[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by Doge

Are you serious? This is absurd.
People today are way too materialistic to look beyond somebody's clothing or appearance it seems. Its a free world
This isn't a workplace or school with some dress code. The people at RTO get paid through taxes which we pay and it's their job to serve anyone, even if some dude walks in wearing bikini or shorts.

I am serious. Your logic is somewhat baffling - It's a free world?

Why stop at shorts? Why not go there in your undies? Hell why even wear them? And hey, why only RTO? Why not to the Passport Office? Why not to Multiplexes? Let me guess, you are not married, so why not land at your marriage wearing shorts? Also, places for worship as well! Get where I am going?

And its not about being materialistic at all, it's about basic common sense. You should dress to every occasion - being at any office and dressed appropriately, (and not in a business suit all the time) is just common sense. I really don't wish to argue against common sense.

[VW2010]

If RTO says you are not getting your license wearing shorts, just get into your pants and get your work done. Makes no sense to argue about freedom to wear and going to a govt office.

The people at RTO get paid through taxes which we pay and it's their job to serve anyone, even if some dude walks in wearing bikini or shorts

Great argument. I have seen police politely requesting people to come back dressed well as police station is a place of work for them and they dont want to see only criminals with no respect to work place rules but also decent folks who can respect their work place.

If you are still bothered, take it legal and see if it yields any result in your favor it will help a whole lot of folks. For me i would do anything to get the work done and move on with life.

Let me guess, you are not married, so why not land at your marriage wearing shorts?

I have done that and it was after all my marriage and i did what i want to do. Wrong example for me

[AWD]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

It might feel good to be confrontationist but it is completely counter productive because sadly they will just hide behind miles of red tape and delay your process
my time is far more valuable to me
If by dressing moderately, I am able to speed up the process a bit
submit that it is much easier to get a job done in a pleasant manner than by using a confrontationist attitude, irrespective of how much one may believe "right is on one's side".
After all, it is not as if we were all born
wear them by all means, but as the occasion demands.

WOW!! Going by that "confrontationist" logic, we would have never gained the "semi" Independence that we currently enjoy. Had our freedom fighter taken this view, that lets go with the flow, why go against it, its ok lets pass our times & the future generations be damned, we would still have been reeling under the British & still many people would have said, "its ok, we don't have the time or the energy or the will to do anything about it"!!

Again with that logic, "dressing up to speed up work", why not take it to the next level & say "while in India do as the indians do" & thus pay bribes or indulge in corruption & get your damn work done, it saves precious time & energy for some other useful chores!!

So the problem is with the babus attitudes & not with the person dressed up in shorts or alternate attires, the babu sitting on the chair needs a lesson or two, not the innocent person whos turned up to get his job done. Come on what are we debating, are we saying that the corrupt babu occupying his seat & drawing his salary from our taxes has the right to insult us or be judgemental on our clothes/appearances ? My God because some people carry such mindsets, thus the country ceases to change.

Agreed we were not born with the British system of clothing as well, also we gained a long fought independence from them. So why not choose our our clothing.

Now who will decide what to wear on what occasion, the wearer or the onlooker ? If we do not get this amount of Independence, I guess we are a slave to our own mindsets.

Let me narrate a few examples on how things change when people fight for them, the long hair whig Judges used to wear in Courtrooms was done away with, the title "my Lord" is no more necessary to be used in Courts. During my days in the med school some teachers were hell bent that everyone wear a lab coat even in classrooms during lectures. Now imagine 50deg C temp & high humidity, full day electricity cuts & we were made to sweat it out. Now lab coats are ok during clinical classes or lab but wearing them in a classroom, that make no sense. But no one was ready to do a thing about it. As being a "confrontationist" here would have translated into dire consequences(anyone who knows med schools in India would know). Still that didn't stop me from speaking my mind off & it did create a few problems but the evil was done away with finally. So one to take a stand where you feel the need. Otherwise go with the flow & never see a change in your country.

We Indians need to shrug off that "chalta hai" attitude & start being the change.

[Venkatesh.C]

There is definitely no rule, but our own rules in this country. Right from obeying traffic rules to what is patriotism and what others should be doing with their lives. The list goes on.
But like one other gentleman says here, it merits to follow a little protocol.
Without trying to tell what people should be doing, lets introspect how we would dress up for different scenarios and ask ourselves on what basis we do that. To each his/her own.

