New Delhi: A B.Com (Honours) textbook advising students to write emails short enough to be interesting like skirts has created an outrage on social media.
The book ‘Basic Business Communication’ has been authored by C.B. Gupta, a former head of the commerce department of a Delhi University-affiliated college.
The textbook is widely prescribed by professors to B.Com (Honours) students in most DU-affiliated colleges. The book, which has been in print since over a decade, said, “Email messages should be like skirts--short enough to be interesting and long enough to cover all the vital points.”
A student, who did not want to be named, said, “Some students from socially and economically weaker sections have a tendency to memorise everything written in the textbooks, without realising that such analogies may legitimise casual sexism in our society.” “Why didn’t anyone question this statement in this book which is being reprinted for years?” she asked.
Now a septuagenarian, professor C.B. Gupta expressed regret for hurting sentiments and said that the analogy was taken from an article by a foreign author. “I have already deleted the statement from my book. I will also advise the publisher to remove the content before publishing,” he said.
