Prasenjeet Meshram, Co-founder of EduGabri Solutions has always been an ardent disciple of No Sir No Madam practice. EduGabri Solutions focuses on providing simple and usable technical solutions to their clients.
With an intention of making software simpler to use for data storing and IT-related work, Prasenjeet quit his corporate job. He believes software can help manage business with more productivity, if it is fun to use.
He is also a stern follower of No Sir No Madam ideology in his life. Prasenjeet opines — ‘Sir/Madam’ terminology should be used for people who have achieved something significant or noble in his or her life. Consequently, he does not like being addressed as ‘Sir’.
Therefore, he has instructed his employees to refer him by his first-name. Prasenjeet confesses addressing someone by their first-name helps in establishing a stronger and personal relationship.
“Recognizing a person directly is vital for any start-up to thrive,” he mentions. Prasenjeet shares a very friendly relation with is employees. He speaks — No Sir No Madam drive has helped him in increasing efficiency of his employees. His employees do not mind, if they have to work overtime or at odd hours. Moreover, because the environment is so friendly in his start-up, people respect each other genuinely.
Although, he explains the assertive usage of ‘Sir/Madam’ in private companies. People working in corporate offices are habituated to address each other with a salutation. However, Prasenjeet states — Salutation order should be eradicated from private organizations to improve the communication flow between different hierarchical levels. Inculcating the first-name habit would also enable the junior employees to approach their seniors without any inhibition.
In addition, he talks about his tenure in the private sector. Prasenjeet voices “My juniors would address me as ‘Sir’. I had to convey to them to refer me by my first-name. I never felt disrespected whenever someone greeted me without a salutation. Furthermore, I shared a cordial relation with my juniors.” Giving them the freedom to refer him by his first-name has helped Prasenjeet in continuing his friendship with them.
Being a part of sales and marketing division, Prasenjeet had to interact with a lot of clients. He had to force himself to address them as ‘Sir/Madam’, so that they do not get offended. He stresses — I had to greet clients with a salutation despite knowing their names. This is because many people equate respect with the salutation, they are being referred with.
We are aware about the fact that displaying respect is not limited to salutations only. However, addressing someone with a salutation is so ingrained into us, that we reject any change. Prasenjeet emphasizes — it is the mindset that needs to be restructured for us to advance as a society and inculcate the first-name habit into our lives.
Furthermore, he addresses the prevalence of ‘Sir/Madam’ diktat in the government sector. In India, one has to refer a bureaucrat with a salutation in order to have their work noticed. This is a norm that has been carried on for years, which needs to be terminated.
Prasenjeet enumerates, “You can see a change in their behavior towards you, if you address them without a salutation. They will ignore you and your work to impose their authority.”
Therefore, Prasenjeet ventures to implement No Sir No Madam teachings in the education system to enlighten the society. Teaching kids about first-name principles would ensure that they do not grow up to be ill-behaved individuals in the future. ‘Sir/Madam’ tradition also needs to be eradicated from colleges, where students have to refer their seniors with a salutation. Existence of ‘Sir/Madam’ custom among students has given rise to a form of bullying.
Prasenjeet narrates his experience of his college days, where he was bullied to address a senior as ‘Sir’. Nonetheless, Prasenjeet held his ground and refused to follow any instruction given by his senior. This led to an altercation with his senior. Thus, removal of such trivial practices is important, so that students are not traumatized for the rest of their lives.
In closure, he counsels every single individual to follow first-name habit of addressing people. Besides education, an initiative by every person will help in bringing the much-needed change faster in society. As we all know, to achieve a goal in life, we have to stop wishing and start doing.
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