The recent demand raised by a college teacher to rid campuses of the British relics like ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ has triggered an animated discussion in the teacher community about the usage that is in practice for ages. Pradeesh K., Assistant Professor at Commerce Department, Government College, Chittur, had raised the demand soon after the Mathur grama panchayat in the district took a historic decision to ban such salutations.
Mr. Pradeesh’s demand has invited sharp criticism in teacher groups. Some even went on to describe the demand as a means for cheap publicity.
Rajani Ramachandran, an English teacher from Bharat Mata College here, said that there was nothing wrong in addressing a teacher as ‘sir’ or ‘madam’.
“Every job has its dignity. A ‘guru’ is respected in our culture. We cannot afford to stoop to such a level as to call a teacher ‘chechi’ or ‘chetta’,” said Ms. Rajani.
No to ‘bro’ and ‘aliya’
“You cannot go up to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and address him rudely. The position he holds has to be respected,” she said.
When students start calling their teachers as ‘bro’ or ‘aliya’, that will be the beginning of our culture’s decadence, said another teacher.
Although there were both thumbs up and thumbs down for the arguments, teachers in general do not favour the scrapping of ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ from college campuses. “What is respected is not the person, but the post. Nothing can replace terms such as ‘guru’, ‘teacher’, ‘sir’, or ‘madam’,” said Muraleedhar V., former principal of Government Victoria College, Palakkad. Mr. Muraleedhar said that diluting respect to create a feeling of endearment would be wrong.
According to Richard, a geography teacher from Government College, Chittur, a Principal has to be addressed as ‘sir’. Teachers should be given the respect due to them on campus.
‘Flawed priority’
Ms. Rajani said that the demand for scrapping of ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ was a flawed priority.
“We have many other things of more serious concern. This is a matter of little significance,” she said.
