DUMP THE COLONIAL ROBE

DUMP THE COLONIAL ROBE
It was heartening to read about the outbursts of Sri Jairam Ramesh, the Union Minister, about the robes sported on the occasion of convocation ceremony at the Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal. [News item – Times of India-4 April] As soon as the British were thrown out of this country, we should have also thrown out the ‘medieval, barbaric and colonial’ robes that are sported on the occasion of convocation ceremonies all over India, without even an iota of thought, as to the relevance of such robes, in an independent and sovereign India. We must now seriously consider evolving our own dress code for such ceremonies based on the local Indian culture and practices.
Similarly there is another colonial relic of wearing of suit [pant, coat, tie &shoe] by all the students [girls & boys] of BBA and MBA courses in India. While such a dress code may be relevant to the UK or USA due to their culture as well as their climate, it is totally irrelevant as far as Indian culture as well as the Indian climate is concerned. In fact the BBA and the MBA students sporting suit in the hot summer months of March, April& May look like western jokers in the society. This is nothing but foolish aping of the west. Here too we must evolve our own dress code which not only suits our climate but also reflects our own unique culture. At least and at last one of our own politicians has raised an issue relevant to the society for a change. Congrats Jairam Ramesh.