Prom night zeal, first date jitters, and the fervour of dressing up: all are alien experiences to many IITians. Popular demand from students led to the birth of a prom night culture in IIT Bombay (IITB) and IIT Gandhinagar (IITGN) last year. While IITB has restricted prom night entry to only 4th year students, IITGN is the only IIT which has kept the floor open to students of all years. It is startling to see an institute based in a smaller city as compared to other metros to have an outward perspective of such a westernised affair. Most other IITs, with their charade of modernity were unsuccessful at warming up to the idea of a prom. The question that arises is what is the rationale behind IITGN’s openness which other IITs failed to grasp?
IITGN is of the view that IITs
are today increasing the intake of foreign students and trying to match up
their academic structure to that in MIT, Caltech, etc. With such globalised
comparisons, why be so adamant against a styled ceremony full of pomp and
pageantry? It is a surprising gesture on part of IITGN, which is trying to fit
into Cinderella shoes to relay such modernity. There may be 16th
century Moghuls smiling at the sight of other IITs displaying restrictive prom
policies.
“The idea was abrupt and
unanimous but we are looking forward to making it a culture at IITGN,” says
Sanket Aggarwal, one of the organisers of last year’s prom night at IITGN,
which was the first to be held at the institute. Nihal Baig, Cultural Club
General Secretary at IITB, says, “We started organising a prom night as well as
a ball last year due to regular student suggestions. However, these events are hosted
only for final year students.” However, both institutes are insistent on the idea
of a prom which goes way beyond a single night of showiness. “A display of how
Indian students have adapted to a westernised tradition and practice it with
earnest zeal is what describes the global outlook of Indian institutes,” says
Rahul Haveli, a third year student at IITGN.
On the other hand, the idea of
being named prom king or prom queen, dancing closely with a probable first
crush, slow jazz, and a display of outlandish fashion is what many students are
heard talking about when asked about their prom experiences. Yet, students in
other IITs are not too comfortable with this idea. Avadh Singhal, Student General
Secretary, IIT Delhi says, “We’re not missing out on anything big since we have
a lot of other cross cultural events throughout the year. Prom nights are a clichéd
event.”
Thus, a prom night holds
different meanings to students across IITs. Some want to experience an episode
of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ while for some others it’s a cheap copy of ‘Emotional
Atyachaar’. However, if majority of the students vie for a prom, it may soon
alter faculty positions on the issue.