Amma's dress code

The magic of ‘Amma’ is indeed seem to be working in Chennai. The fact that she was voted with a thumping majority during the Lok Sabha elections indicates that she must surely be doing things right.

Women are happy as many say that the incidences of eve-teasing  has come down sharply. Also we do not really hear incidences of rape as we do from the other parts of India. Just as Amma protects herself with a cape, she has made it 'mandatory' for college going girls to wear salwar-kameez or loose fitting kurtis; dupatta is a must. Jeans and tight t-shirts are simply not allowed.  This is not a written law by Amma but it is unsaid and almost all colleges follow this dress code.  The college authorities say that they impose dress code to protect women from harassment and eve-teasing.

College going girls who thought they had finally shed their uniforms for latest outfits as shown in Tamil movies, are disappointed. But the parents are relieved. And post this dress code, many say that indeed incidences of eve-teasing have come down. What does this mean – we cannot change the attitude of men so its better for the women to change the way she dresses? This does sound very fundamentalist but the fact that is working, shows that indeed this is probably the only way for women to remain secure till such time that men do not grow up and learn to respect women. Now that is one education and code of conduct which should be taught at home. Maybe that is an area where Amma and Smriti Irani need to do some work. It could save scores of women across India.