When I first came to an all girls’ college two years ago, I thought
that one of the fringe benefits would be that most of the time, we
could get dressed in the morning without keeping the male species
opinion on our clothes in perspective. We could wear baggy t-shirts
and flip flops to class without being bothered about how our hair was
looking, or whether we were wearing the ‘right’ accessories, were
sitting in the proper manner and many such liberties, if I may call
them so. After all it is human that when you are in a nice cozy rut,
you slide, fashion-wise, into comfort wear. When you know you have to
confront, convince, impress or produce you choose to dress up. It
wasn’t long before I realized that the benefits of looking
put-together extended well past not having the opposite sex around.
Even if I spend most of my day in the company of women, I still make
sure that I leave the house every morning or at least most mornings
feeling good about what I’m wearing and how I look.
Your daily wardrobe may be pretty basic, but you will feel a hundred
times better on days when you put a little effort into your look than
those you spend in sweats. I personally believe that other people will
see you in a different light altogether, when your appearance is more
carefully assembled and mature. If you are happy with how you are
presenting yourself to the world, you will feel more confident and
self-assured in all your actions throughout the day. I think that part
of growing up is recognizing that it’s far more fulfilling to dress
for yourself than to dress to impress other people, particularly men.
In the Middle East women incorporate fashion into their lives, even if
it’s hidden under a robe or only shown to other women on special
occasions. In fact many teenage girls own Western clothing that they
only wear in the privacy of their bedrooms. These women prove that
dressing up can be self-gratifying even if nobody else can see what
you are wearing. They’re literally dressing for themselves, looking in
the mirror and deriving complete satisfaction from sharing their new
look with no one else. The idea of wearing beautiful lingerie on a
daily basis also follows the same principle.
Also, when people say that women dress only for other women and not
for men, I tend to think they’re overlooking a third category – those
who dress for themselves. It is this category that has the highest
levels of confidence, satisfaction and self-esteem.
There’s no question that fashion is transformative and empowering, but
it’s interesting that the effect is still so strong even if no one
else sees what you’re wearing.
To quote a character in American Beauty, “In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times.”
The University Community, an independent group of teachers and students of the University of Delhi had organized a discussion on Communalism, Fascism and Democracy: Rhetoric and Reality on the 6th of November at the Arts Faculty. What happened during that meeting has been described by man as the “fascist agenda coming out in the open”.
One of the panelists at the discussion was S.A.R. Geelani from Zakir Hussain College. Despite being acquitted by the Supreme Court in the Parliament attack case, the BJP continues to maintain that he is “not above suspicion”. As a result, his mere presence aroused what ABVP reffered to as “patriotic emotions” which manifested themselves in the declaration by them that Mr. Geelani could not speak at the University. This undemocratic proclamation was accompanied by vandalism at the college campus. Witnesses report that ABVP affiliate DUSU president Nupur Sharma also joined in the violence. According to a statement issued by the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, the protesters threw stones, broke window panes and hurled abuses at the participants. One of them went to the extent of spitting at Mr. Geelani. As most of the ABVP activists were already in the audience, it was probably a pre-planned attempt at disrupting the meeting. Despite this, however, it concluded successfully albeit behind closed doors.
Describing the attack as “absolutely unnecessary”, J.K. Vidhya, a participant at the conference said, “There was nothing anti-national or inflammatory about what was being discussed. The ABVP had no right to disturb the peace inside the institution. The police too did little to stop them from cutting down the lecture. As a result, participants began to retaliate, although not physically.”
Vidhya spoke of a woman who personified a quote by George Orwell that was displayed at the venue. It said, “In the time of universal defeat, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act”. The woman, according to her, “screamed him down and said to him that he was no better than the Nazis and that he should go back to Germany. He looked a little shocked but his response could barely be heard over the angry woman’s voice.”
According to Shikha, a member of the University Community, the attack was not an isolated event. She said, “It is not today’s issue, it has happened before as well. In February it was the History department, and now it is this. All that we’re asking for is a democratic space. Vandalism is not a solution. There can be different perspectives on issues, and if 300 people were interested in listening to them, who are they to destroy their freedom of expression?”
Protesting this assault on democratic rights by the ABVP, a well-attended march was held the next day. Demands were made for the filing of FIRs against members of the ABVP that were involved in the attack as well as time-bound enquiry into it. Further, participants at the march called for an assurance that future public meetings on similar issues will not be disrupted.
“The surcharged emotions of patriotic students can’t be simply ignored,” BJP party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters on Friday reacting to the incident. Nupur Sharma was reported saying that Geelani, exonerated by the Supreme Court in the 2003 Parliament attack case, should not have been invited for the seminar. “Geelani is a terrorist and I had politely requested him to leave the venue,” Sharma said. “But he refused.” She also said yesterday’s protest was fuelled partly because most of those fighting her and other ABVP activists were not from DU. “There were a large number of students opposing us who did not belong to Delhi University,” she said. “They attacked us first.She said that she has shot off a complaint letter to Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental regarding this.
The article titled “Molestation Horror at IIT Fest” which has given rise to so much attention from both DU and IIT-K was a report about the mishap that occurred during the IIT festival. The article in no way says that students of IIT-K were directly involved in the molestation that occured. As far as the quotes from various students of LSR and IIT-K are concerned, they don’t reflect the opinion of our paper.
Moreover, while LSR is an integral part of Delhi University, DU Beat includes students from several other colleges like Sri Venkateswara College, SRCC, Kamala Nehru, St. Stephens, etc. The editorial team is equally represented by members of both the sexes.
Even though our motto is freedom of expression, we sincerely believe that freedom should not be misused and more importantly not aimed at slinging mud at someone. This was the only reason for subjecting the comments on our website to a moderation process. We hope that this will effectively curb the flood of comments posted in bad taste that have assaulted our website since yesterday.
It’s quite obvious that many of the students of IIT Kanpur feel that our report is biased and one sided. We feel that it is our duty to hear their side of the story and report it. Please get in touch with us at [email protected].