Respect

I was waiting for cab in lobby of apartment. It was morning school time and parents were accompanying their kids to the bus. I overheard a conversation between a teenager kid and her mother. The kid was upset over something and was rudely back answering her mother. Mother was trying to reason with her patiently, but kid was not ready to budge and went in bad mood to school. I could see the helplessness of mother.

Friends this is a very common phenomenon these days . Kids are seen arguing over each and everything with their parents. We all realise and understand that this is the new generation which is well informed and hence ready to reason over each and everything. They are not ready to accept anything on face unless they are convinced. So much information and resources are available at their disposal ,that even parents don't want to take any risk by being harsh or instilling discipline. Though this is good but kids are many times rude and cross certain limits in this process. They forget the age gap, the experience and the respect which every relation should have.

I feel this is also due to the fact that because of nuclear families they hardly see their parents respecting and following any elders .They are used to see their parents independent and taking decisions on their own most of the times. Having grandparents or senior members around, they can get a chance to see how experience of elders is respected, how their opinions are taken into consideration and how flexibility is made a part of life to accommodate their preferences.

I feel the onus lies on us to set some examples wherein these kids get to see us accepting, respecting others and their opinions before reaching to any conclusions impulsively.We need to make them understand that it is important to listen to what elders are saying or feeling,to understand their experiences and gain something positive from it .It is not correct to reject something on face casually everytime. Flexibility and adaptibility are also important which can develop only when we are open to changes.

Other day my house help came agitated and sad. On inquiring ,she said she was very upset with another lady for whom she was working for past few years. She had scolded her in front of guests over some mistake in work. She said,"Didi you pay me for my services and I work considering your homes as my own. I understand my responsibility and expect a little respect. You have all right to show me my mistakes and I am ready to accept and rectify but why so in front of all?"

I couldn’t agree more with her logic. Every human being has self respect which we all need to recognize and consider. In fact my experience says that if we give a little respect and recognition to their efforts ,our helpers are ready to go overboard in assisting us.Actually on a deeper thought I also feel that this is a two way process. What we give, we receive back. If we give respect, we get respect in most of the instances in life. Our behavior, good habits and our character play a strong role in commanding that respect.

During my student phase I always loved my teachers. Respecting teachers helps in building a faith system wherein we can confide and understand in better way what they want to teach us. If we can’t respect teachers, we are always in doubt zone and confusion creeps in. I agree not all teachers are perfect but if we don’t respect ,our listening gets blocked and we are not in a position to understand properly. This is especially a problem with current education system since kids have access to online information day in day out. They want to verify each and every piece of information. This is good habit but it should not create unnecessary confusion and arrogance in kids. I strongly feel Children should be taught to respect and understand what their teachers are trying to tell at primary stage. They can have their own logic and analyzing applied in latter stage.

I have seen instances where people grumble or say bad things about their employer or organization. I genuinely feel that in doing so they are disrespecting their company as well as their work too. Being wife of an entrepreneur, I have seen the hard work, the pain, the struggle which a person has to go through in building blocks of any set up. The employer- the organization is shouldering the entire responsibility of families of so many people dependent for livelihood, as also the safety and comfort at workplace of all workforce. Committing mistakes, getting angry is ok but I feel that ,all at humane level need to respect the efforts and hard work because of which any organization is running.

I feel for any relation to be healthy and happy, the individuals involved should respect each other immensely. Just loving and caring is not enough. One needs to respect other person as well as that relation to sustain any kinds of adversities and testing times. Trust and respect go hand in hand for any relation to be meaningful.

Friends I feel respect should not be restricted to living people around us only. It extends to nature and surroundings also equally. We need to respect flora, fauna, public property, and the infrastructure facilities for enjoying better and comfortable life in long run. If every individual respects nature and consciously takes due care of cleanliness, proper disposal of waste, optimum use of resources , environmental balance will get managed automatically.We need to respect social rules and regulations for maintaining discipline and decorum in society

All in all respect is the foundation ,on which a peaceful and good quality life can be built upon. There is love and balance around ,only where there is respect.