By Madhurima Ghosh –
We all know the meaning of Respect – display of regards towards our elders but respect is not just for elders. In life we are surrounded by many people and things. Majority of them might appear to be trivial but looking at it in a broader view would make us realize that everyone and everything that we come across in our life has their own role to play and thus deserves respect. Just like we respected our teachers in school because they taught us, the janitors also deserved respect as they are the ones who kept the school clean. It is same with the inanimate objects as well. Among things we often respect books and money since they are representative of Goddess Saraswati and Lakshmi but we do not bear the same feeling for other objects. Well every little thing deserves their share of honor because all of them together help us to build our lives. Like house allows us to stay safe, vehicle allows us to move around and even shoes which protect our feet.
How Respect Changes our Way of Life
When we misbehave with people or things, this taken for granted attitude becomes our general school of thought and it reflects in every aspect of life. Instinct usually cannot discriminate between, objects and human, close people and distant ones. So even before we realize this attitude creeps into our personal relationships. We start behaving insensitively towards people whom we love, responding with harsh words or rough behavior can often stir up an unnecessary dispute. This results in weakening of interpersonal bonds.
On the other hand, when we value everything and everyone with dignity and respect, being calm and soft spoken becomes our general behavior so we also tend to treat our close ones with lot of love and compassion. A gentle answer can turn away a probable fury and in turn build up relationships.
Having respect for something, also make us take care of it, by keeping it clean along with proper maintenance and that can keep the item in good shape for long. Whereas if we take them for granted treating them casually, they would get damage soon and can also become fatal for us in some case.
In a country like India, where people grow up listening to folk tales that talk about stories of inanimate objects and animals behaving like humans, having respect towards everything is a moral teaching. But while growing up in a generation of ‘Use and Throw’ items, people often consider disrespect and disposability as the way of life.
However in reality, Respect, Sensitivity and Integrity are the ways of life..