By Rajaram Ramachandran
Shabdaavali: Thorle (N): Elders, Seniors (English), Mooththor/Mudhiyor (Tamil), Buzurg (Hindi/Urdu) – The term Thorle encompasses within itself, Elders (in age), Seniors (in office), Learned (in education and Sastraas), etc. Now it is the duty of us to pay due respect to the elders – either aged and senior to us, in our official hierarchy, learned people (even if they are younger to us, as in the case of Purohits, etc.). I have seen people showing disrespect to their parents, other elders in the family or otherwise. Citing close friendlike relationship some call their father or mother in singular. Somehow I am not able to disgest it, but then I have been brought up like that. I recall a couple of instances – in 1963 while I was working in P & T department, my boss, the office in-charge Mr. J.P.Das wanted me to prepare a draft letter to the Horticultural Department to bring to their notice the fact that the gardener of the department had not been attending to our office lawns and surroundings for six months. I prepared one, which I thought was superlative and put it up to him. After five minutes, he called me and told, “the draft is nice, but one thing Chandranji, you have indicated that ‘the old man who was attending to our garden has not been coming for the last six months’. Please replace ‘old man’ by ‘the elderly gentleman’ because we should respect the man’s age”. I corrected it and learnt a lesson from my boss which is etched indelibly in my memory. Later on we came to know that the elderly gentleman had passed away. After my marriage when we went to our village, our Kaariyakaaran’s father, Sri Soundharapaandiyan (story teller in our childhood days or nights) came to our house to felicitate us and in the process he tried to prostrate before us to pay his obeisance. I stopped him and told him it is OK. I have never allowed the workers in our farm to prostrate before me, whether they were young or old. Similarly in the office hierarchy also it is advisable to pay due respect to our seniors. First we should stop calling anybody in singular – jaare, yere, jaaga, yega, poda, podi, etc., at least in public or in front of third person. What is the harm in calling or talking to people politely with due respect? Pay respect and get respected!
Shabdaavali: Thorle (N): Elders, Seniors (English), Mooththor/Mudhiyor (Tamil), Buzurg (Hindi/Urdu) – The term Thorle encompasses within itself, Elders (in age), Seniors (in office), Learned (in education and Sastraas), etc. Now it is the duty of us to pay due respect to the elders – either aged and senior to us, in our official hierarchy, learned people (even if they are younger to us, as in the case of Purohits, etc.). I have seen people showing disrespect to their parents, other elders in the family or otherwise. Citing close friendlike relationship some call their father or mother in singular. Somehow I am not able to disgest it, but then I have been brought up like that. I recall a couple of instances – in 1963 while I was working in P & T department, my boss, the office in-charge Mr. J.P.Das wanted me to prepare a draft letter to the Horticultural Department to bring to their notice the fact that the gardener of the department had not been attending to our office lawns and surroundings for six months. I prepared one, which I thought was superlative and put it up to him. After five minutes, he called me and told, “the draft is nice, but one thing Chandranji, you have indicated that ‘the old man who was attending to our garden has not been coming for the last six months’. Please replace ‘old man’ by ‘the elderly gentleman’ because we should respect the man’s age”. I corrected it and learnt a lesson from my boss which is etched indelibly in my memory. Later on we came to know that the elderly gentleman had passed away. After my marriage when we went to our village, our Kaariyakaaran’s father, Sri Soundharapaandiyan (story teller in our childhood days or nights) came to our house to felicitate us and in the process he tried to prostrate before us to pay his obeisance. I stopped him and told him it is OK. I have never allowed the workers in our farm to prostrate before me, whether they were young or old. Similarly in the office hierarchy also it is advisable to pay due respect to our seniors. First we should stop calling anybody in singular – jaare, yere, jaaga, yega, poda, podi, etc., at least in public or in front of third person. What is the harm in calling or talking to people politely with due respect? Pay respect and get respected!