MUTUAL SALUTATION: A PRECIOUS LEGACY
Prof. C. Sitaramamurti
When two persons meet, they exchange
greetings. This practice is common among civilised societies, irrespective of
their religious persuasions. And it has gained sanctity by observance through ages.
It is worthwhile understanding the significance of this longstanding courteous
observance. Among Hindus, the salutation takes this form. The person who
initially makes the salutation bends his head, clasps his palms together and
utters the word ‘Namasthe’; then the other person responds with a similar
gesture, makes a bow and joins his hands in a fold and repeats the greeting.
This gentle nod of the head signifies humility. The gesture of folding the
palms indicates a respectful attitude and an approach of friendliness.
‘Namasthe’ is an oral expression of love and esteem for the person accosted.
Thus, these gestures, which take shape and combine simultaneously, may be
deemed to signify an agreeable mental attitude, a warm approach, and a
preparedness to render service. To such a courteous gesture of goodwill, the
proper response can be nothing else than a similar reciprocal greeting. The
enquiry of each about the other’s well-being is a natural upsurge of a
keenly-felt concern. Properly understood, this is the import of this precious
legacy that tradition has handed over to us, generation after generation; and
it promotes closer affability among individuals and coherent affinity in the
community of human beings.
Some departures from the structure of this
hoary greeting have been effected on certain valid considerations. When the
person accosted happens to be an elderly senior, he does not make a bow but
raises his right hand and rests his palm on or above the junior’s head; instead
of uttering ‘Namasthe,’ he pronounces a benediction Subhamasthu (May auspicious
events attend on you). This change in the style of responsive greeting is
prompted by the consideration that similarity in a salutation augurs ill to the
junior in age. It is the privilege of the younger to receive the blessing as it
is the right of the elder to bestow it. This is the rationale behind the change
in the accepted normal greeting.
But viewed from a different angle, the usual
practice of mutual greeting ‘Namasthe’ does not smack of any impropriety, even
when disparity in age yawns between the persons concerned. Let us go a little
deeper into this gesture of mutual goodwill. Who is saluting whom? God indwells
all persons; He is immanent in all His creatures. It is the God in the individual
who accosts the God in the other individual.
Jove nods to Jove. So, similarity in gesture between the
Initiator of the greeting and the other who responds is quite in order. There
is no need to vary it. Considerations of caste or creed, age or sex seem to be
quite out of place when we touch the soul of this healthy salutation, sanctified by observance from
hoary past.
But it is a matter of deep regret that this
amiable practice is fast losing its hold on our society in current times. Even when it is observed, it appears like a
lifeless, mechanical formality; it is no longer an expression of genuine warmth
of sentiment.
Mutual salutation is a normal practice in the
West, among the Christian votaries as well. When two persons meet, they bow to
each other, extend their right hands for a warm shake and greet each other “How
do you do”. Bending the head is a sign of humility, a mark of respect;
hand-shake signifies friendly attitude; and the enquiry “How do you do?”
expresses concern of each for the other’s well-being. Unfortunately, there are
some hardheaded people who refuse to bow, under the mistaken notion that such
a gesture indicates self-stultifying servility. Some others show reluctance for
the hand-shake, under a sense of false prestige; they believe that it involves
a demeaning compromise of their status. Still others desist from making the
enquiry about well-being, as they deem it as empty nonsense. But, even these
categories of people conform to the practice in a spirit of nonchalance; they
seem to extend a concession to a meaningless formality. Such flippancy is not
the monopoly of the majority in the West; it is a privilege exercised in the
East too by large numbers, particularly among the youth.
It is interesting to note how women respond
to men’s greetings in the West. In the East, women respond to the courtesy with
palms held together in a fold and with ‘Namasthe’ on the lips in the same
manner as men do. But in the West, women do not respond to men’s greetings with
a bow of the head but with a slight bending of the knees. Why this deviation?
Are their knees more flexible of
movement? No, no! Their
responsive curtsy has a vital significance. They are fully aware of the
dominant part they play in the community. If man is head of the family
as bread-winner, woman is the supporting feet of the household. She
establishes her worthiness as the provider of nourishment and sustainer of the
home. Man nods, bends his head, in his greeting as a token of his recognition
of woman’s valuable contribution to home-keeping. Woman responds with a curtsy,
signalling her appreciation of man’s labours in providing the wherewithal for
its upkeep and maintenance. The head nods in a bow to the feet, to the lady who
keeps the family in good spirits: the feet bend in a curtsy to the partner who
contributes to the affluence of the family. Thus, the salutation imports the
reciprocal appreciation of their respective contributions to domestic felicity
in a limited sense and to a harmonious social fabric in the larger connotation.
Let us reflect on the response that the
solicitous enquiry “How do you do?” gets. The response is an exact echo of the
enquiry itself. The interrogative is answered with an interrogative. Evidently,
the enquiry is not to be regarded as a question but as a positive statement:
“You must be doing well”; and the response to it as a definite assertion: “You,
too, must be doing exceedingly well”.
It may be noted that a similar custom of salutation abides in the Muslim States and
among the Muslim communities in all countries. The initiator of the greeting
bends his body forward from the waist, raises the right hand, touches his
forehead with the palm and utters the greeting “Salaam aadaaburj”, “Salaam
aalaikoon”. The same gesture
marks the responsive echo. Here also the forward bend of
the head and torso signify
humility; touching the forehead with the right palm indicates
readiness to render friendly service: and the greeting ‘Salaam’
expresses goodwill and wish for
peace. Fraternal affinity is what
is sought after through this cordial greeting.
It is a matter of deep regret that such a
gracious gesture of mutual respect and goodwill has lost its spirit everywhere and is reduced to
a lifeless custom and inane
formality. A sarcastic spirit imbues the nod or the bow, a reckless non-chalance covers the warm hand-shake or reverential gesture of clasping the palms together and a heartless emptiness envelops the oral greeting of
‘Namasthe’ or ‘Salaam’ or ‘How do you do?’ It is up to all of us to refurbish the normal salutary greeting with its original
import and replenish it with its
delicious flavour and actively propagate its precious value. Such a laudable endeavour will help secure individual uplift and promote social harmony and establish lasting peace. Let us vigorously strive to
conserve what is of value in our established traditions and not dismiss them
entirely as anachronistic practices and meaningless
superstitions. To whatever religious persuasions we profess to belong, let us clearly apprehend that the spirit of this
hoary mutual salutation is the same though its expression in outward gestures may vary.
May we imbibe the spiritual essence of these precious legacies, mould our demeanour in tune with higher promptings and nobler urges for our own individual uplift, for social benefit, and for the good of humanity as a whole. May the gracious Lord illumine the path of our life’s journey and lead us to His Abode or Peace and Bliss!