Skip to main content

Is being called Sir really a terrific thing?

I am blessed truly, I believe because I am growing wiser as I grow old. Not many people reach there. One of the perks being an expert in multiple fields of communication is that I am called upon to conduct workshops or keynotes on topics ranging from blogging to what not.



And they all call me sir. Not only who those attend or organize these workshops but generally too, so many people seek me out for advice and they are like Sir or Tushar Sir. And honestly speaking, I am always unsure about how to react to this.

We in India grow up as Britishers taught us like for 100 years . Sir, Ma'am is ingrained in our psyche. Even though the Britishers themselves use the term as honorific title generally knighted upon someone. I have no doubt people do call me Sir with respect, but in our modern times is the prefix (or suffix) relevant?

I worked in an MNC where everyone called each other by their first name.I moved on to an Indian Startup where we have a mixed bag of people half of those who call each other sir or ma'am and others who prefer first names.

It means different things to different people. But my ego is not flattered by people calling me Sir. I can look at someone and know how much the other person does respect me. A word means little to me. Except that it's humbling at times.

And these are the times when I don't know how to react. Especially when people insist and feel that it makes for a formal and distinguished atmosphere. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Also read

Does India need communal parties?

I think, it was Tan's post on this blog itself, Republic Day Event, where this question was raised. My answer. YES. we need communal parties even in Independent, Secular India. Now let me take you, back to events before 1947. When India was a colony of the British Empire. The congress party, in its attempt to gain momentum for the independence movement, heavily used Hinduism, an example of which is the famous Ganesh Utsav held in Mumbai every year. Who complains? No one. But at that time, due to various policies of the congress, Muslims started feeling alienated. Jinnah, in these times, got stubborn over the need of Pakistan and he did find a lot of supporters. Congress, up till late 1940's never got bothered by it. And why should we? Who complains? No one. But there were repercussions. The way people were butchered and slaughtered during that brief time when India got partitioned, was even worse than a civil war scenario. All in the name of religion. And there indeed was cr...
40 comments
Read more

Did You Ever Love Me? Book Review: Can Rithvik singh turn heartbreak into a homecoming?

Did You Ever Love Me? by Rithvik Singh is a tender contemporary poetry collection about love, heartbreak, longing, self worth and learning to let go. Its greatest strength is emotional accessibility: Singh writes directly to readers who feel intensely and care deeply. The collection offers comfort without pretending heartbreak is simple, though its simplicity may occasionally feel familiar to seasoned poetry readers. Did you Ever Love Me? Have you ever loved someone so completely that, after they left, you were left wondering whether they had ever understood what they had been given? Not merely whether they loved you, but whether they ever noticed how much you loved them, how much patience you offered, how many small things you remembered, or how often you chose to stay when leaving might have been easier. There is a particular loneliness in that question because it rarely arrives at a dramatic moment. More often, it finds you while you are doing something completely ordinary. Yo...
1 comment
Read more

A decade of live free: The Kaftan Company Marks 10 Years with Middle East Expansion and 'Homebody' Nightwear Collection

India's first kaftan-only brand grows from a single idea to 1000+ SKUs, four categories, a Hyderabad flagship and global fulfilment and now targets the 21–34 "homebody generation" Hyderabad, 7/9/26: The Kaftan Company (TKC), India's first brand dedicated exclusively to kaftans, has announced its expansion into multiple markets across the Middle East as it completes ten years in business. The announcement comes alongside the launch of Homebody, a nightwear collection built for women aged 21–34 who have stopped treating a night in as a consolation prize. Founded in 2016 by Prakruti Gupta Rao and Navin Rao, TKC set out to take a garment that Indian women wore at home but rarely talked about and make it a category in its own right. A decade on, the brand has grown into the widest-range kaftan player in the market with over 1000 SKUs spanning women's wear, maternity, kidswear and men's loungewear, a presence across Myntra, Nykaa Fashion, Tata CLiQ and Zivame, relat...
Post a Comment
Read more