1. Visit to our alma mater
2. Visit to the local milk booth
3. Visit to a wedding
4. Attending an interview
5. Friday dressing
6. Attending a Visa interview
7. Receiving guests at home
8. Visit to the doctor
9. Attending your child's Parent Teacher meeting
10. Seeking admission for your child from a school/college
now that we have done some introspection,
11. Visit to the RTO.

[One:1]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

I will not do something similar. But i dont see why this is wrong, why someone should be denied service because he is wearing shorts. If anything like that is there, then they should put a notice in front of the office.

Honestly etiquette aside , are they kidding? How on earth is it that it's wrong to wear shorts . yes I know it's an RTO and you're going to collect an official document. To drive a car , what do they want us to do ? , Come in a full suit made of leather and a tie !?
This is just atrocious. Are casuals now being seen as "culturally wrong" now ?

Originally Posted by sunishsamuel

This is a problem all across india.

My own experience:

1) On my way to Hyd from Bangalore (shortly after moving to Bangalore from hyd) stopped near the Masab tank signal. Cops want to check DL and papers. I was wearing 3/4th. So when i got down, cop questioned "bangalore se tum chaddi main aata kya ?"

2) On my flight to USA, at Bangalore airport -- immigration officer checks my passport, forms. he told, when you are traveling international you should not go like as if you are going to a bar (he meant a little more derogatory) this is not how you dress up. I was wearing a full track pant and a plain grey t shirt.

.....

Let a celebrity do the same thing (wearing casuals etc.) no one bothers. Just because i am not the "connected" guy, they can do these. Simple !

I'm driving a substantial distance in MY CAR and I would like to be comfortable doing so . what and why is it a 3rd person's concern on what I wear in my car or on a plane . I'm not on the way to see the President now am I!? People have just got to mind their own business

+1 on the point about celebrities wearing casuals

[ramprakashr]

Similar treatment here at an RTO in the outskirts of Chennai. Not exactly for shorts, but the way the agents and RTO employees pose themselves as the highest authoritarians on the universe provoked me.

Here are some notable instances during my last visit in late 2015 :

1. The agent insisted all of us to say "Good Morning" when the RTO walked in.
2. A man who came in, was sent out for wearing his sandals into the building. All other employees/agents were in shoes. (I know they check the balance in legs when issuing an LLR, but this guy was found with some RC papers)
3. The RTO gave the flag-day receipt to only a few folks. For the rest, he just collected the money and waved at them to proceed.
4. Ladies don't have to wait in the queue, they can walk in randomly and the treatment for both the genders is diametrically opposite
5. An elderly gentleman was abused for not filling something in a particular form. The mistake clearly was on the agent and the RTO would have known it.

I felt real bad after that visit to the RTO. Hopefully some government puts an end to all the fouplay in all the RTOs.

[Vikki@Hyderabad]

Well, I try not to get involved in such conversations on this forum, especially so because there are many other forums to discuss this. However, now that the discussion has come up, I'd just say that there is a very narrow notion of formality and boundaries of acceptance here, as it might be elsewhere, other Asian and Middle Eastern countries in particular. Some examples would be comments on Dhoni/Ishant's hairdo or an actor/actress' dress at an event and linking their performance to their appearance, etc. For that matter, the 'formally dressed' aren't necessarily polite either. It's high time we as a country broaden our views and move ahead than spend our lives discussing what's formal and what's not. There are members of parliament breastfeeding their kids in some countries and no one takes offence. Time we left such things behind.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by pratyush6

And its not about being materialistic at all, it's about basic common sense. You should dress to every occasion - being at any office and dressed appropriately, (and not in a business suit all the time) is just common sense. I really don't wish to argue against common sense.

It's not basic common sense; it is an opinion. What is wrong for one person, CAN be for right for another. You cannot force your opinion of what is "appropriate" on others.

I don't quite understand why as a society, we tend to take things personally. Why is it disrespectful if someone wears shorts?! How does that person wearing shorts or whatever affect you?!

