But no, they have to go troll Serena Williams, and reduce her to her clothes. Oh, she’s a sportsperson too? Hell, yes. You’d know if you weren’t so busy touching yourself!
***
Thank God for A, who joined me in my ranting session last week. His sister was admonished by her college principal for a shirt she wore to class. Full-sleeved at that. “This outfit is too revealing. You are going to distract all the boys and male teachers,” he said.
The girl was too embarrassed to react. She was asked to go home, and change into “something respectable, suited to a temple of learning.” Yawn!
“That principal is a goddamn priest. Why doesn’t he stick to his prayers?” said A. He was really mad that day, and (unfairly) rude to the waiter who brought us our coffee.
'distract' male pupils
"Have you ever heard of a principal telling a guy to pull up his jeans, and not advertise his underwear because that might distract girls and female teachers?"
I tried to lighten the mood by saying, “Why is this fellow assuming that your sister is into men? She could be attracted to women, right?”
He nodded, though he admitted he hadn’t considered the possibility earlier. “Have you ever heard of a principal telling a guy to pull up his jeans, and not advertise his underwear because that might distract girls and female teachers?” A asked.
To be honest, yes. Not underwear, but something on those lines. Well, I know this only from a friend of a friend of a friend, so I am sure some masala was added to the story before it made it to my ears.
The guy, who is the hero of this story, showed up in an English literature class in a transparent T-shirt right after he had broken up with his previous girlfriend, and was fishing for a new date. Apparently, he had really thought this through, and even shaved his chest for the occasion. Did he get a date? Yes. But he also got expelled from college for two days. Not a bad deal!
A didn’t believe me, and I didn’t care to verify the story. We ordered another round of coffee, and began to think of how to convince his sister that she should resume going to college.
It wasn’t her fault. It didn’t help, however, that her parents were far from supportive. “Serves you right,” they had said. “If you dress up like you’re going to a fashion parade, this is bound to happen.”
This made A so angry that he stopped talking to them. They, in turn, stopped his monthly allowance.
Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based writer. That he shares his last name with a Prime Minister is purely a matter of coincidence. He tweets at @chintan_connect