Dear Readers,

Over the past few months, I found myself at the listening end of one recurrent lament/complaint in most conversations I had, across our community’s members, including educators, social service providers, parents and priests. Surprisingly, it was not about the dwindling population, nor was it related to the orthodox/liberal divide. It was an issue more grave – the increasing show of disrespect between community members (irrespective of age), and the decreasing ability to agree to disagree. Both of these negative traits, which feed of each other, are on the rise within our community, which has been known for its rather courteous, gentle, progressive and respectful disposition.

Yes, respect has to be earned, but that is no excuse to show disrespect. Yes, it would be good if others would come around to seeing your point of view, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could respect the possibility of a different opinion, without feeling that doing so compromises the integrity of your opinion. Respect is the cornerstone of civilization and evolution. There is no community as respected and loved as ours because of the premium we have placed on acting in a respectful manner – and that has gone on to win us a large share of our goodwill in this nation.

Disrespect is not just the unpleasant things you say (in person, or worse on social media platforms), it is the unpleasant tone you use and it is the brazen proclamation of lacking humanity when you choose to ignore criteria like age, achievement or lesser-privileged circumstances, before spewing expletives.

There is a line of argument to this which says that this show of respect is just a way of sugarcoating the truth, and therefore leads to being dishonest. That is not so. Even the most painful truth in context, need not be hurtful in delivery. Truth is, most of us who choose to be disrespectful or rude, and veil it under the garb of being ‘brutally honest’, seek greater resonance in its brutality than the honesty. So, be respectful, be kind. Disrespect always warrants a lose-lose situation – you either end up getting an equally disrespectful response which takes things to an uglier level, or worse, you end up hurting people. Respecting doesn’t warrant your agreeing to everything. In fact, there is no greater show of respect than when you agree to disagree without disparaging an alternative point of view. And in a community as ours, which has a large number of seniors, respectfulness needs to be sustained as an incumbent part of our behaviour.

And speaking of respect, we dedicate this issue to International Women’s Day, which falls on this 8th of March. It’s a blessing belonging to a community where gender-equality has largely prevailed right from our very genesis! Our community boasts of having some of the strongest woman leaders, and a progressive and highly successful female populace in India and the world over. But let’s face it – this wouldn’t have been possible without the support and the respect of our men, who truly believe in gender-equality… up until they see a woman driving a car! But seriously, unlike a number of other communities, it is our utmost pride to proclaim that our women rose to the fore, not inspite of the men, but because of them! And this wouldn’t have been possible without the integral element of ‘respect’ ingrained in us all.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy Women’s Day! May respect prevail amongst us all!

-Anahita