A uniform blessing

It was a yearly ritual in those days. We used to go to one particular "authorized" shop, get the material from there, and give it for stitching. Each year our father would take us to this one store, ask how much material is needed for "this child here" - and after a once-over, the resident tailor would recommend how much we needed to buy.

And then there would be stitched three sets of school uniforms per child (or two sets, depending on the family situation and the number of children). The cotton ones were cool but didn't look quite as good; the terry-cotton (some sort of cotton-synthetic blend) looked very good but made for uncomfortable wearing in India's sweltering summer months.

The uniforms were washed daily to rid them of the sweat and grime. We wore these uniforms six days a week (yes, there was school on Saturdays too). There were long skirts, short skirts or pinafores; blue-and-white, green-and-white, or maroon checks-and-white - depending on the school. Along with the basic uniform came items like a matching tie and the school badge. Some schools divided students into "houses", for competing against each other in special events - Honor house versus Loyalty house etc; like the Harry Potter houses, but with less fancy names. Each house had its own badge color.

One day if a badge or tie was forgotten or the wrong color ribbon was worn on the hair, we had to face a strict warning. Repeat offenses resulted in stronger punishments.

Some days, the tiny badge was lost and much time was spent hunting around for it in the last minute. Until it finally dawns on the student to keep it in one place - in the geometry box, for example.

Uniforms needed to be maintained, too. They needed to be ironed, and the shoes that went with them (black buckled shoes or white canvas depending on whether there was Physical Ed or not) duly polished or washed and blanco'ed.

Jewelry of any kind was banned - except for earrings, in Catholic schools. In the secular or Hindu schools, flowers were allowed to be worn on the hair. But that's pretty much it. Make-up was unheard of and frowned upon. Make-up was largely worn by film stars. The adults we knew wore little or no make-up, and if it was worn at all, it was reserved for weddings or parties.

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As much as we hated the dull dreariness of the same colors day after day - and with the agony of lost badges and pesky ties, now I admire the genius who invented uniforms. He/she deserves an award.

Yes, there was additional cost each year or every other year depending on the child's growth and parents' creativity. Some parents had "tucks" stitched into skirts - these were folds of cloth stitched at the bottom - the threads could be unraveled to lengthen the skirt if the child grew. But that cost had so many benefits - no need to buy too many other clothes each year. Three or four sets of new clothes each year were sufficient - one for Deepavali, one for the birthday, one for the Pongal festival, and one for the Hindu New year (which varied based on each state). Creative parents put in "tucks" in these clothes too, to extend their life.

On schooldays, because everyone dressed alike, there were no comparisons. Rich or poor, within the confines of the school each person was a student and nothing else. It really helped us focus better on classes and friendships - and the real person, rather than what someone wore.

There was no Abercrombie/Aeropastale/Banana-Republic generated angst, no eyeing bracelets and crying to go to the mall every now and then, no peer pressure to deal with as far as clothes and dressing went.

No make-up needed to be worn, nobody needed to be impressed or kept up with. We impressed in the only ways we knew how - by studying better, making more friendships, or winning more sports and literary competitions. In retrospect, what wonderful times they were!

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I try to instill simplicity in my child - saying that the inner person is what matters; that education should be the focus of schools and children should be children. But this is tough in a materialistic environment where the media and culture says something else.

Everywhere, there is pressure for little girls to grow up too fast. Designer labels for children, lip gloss advertisements for little girls, birthday gifts for elementary schoolers featuring tiny make-up items and body glitter, children's channels featuring girls wearing fancy clothes with careful layering to create a certain effect.....And these characters talking about liking a certain boy and trying to impress him.

Kids in school are classified as "cool" and "not cool" based on what they wear. Popularity in school is apparently based on what a kid wears. If I show a child who is not fancily dressed, the reply is "That is a Gifted student, Amma - they don't care about dressing". What is a parent to do when there are other parents indulging this?

Why are parents indulging such mindless materialism anyway? Middle-school girls wear make-up. Brand name are suddenly important - never mind how pedestrian the design looks. Most girls want to dress like Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato or Selena Gomez. I saw the video of a song featuring Selena - for a young teenager she dresses elaborately and wears way too much make-up.

Our girls are being pushed to grow up too fast. There are people in the US who argue about the right to self-expression, but after seeing the clothes teens and pre-teens wear, it seems like self-expression is too much of a good thing.

Self-expression is for those who have the maturity to express themselves responsibly and who have the means to handle the consequences of the same. Children are too immature and too easily led into focusing on the wrong things. These are impressionable years, and we as a society should strive to create impressions of the right things in their minds.

Self-expression in schools should be in distinguishing oneself academically and in extra-curricular activities. A well-written essay stating opinions boldly and clearly is expression enough. One does not need to express one's coolness or lack thereof through what one wears.

I wish instead of telling children "You're special" and indulging them, more parents would stand up and say "You're equal to everyone else - not better. Special is something you become when you work hard to distinguish yourself".

And I wish schools here had uniforms.