I had planned to write about LPG subsidy but then I saw the horrific headline about a boy's hand was chopped off because he did not show respect and changed my mind. So today I want to address this aspect of showing respect.
The incident I am talking about happened in Tamilnadu where the panchayat head's husband felt insulted that the boy did not stand up when he walked past and as a punishment chopped off the boy's hands. The boy is just 17 years old.
I have never understood this aspect of showing respect. I get very irritated when students try to touch my feet. I always stop them. I thought we should show respect only to God. At least that is what my parents taught us. Oh, we were asked to do our namasakarams to the elders but they really had to be old. I do not remember, as a child, ever doing namaskaram to any of my mamas and mamis. My parents did it but they did not ask us and we did not do it. We do not even do namaskaram to my parents!
The thing is that one cannot demand respect. Respect has to be gained. This is a point we often miss out. Instead showing respect is all about ego and hierarchy. I am older than you and therefore you should touch my feet, never mind you might be cursing me in your heart and behind my back. And if you do not show me "respect" I will be so hurt that I will harm in the worst possible way. Or as the Hindi proverb says it Nani Yaad dila denge. There you go!
This showing respect aspect, I believe, has stopped us from questioning the elders. In the scientific community I see it all the time. We will not question the senior scientists however wrong they might be. I won't critique them. Instead I will bow down meekly so that their ego is massaged and they feel they are respected. I will do this because I know the punishment is going to be harsh. My grants will be stopped, my promotion will be stopped, my career will be braked.
Then we grumble and moan that science is lagging behind. How can it progress when we don't allow our students to question. My data might be correct but my interpretation might be wrong. Shouldn't some one point that out? Why should I feel especially hurt if it is someone junior than me? Maybe he/she has seen something that I have missed out. The bottom line is that we can only progress if we question.
This is whole thing about showing respect and not questioning is so antithetical to what the Upanishads propound. I bring up Upanishads deliberately because that is another thing we are so fond of- Every written word is so scared that it cannot questioned and our traditions are so great!
The entire Upanishads is in the form of question and answer. So tell me why we can't be free to question? Why do we have to constantly show respect to elders?
The incident I am talking about happened in Tamilnadu where the panchayat head's husband felt insulted that the boy did not stand up when he walked past and as a punishment chopped off the boy's hands. The boy is just 17 years old.
I have never understood this aspect of showing respect. I get very irritated when students try to touch my feet. I always stop them. I thought we should show respect only to God. At least that is what my parents taught us. Oh, we were asked to do our namasakarams to the elders but they really had to be old. I do not remember, as a child, ever doing namaskaram to any of my mamas and mamis. My parents did it but they did not ask us and we did not do it. We do not even do namaskaram to my parents!
The thing is that one cannot demand respect. Respect has to be gained. This is a point we often miss out. Instead showing respect is all about ego and hierarchy. I am older than you and therefore you should touch my feet, never mind you might be cursing me in your heart and behind my back. And if you do not show me "respect" I will be so hurt that I will harm in the worst possible way. Or as the Hindi proverb says it Nani Yaad dila denge. There you go!
This showing respect aspect, I believe, has stopped us from questioning the elders. In the scientific community I see it all the time. We will not question the senior scientists however wrong they might be. I won't critique them. Instead I will bow down meekly so that their ego is massaged and they feel they are respected. I will do this because I know the punishment is going to be harsh. My grants will be stopped, my promotion will be stopped, my career will be braked.
Then we grumble and moan that science is lagging behind. How can it progress when we don't allow our students to question. My data might be correct but my interpretation might be wrong. Shouldn't some one point that out? Why should I feel especially hurt if it is someone junior than me? Maybe he/she has seen something that I have missed out. The bottom line is that we can only progress if we question.
This is whole thing about showing respect and not questioning is so antithetical to what the Upanishads propound. I bring up Upanishads deliberately because that is another thing we are so fond of- Every written word is so scared that it cannot questioned and our traditions are so great!
The entire Upanishads is in the form of question and answer. So tell me why we can't be free to question? Why do we have to constantly show respect to elders?
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