Things that often go unnoticed in the case of a boy are met with glaring stares and moral policing in the case a girl. There is mostly a difference in societal standards when it comes to men and women. For example something as basic as wearing shorts – if a guy would have worn a pair of shorts to take an exam, he most likely would not have been questioned.
Girl Wore Shorts
However, when a girl in Assam showed up in a pair of shorts to take an exam, she was made to sit for the exam wrapped in a curtain. The girl revealed that there was no particular dress code mentioned in the admit card or anywhere else.
According to reports, 19-year-old Jublee Tamuli travelled 70 kilometers to take an exam in Tezpur. The exam was that of Assam Agricultural University. She revealed that there was no problem while entering the venue. The guards had allowed her inside. However, once she entered the examination hall, the invigilator said he wouldn’t allow her to take the exam if she is wearing shorts. The incident took place in Girijananda Chowdhury Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Tezpur.
Talking about the incident Jublee said, “A few days ago, I appeared for the NEET exam in the same town, wearing the same attire – nothing happened. Neither does the AAU have any rules about shorts, nor was there anything mentioned in the admit card. How was I to know?”
She further added how the Controller of Exams suggested her father buy a pair of trousers for her from a nearby market. She told, “I went crying to my father who was waiting outside. Finally, the Controller of Exams said I could take the exam if a pair of pants could be arranged. So my father rushed to the market to buy a pair.”
Jublee’s father did manage to buy a pair of trousers from a market 8 kilometers away. However, when he returned, he was told that the problem was resolved. Jublee was made to wrap a curtain around her legs. Jublee said, “They said that if I lacked basic common sense, how would I succeed in life. They did not check for Covid protocols, masks, or even temperature…but they checked for shorts.”
People’s Reaction
Calling the entire incident the “most humiliating” day of her life, Jublee said, “If a boy wears a vest, no one says anything. Some men go around bare-bodied in public, and no one says a thing. But if a girl wears a pair of shorts, then people point fingers.”
While some people supported the young girl, many others highlighted that even though one has the freedom to wear whatever they are comfortable in, one must maintain a certain level of decorum in institutes and she should not have worn such shorts.
