The video of the IIT Bombay students dancing to the song “Munni Badnaam Hui” from the Bollywood movie Dabangg has been doing the rounds on most of the social networking sites. Both praise and criticism have rained all around from all quarters, making it not at all hard to understand why this is so. More notably, the video was not posted on any of the official IIT Bombay platforms, and the institute has not formally responded to this incident.
Mixed feelings are evoked in the minds of viewers by the video, and the most common wonder is if this performance fits the ideals a person would have conventionally associated with one of India’s elite engineering institutions. Several people took to social media to voice their disappointment over the performance, saying it was “inappropriate” and had nothing to do with the high academic and moral standards that one would have expected at IIT Bombay. Says one, “These students come here to study; why are they engaged in these kinds of acts?
On the other hand, many netizens came in support of the students, stating that the dance was innocuous and that students were free to be vocal about their youth and creativity. Some users criticized what they call the moral policing of this incident and stated that IIT students have the full right to express themselves beyond their academic spheres.”Why all the hue and cry about a dance?” one user asked, while another posted, “It shows that IITians are not only brilliant academically but also have cultural expressions.”
This incident sets off a further debate that reflects a craving to strike a balance between tradition and personal freedom within academic institutions. As critics have it, such performances might involve a reprehensible effect on reputation; supporters believe that these moments make campus life vibrant and inclusive.
This incident has given a new fillip to the debate on the expectations of students within these elite institutions regarding behavior that challenges traditional decorum and juxtaposes this with the entangled relationship between cultural expression and academic values in India at large today.
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