Calling a woman a maid and saying she dresses like a dustbin? The Delhi Golf Club (DGC) deserves a slow clap for its behaviour towards a proud woman from Meghalaya who wore her traditional attire. Yes, pinch yourself. This is the 21st century.
Delhi Golf Club stopped a Khasi governess from being in the club's premises as she looked like a maid in her traditional dress.
The governess, identified in a Facebook post as Tailin Lyngdoh, works with an Abu Dhabi-based doctor from Assam who was invited as guest at the club on Sunday (June 25). The governess, who was from Meghalaya and was wearing a Jainsem, a traditional Khasi dress, was denied entry to the premises.
Tanushree Hazarika, who runs the Eclectic Group out of Guwahati shares, "I feel that maybe organizations, based in whichever part of the country, should be more tolerant about the different cultures that exist in the country. All these problems of racism and discrimination that we see all around us point to the fact that most people know very little about the Northeast. Now is not the time to point fingers but to educate more and more people about us and our culture."
Meghalaya Woman In Traditional Dress Shunted Out Of Delhi Golf Club For 'Looking Like A Maid'
Addressing the problem, the Club management admitted to an “etiquette problem with the particular staff” but insisted that a governess or any other staff member of the guests are not allowed unless the guest is wheelchair-bound.
“Clearly, there was an etiquette problem with the particular staff that was handling the guest concerned. We accept they could have handled the situation differently and in a much better way,” said Rajiv Hora, secretary of the club, adding that disciplinary action will be taken against the particular staff who dealt with the situation, reported Hindustan Times.
It was a Facebook post by Nivetha Barthakur which exposed the chauvinism of DGC. She wrote, “An example of North Indian bigotry, chauvinism and ignorance: many of us have been slighted in the capital of India for being from NE part of the country and have lived to tell our tales! Today Tailin Lyngdoh, an extremely proud, Khasi lady who has travelled the world in her Jainsem from London to the UAE was thrown out of the Delhi Golf Club because her dress was taken for a maid's uniform!”
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She added, “Despite she being invited in her own right as a guest of a member, she was humiliated and the two gatekeepers of haute culture of Delhi, one Ms Sumita Thakur and Mr Ajit Pal, did not even have the grace to apologise. The room was full of Delhi elites who make their maids and nannies wait outside in the heat lest they pollute their surroundings, and I bet many of them were civil servants and keepers of the Indian Constitution.”
Barthakur’s post generated swift reactions on social media and the post spread widely, calling out the high-handed act of DGC. However, DGC is still standing by their claim that it wasn’t because of the dress but that the rule extends to Lyngdoh being a governess.
The management says it reached out to Barthakur. “But she is travelling and is on a flight. We have spoken to the member (Pam Goyal) whose guest she was. Ms Goyal has said its okay and that it was a misunderstanding,” Hora said.
Meanwhile, National Commission of Women (NCW Chief) has taken cognizance of the act and has called it “a shameful incident”, rather than a gender issue.
Picture credit- Eclectic Northeast
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