I went to IIT for the brand and the academics, but what I loved the most about the place was its simplicity. On campus, there was no show-off, no flashiness.
Students attached zero (in fact, negative) value to how you dressed or how you looked. Whether your dad was an industrialist or a clerk, nobody could tell. And that is how it should be. At least in school.
Before leaving for IIT, I bought a pair of running shoes (a Bata brand called ‘Power’). Years later, when they were in tatters, I threw the shoes away. But the next day, I had to go to the city and needed shoes.
So I promptly picked them back since the janitor had not removed them yet (thankfully). Nobody cared about these things. And it was such a relief!
So is dressing well wrong?
Not at all. I am not suggesting that we spend our whole life in tatters. Nor am I looking down on fashion or dressing well. There is art, elegance, and design in dressing, and those who love it should explore it.
But fashion, like anything really, becomes a problem when it robs you of freedom – when it takes your focus away from things that are dear to you, to mere external appearances.
Today, I am not the same person anymore. I don’t dress up like a student. In bits and pieces, I have changed, like everyone else. And that’s fine too.
The key is to not get caught up in anything. Use things without giving them power over you.
And that is hard. Thankfully, at least in college, we did not have that struggle.
– Rajan