#hostel rules

This set me wondering if the parents of these girls are even aware of what their daughters are up to. As I see it, a hostel is supposed to be a home away from home. From the parents point of view it should offer the same sort of shelter, safety, comfort, food etc. that the children get at home. The very fact that the girls are sent to hostel and not allowed to rent independent accommodation, is proof of the fact that the parents want her to be in protected environment. 

Come to think of it every home also has a set of rules by which it runs. They may be unwritten, but they are there nevertheless. Today, the so called modern teenager is questioning hostel hours; tomorrow it will be class timings in University, College and even School. 

Can you think of a school or college that has no timings? Every student can walk in or walk out at will; the teachers would be at the beck-n-call of the students to teach whenever at the whims and fancies of the students! 

A students union in a college in Haryana has made a demand for a Bar on Campus and reducing the attendance requirement from 75% to 50%. Where are we headed? 

The entire experience of living on a University campus is about holistic grooming. It is not only about acquiring knowledge of the subject; it is about learning life skills, team work, responsibility, public interaction, soft skills, social etiquette etc. 

The boundaries of everything man made are defined. The purpose of having walls for a class room is not just to keep outsiders out, it is also to indicate to the students that this is where they are to stay within. 

So too the purpose of the precincts of the hostel are. If there were no boundaries, no gates, no walls, no timings....  would it not be just Jungle Raj?  Is this progressive or regressive? Discipline is the mark of intelligent living. If there are no rules it will no different than a jungle. 

My children are grown up now, but when they were still students, we had strict timings for them. They had to be home by 10 pm. Even now, after they are married, they know that they have to be in, by a sane time. This is a home, it’s not a hotel. 

And about the dress code ... Does every girl who lives in T-shirts and shorts, not wear a warm jacket if she visits Srinagar? Doesn't every Phiran clad Himachali not wear a swimming costume while swimming on a holiday in Goa? Doesn't every Indian bride, however modern she may be, not wear a bridal outfit and cover her head on her wedding day? Do you not put on your shades when out in the sun? Do you not don a simple outfit at a funeral and a dressy one for a wedding? Don't cricketers wear their team dress while playing? Doesn't a lawyer or a Judge wear a black coat / gown while in court? 

Every organization runs by a set of rules, be they about dress code, timings, code of conduct etc. 

You may please to dress yourself, but can you change the mindset of all the people around you? We read about crimes against women day-in and day-out. You have to dress according to the state of affairs you are in … be it guided by the weather or the occasion or the society. You cannot live in a civilized society and break all the rules. 

A society without rules would not only be unpleasant and difficult to live in, it would be positively dangerous. Freedom at midnight may look appealing, but may be fraught with dire consequences.