To Sir and Honorables with love

These days I have seen posting on Facebook, mostly by employees of Government of India who address mundane MPs and MLAs as Honorable So and So. It makes sense when "Honorable" is deserved for the deserved few, e.g., the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and even Chief Ministers of States in India. But to address an MP or MLA as Honorable reeks of British era sycophancy (it is another matter an overwhelming majority of them are even scum enough to earn the Honorable tag).

Same goes with the usage of ubiquitous "Sir". In the Southern part of US, one is often addressed as Sir as a matter of respect and gratitude, no matter what you are and what you do - considered as an integral part of Southern hospitality and mannerism. In Britain you need to go an extra mile for the same. You need to command respect to earn it. SIR is usually associated with the coveted Knighthood, reserved only for persons with extraordinary abilities.

In India the word "Sir" is too loosely used these days. During my growing up days the word Sir was sparingly used only to address teachers and high level officials who sipped TEACHERS. Now any Dumb addresses the Dumber as Sir, a perfect example is me being addressed as Sir on multiple occasions in India without hardly doing anything noteworthy to deserve such accolade. 

Often sugar coated, wrapped in obsequiousness and delivered with a bended spine posture, it comes in form of "SIR Jee" as if just SIR is not enough. This is also invariably followed by the character assassination of the Sir behind his back. Define hypocrisy.

Once a friend came late to a gathering in India. His excuse was - he had to drop his SAARE (The word Sir pronounced in thick Odia accent) at the Airport. Fair enough. I sarcastically asked him, " Since time immerial you have been dropping Sirs at Airport. Is it not high time for you now to be a SAARE ?" Nodding in approval were those who were around and had a hearty laugh. Hope his turn to be at the receiving end of the coveted Sir status, the ultimate dream of many arrive soon.