I regularly use the NIT Jalandhar library and reading hall to study. It's one of the best places on campus to sit down for a few hours, get some work done, and escape distractions.

There's just one oddly specific obstacle between me and the books:

My knees.

The library requires users to wear full-length trousers. For most of the year, that's hardly worth thinking about. But then Jalandhar summer arrives.

Temperatures in Punjab can cross 40°C during intense summer heat. At those temperatures, walking across campus in full trousers just so you can spend the next several hours sitting at a desk feels less like academic decorum and more like a test of heat resistance.

And heat isn't just an inconvenience. The World Health Organization recommends light, loose-fitting clothing during hot weather and notes that clothing can affect the body's ability to lose heat.

Nobody is asking for the Central Library to become a beach.

A reasonable dress code makes sense. It's an academic space, and standards of decency and decorum should remain. But neat, knee-length shorts don't make a person less serious about studying, and covering the last 40 cm of someone's legs doesn't make a library more academic.

We're asking NIT Jalandhar for one simple, practical change:

Allow neat, appropriate, knee-length shorts in the library and reading hall during the summer months.

Keep the dress code. Keep the decorum. Keep inappropriate clothing out.

Just don't make full-length trousers the price of entry to a study space when it's 40°C outside.

Our knees aren't going to disturb anyone.