Retired airlines official fights for moustache rights

By Rituparna Bhowmik

NEW DELHI (Reuters Life!) - Joynath Victor De, a retired Indian Airlines employee, is so fond of his moustache that he is defending it in court after he says it lost him his job with the airline.

"I know I am up against a mighty organisation," De said by telephone from Kolkata. "But it has been my battle to retain my moustache for the last 10 years and I am going to see the end of it."

This week, the Supreme Court asked Air India, whether the size of a person's moustache is valid grounds for dismissal, De and media reports said.

"I am from Benares, Uttar Pradesh, where a well-groomed moustache is a sign of a person's manliness and virility," De said, using the local name for the holy city of Varanasi.

"There are other social reasons to consider as well. If a person suddenly shaves off his moustache then people automatically assume that there has been a death in the family," he said, referring to a Hindu tradition.

De joined Indian Airlines in 1968 as a flight steward and went on to become an assistant manager in 1994.

Trouble started when a 1998 circular required that airlines employees be clean-shaven and moustaches not exceed a certain size -- De's moustache is wide and curly. Only Sikhs were exempt from the rule.

"I was asked by my company to follow suit or face action," De said. "When I refused, the company grounded me from flying in 1999."