1.
Name withheld, Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai.
That infamous list that the college is now claiming is fake was actually read aloud in my class by staff, probably on instruction from the management. They also enforce every rule in that list, including the no talking to the opposite sex rule.
I used to be the kind of girl that held her head up high, and didn't shy away from looking people straight in the eyes. But everyday at the gate, I have to keep my eyes trained on my feet, and walk as fast as I can and hope that my clothes don't violate any of the rules.
2.
Jeel Shah, SCMC (UG) Pune, Graduated in 2013.
I side-hugged a (guy) friend of mine in class, while our teacher was taking attendance. Both of us got detention. Two weeks for me, one week for him.
3.
Name withheld, 1st year Biotechnology, SRM University Chennai.
One girl asked the warden why we can't even go out of our own rooms after 9. She answered, "because boys don't get pregnant."
4.
Name withheld, PESIT South Campus, Bengaluru.
One of the teachers seized my phone, read my text messages, copied (yes, he COPIED) my photos (rather-not-say-what-kind-of-photos, but you get the hint) and god knows what else. Later, when my dad was visiting college, he had the audacity to show my pictures to him on his desktop. I got my phone 3 months later.
5.
Name withheld, currently studying, VIT, Vellore.
"It is our sincere appeal to the students to avoid physical contact except for handshakes. In spite of this appeal, if students indulge in indecent behaviour, suitable corrective actions will be taken against them."
^Email sent to us a few months back.
6.
Name withheld, 4th year Software Engineering, SRM University.
A girl was manhandled in the hostels, by a construction worker. A new rule stopping us from wearing shorts and sleeveless clothes was brought in.
7.
Pranav Gupta, former student, Amity University, Noida.
One day my friend was walking with a guy, when she had to tie her shoe laces. So, she held onto his shoulder to keep her balance while tying her shoelace. Two marshalls saw them, and reprimanded them immediately, just because she had her hand on a guy's shoulder. They took both of them to the head office, their ID cards were confiscated and their parents were called (who didn't make a big deal of it).
8.
Varuna Srinivasan, MBBS, SRM Institutes for Medical Sciences, Chennai.
In 1st year, we were not allowed to wear tights or sleeveless since it was deemed "distracting" to the boys in our class (as opposed to unprofessional which obviously wasn't the concern since most of the boys were allowed to wear jeans and bathroom slippers to MEDICAL SCHOOL).
9.
Vaishnavi Sharma, 3rd year, P.E.S. Modern College of Engineering, Pune.
I was walking down the hallway and a group of guys was standing there. They were checking me out and passing comments. My teachers saw this. They called me into their cabin and asked me to dress up modestly (I was wearing full trousers and a full sleeved shirt), instead of asking the guys to behave decently.
10.
Alankrutha Giridhar, Batch of 2014, VIT, Vellore.
In 2013, our college started putting up boards saying "PDA is strictly prohibited". Girls and guys weren't allowed to hug goodbye without having their ID cards confiscated or getting their ear drums blown to bits thanks to the security guard's incessant whistling. After a couple of weeks, good riddance, the boards were taken down but that didn't necessarily mean our ear drums were any safer.
11.
Aakshi Sharma, 2nd year, MBBS, KS Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore.
A group of us, (my classmates, both boys and girls) were standing in front of the girls hostel and talking at around 7 in the evening. A guard went running to to our hostel manager and the latter told us we weren't allowed to speak to boys outside the girls hostel. When asked why, she looked at us as if we were stupid for asking and then just kept quiet.
12.
Sanjana Vijayshankar, former student, M. E. S. College, Bengaluru.
My college had (and maybe still has) this bizarre rule that girls and boys had to take separate staircases, stand on different corridors during college fests and not sit together on a platform after college hours.
13.
Name withheld, 2nd year, Sri Sairam Engineering College , Chennai.
One of my friends was severely warned for conversing with the opposite sex during break hour. He was also asked to report to the management at once if somebody else in my class did the same . My senior has even told me that he paid a fine of Rs. 2000 for talking to his own cousin (girl) in the college.
