Locking out old rules

Akul Mehra shares a light moment with his parents. Pic/Aishwarya Deodhar

During the pandemic, like most kids, 11-year-old Andheri resident Akul Mehra feared getting a haircut. Over time, he began to love his new look with long hair. The only hitch - he'd had to chop them off when offline classes began, as schoolboys are expected to have short hair. So, in July last year, he wrote an email to the principal of his school - JBCN International School, Oshiwara - requesting permission to retain his long hair, voicing his reasons, and requesting a fair listening to his case.

In a heartfelt email, titled, "HERE with my long HAIR!" - an appeal by Akul Mehra, he mentioned how long tresses, "resonated with me and I didn't want to wait to be in college to be able to express myself. Everyone is unique and has a right to express themselves. Learning doesn't depend on how we look but on how we feel and communicate it; learning is not judging each other but respecting and accepting."

Another point he made was about his ancestral lineage of Kshatriyas (a warrior clan) and how the British suppressed Indians by imposing their rules of dressing on us, and it was time now to reclaim it. However, an even more compelling rationale was that of gender equality. "When girls can choose between skirts and trousers, long and cropped hair - why do boys have to conform to the biases of short hair? People must learn to embrace their personalities without thinking of social inhibitions," he added.

Arjun Rao

So did he not face criticism from the society? Akul's mother, Gunjan, tells us, "Some of his close family members would poke fun at him and ask if he was a girl, but we were glad how Akul would reply with reason, not rage. He has been an introverted child and this journey with his locks has helped him find his individuality and speak up for others as well."

His father, Sumit shares how, for his generation, communication was mostly one way. "We never questioned our parents but times are changing. Children these days are comfortable expressing themselves and questioning barriers and old age norms that now seem to have become our binds. They are not scared to break them," he added.

Akul's school principal, KV Arjun Rao was impressed with Akul's confidence and felt his argument was strong enough to convince the management to alter the rulebook. "It was a deeply personal argument, one that was very specific to the learner, and, as a school, we felt that this is something we should support," he said. The school amended its rules, transforming its policy from ‘all girls should tie their hair and come tidy to school' to ‘all learners should tie their hair and come tidy to school.'

Akul thinks it is a big win because this would allow other learners to embrace their individuality and express themselves freely. Amidst finding his sense of gender identity, breaking stereotypes, and honing his sense of fashion, he further found a cause and groomed his hair to donate it for wigs for cancer patients.

The bigger question, however, is whether schools are ready to bend their rigid rules to accommodate new-age learners who are aware of their individuality from a very young age. Rao says, "As we work towards equipping learners for the future and creating changemakers of tomorrow, every learner must be allowed to be themselves. A school's code of conduct must be designed to support learners in their journey towards becoming themselves. Besides, all adults involved in the upbringing of learners - faculty, staff, and family - must come together to create an ecosystem to support each learner on this journey."

He adds that just like our society is constantly evolving with the times, schools and all institutions that are governed by a code of conduct must continue to evolve. "School is a reflection of society, and just as we see legislation change the way we view the notion of citizenship and our collective responsibilities, it is critical for schools to continue to be representative of that change," he concludes.