because that is how they have to dress for their profession.
No dress code at CKP, Says Principal
This is a regular circular we issue every year, to orient new students, and it had never been blown out of proportion earlier. We just say wear what you’re comfortable in, but don’t make others feel awkward. While working, you have to put your legs on either side of the drawing board and sit, like you do while riding pillion, and it becomes difficult if students are wearing short skirts. You look at how our students dress and go to any other college and see how they dress. We do not have a dress code at all.
R H Kulkarni, Principal, Chitrakala Parishath