The Hindu : National : A sticky issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

National

National

A sticky issue

By Malabika Bhattacharya

KOLKATA, JAN. 8. Is sporting lipstick and danglers in the ears by teachers good for schoolchildren? The principal of a school in North 24-Parganas in West Bengal does not think so. For her, a teacher should be simply clad.

The debate started a week ago when Tapati Dutta, principal of Bonhooghly Girls School, circulated a directive saying that teachers should not wear lipstick, kaajal (eyeliner), danglers and salwar kameez in school. At least four teachers defied her order. The principal, under pressure from various quarters, modified her order, scaling it down to just lipstick.

Many in the academic as well as political circles do not see anything "immoral" in teachers and students wearing lipstick, `bindi' and so on. They think the authorities in educational institutions have no option but to change their outlook on fashion.

"We don't interfere in things such as dressing. When we were young, we sported `dhoti-kurta' in college. Can we expect the same now?" says the Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The issue had sparked debates in the State. In one such debate, Shubahnkar Chakraborty, a former professor, said girl students should wear only saris. Others, all celebrities, said it did not matter what one wore; what mattered was the manner in which it was worn.

He, however, was unfazed. He wrote a book on the impact of clothes on the value system in society.

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