That RTO guy or the cop or the immigration officer need to realize that it is none of their business to comment on someone's attire. Their job is to do the work their position requires them to fairly, not do it based on their prejudices.

Otherwise, it is moral policing, isn't it? From there, it doesn't take too long for someone to drag a girl out of a car and beat her up just because she was wearing shorts and traveling with boys.

[Fiest@DuraTec]

I was denied entry at a temple recently because I was wearing shorts - had to buy a 'lungi'

However, saw hundreds of people who were wearing lungi folded in half, which became shorter than my shorts and eventually displaying people's under wears but I was the one at fault and disrespecting the God by wearing shorts.

[fre2bpowerless]

As long as shorts and not boxers, I don't see the issue. Damn babus, when was the last time they took an honest driving test. I'm gonna be going to the RTO to get a new IDP and I will be wearing full pants, but only because i've been missing leg day. :P

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by Fiest@DuraTec

I was denied entry at a temple recently because I was wearing shorts - had to buy a 'lungi'

However, saw hundreds of people who were wearing lungi folded in half, which became shorter than my shorts and eventually displaying people's under wears but I was the one at fault and disrespecting the God by wearing shorts.

Please understand the difference between a lungi and a dhoti.
Lungi is colourful, worn at home and certainly no one will wear at temples.
Dhothi is white, offwhite, orange, black in colour. These are worn at temples.
Did you see lungi or dhothi?

[bhaskaracs]

I have seen this posted elsewhere. Why in the world would someone enter an RTO office in shorts? There is nothing wrong in an RTO official expecting a license applicant to take him/her seriously. He is doing an important job for you, mind you. It is a government office and not a grocery store and a typical store keeper would not expect you to shower him with importance.

Further, would someone wear shorts in a different country when they go applying for a VISA or public utility connection or a social identification number. I can say this with 100% confidence all the bravado and littering social networks about authorities' intolerance is only restricted to Indian authorities. They have not right to feel important.

And these 'babus' dont belong to the era of social media (any media for that matter). While it is wrong to refuse service on their part, given his age and just the mental makeup he/she has every right to make sure you know you are not giving him due importance through wearing shorts to RTO office. And lastly you can only expect them to refuse to provide service if you argue.

[TD_GHY]

Originally Posted by bhaskaracs

There is nothing wrong in an RTO official expecting a license applicant to take him/her seriously. He is doing an important job for you, mind you. It is a government office and not a grocery store and a typical store keeper would not expect you to shower him with importance.

1. No, the RTO is not doing him a favour. It is his duty. The RTO is paid for his duty, and the applicant has paid for the service.

2. Why is the grocery store keeper a lowly being undeserving of respect from a person like us but a RTO is? Because he earns more? Or because he is educated more? Or because there are multiple stores and only one RTO?

Or maybe this has to do with how we view people.

White collar job - respectful, well mannered, civilized.
Blue/Brown collar - idiots, cheap, uncivilized, undeveloped, unworthy etc etc.

And we keep on complaining why Indian students dont take up jobs in stores, restaurants, driving to ease their education expenses while they do so abroad. Maybe because we as a society have not been able to give respect to such professions, but to people like the RTOs who got the job because his parents could afford a bribe amount running into lakhs but the store keeper couldn't.

[avdhesh15]

I guess it happens everywhere - I had to deal with a high ranking (commissioner level) once for my business which I do with 3 partners and was the first such interaction in my life. Let's say his name was Mr Honda City. When I met him, I addressed him as Honda ji.

No idea what happened until a day the 3 of us were having breakfast and my partner said that the guy had called and said I disrespected him. My other partner and I were quite shocked! Turned out that first name is an insult and he expects only and only to be called City saab!

Since that day, only the partner who understands buttering up these guys does the interaction. The other 2 of us have stayed out.

[poloman]

Words like etiquette, discipline, order, dress sense, table manners etc are slowly disappearing from the dictionary of Indians. Brashness, excessive liberalism, anarchy are things which people love today. Everything is labelled as moral policing, attack on individual liberties etc to crush the other side of argument.

No one is against wearing shorts, but even for the sake of courtesy or basic etiquette people are not willing to let go such simple things for a matter of 2-3 hours. If there is no social order, there won't be much difference between animals and homo sapiens.