Punished!!!

Wel, actually, Im surprised that I dint write before.. Especially since I had so much to say....
Now, jumping rite into the topic (u can hear the thud, cant u?) ....

"Deccan Chronicle" featured an interesting article, right on page 1 yesterday.. It was about this schoolboy who was punished for...
No, not an MMS scandal, or not submitting homework, or a pass at his teacher, but.....
for wearing "mehndi" to school!!! (Strictly against school rules, apparently! Considerin that some schools ask students not to wear "vibhuthi" (sacred ash), "kumkum" etc to school, maybe this was indeed a great sin! )

(Note that, a lot of boys in the south, do this, i mean wearin mehndi, wen they go to shabarimala or some other puja, tho mehndi is considered strictly a female affair in oder parts of India..)

Now, u d think im makin a mountain outta no molehill, but, did i say punishd? I dint say how, did I?

He was not standing on his bench or running around the playground or kneeling down, or beaten by the ruthless wooden ruler on his poor knuckles, (which are the worst examples of punishments, i can recall, frm my own schooldays), but was made to stand for an hour in the hot sun, waitng for the "head"mistress ( who must ve had a really swollen head, considerin what i shall say next!) to come forth n issue judgement on his criminal breach of discipline... N wen she did condescend to judge, she decided to suspend him for 10 days... This apart from a fine of 500 rupees....

Ya, u read it right.. SUSPENDED.. and F-I-V-E H-U-N-D-R-E-D goddamn bucks... Man, aren't we really a developed nation, if v make students pay FIVE HUNDRED for wearing mehndi!!!

Obviously, I ws shockd wen i read dis. I mean, to say that u ve no discipline if u wear mehndi is sheer insanity. And to say that, u r disciplined if u don wear bindis or nailpolish or mehndi, is worse than insanity, it sounds more like a cosmic joke!! But that is exactly wat the school officials cited wen they replied to the boy's parents! I do not understand, maybe im naive, but what exactly is discipline? Isn't it more an issue of behaviour than dress code/sense? Isn't wearing mehndi etc strictly a matter of faith? Where does discipline come in the picture at all?? Is discipline, following a foreign faith just because it happens to be the most popular?? We Indians, who have only our culture to be proud of, why do we strive so hard at every opportunity to wipe it out?

And besides, why should a school fine a child? I mean, what can the boy posibly feel if he pays 100 or 500? If anyone feels bad about it, it would be his parents. And if the punishment does not make the boy repent for his supposed "mistake" and "indiscipline", what was it given for??? Suffice it to say that the suspension is another really stupid punishment, as most students enjoy not going to school neway, and that a suspension during exam time would probably ve made the boy rejoice more than ever!!

But then, shouldn't some sort of action be taken agaist such schools? Luckily, the boy's parents are both lawyers n well-off, n he got media attention. But what about the umpteen number of such cases which go unheard, and parents who would rather remain silent on this issue... And the lot of schools which make easy money this way??? Why does no intelligent youth/person of the so-called educated middle class do nethin abt it?

Wel........
I JUS DON GET IT!!!