Rahul Rupani, a young Entrepreneur from Gurgaon, strongly believes in the eradication of the Sir/Madam culture. He is currently working as CEO and Co-founder of VenueMonk , which started two years ago. VenueMonk was initiated to make life simpler for people. It is an online platform to find and book venues and vendors for events.
He is a mechanical engineer and has earned his Masters in Physics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani. Before incorporating VenueMonk, he has worked for companies, including Jabong, Zs Associates, and Wadi.
He shares – I have never gone through the trend of denoting anybody as Sir/Madam until today. By addressing as Sir/Madam you are giving them the privilege which sometimes is not necessary.
Rahul indicates, “Individuals think no regard is given to them, if they are addressed by the first-name. In this way, they take a stab at forcing on individuals to incorporate the Sir/Madam terms. They ought to comprehend the significance of first name and its uniqueness.”
While communicating with Government officials, he thinks, Sir/Madam provides them the power to treat us the way they want to. He adds – when you title an official as Mr. or designates him by his first-name, he becomes cautious of his responsibilities. This helps to open-up discussion with him. It evacuates the hindrances in correspondence. Rahul considers, utilizing first name banishes the authority from being degenerated.
He speaks “In India, security guards are trained to address people as Sir (Saheb)/Madam to provide so-called respect. However, in this process, security guards have to bow to people who are younger than them as Sir/Madam”. Thus, it is important to change this scenario so that everyone is provided equal mutual respect. Furthermore, they should be prepared to communicate effectively with first name.
Rahul feels that education is the root cause of the Sir/Madam scenario. The school students are being taught- ‘If you want to give respect to someone, refer them as Sir/Madam. In the end, these youngsters are grown up taking in the wrong importance of sir/madam titles.
Additionally, the undergraduates in colleges speak to their seniors as Sir/Madam out of fear. In India, This tradition goes on over. Then these juniors tend to expect the same ritual, when they become seniors after a year. Therefore, he firmly believes that schools should teach the students about professional behavior and social etiquettes.
He indicates that talking about No Sir No Madam culture one-on-one would not help. The cause can only reach the larger crowd when influential people follow it. Furthermore, everyone needs to take an initiative and preach it.
Lastly, Rahul concludes – addressing as Sir/Madam is not always about respect. When you label a person Sir/Madam, it would make no sense, if he has not achieved anything in life. Something coming out of a habit is nothing compared to one coming out of respect.
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