Professorji Balaji Sirji

This is what I would be called very soon if the general trend seems to be any indication! 

This forcefully came to me when I saw the photograph of an official function in the newspapers recently (Hindustan Times, P 2 of Delhi Edition, 23rd Nov).  The Chief Minister and a few others were present on the dais and the names were written with the CM and another government functionary indicated as Shri and others, the industry captains, are Mr! Why the distinction and what is the difference, I do not know.  Possibly Sociologists rather than linguists might be able to tell us the distinction sought to be made here.   

The Idea Cellular advertisement has made the word Sirji very popular.  My man Friday insists on calling me Sirji.  It is not merely Sirji, it is always “Ji Sirji” when I call out to him. He somehow has got the idea that Sir is not deferential enough.    When someone addresses me in a letter, it is now “Dear Professor Balasubramanianji”.  Sometimes it becomes “Respected Prof Balasubramanianji”.  On a few occasions, I have seen the “ji” being added by pen by the person signing it; obviously deciding that the person who originally typed it was not deferential enough. I am called “Bala sir”; a reference to my profession as a teacher rather than anything seriously deferential, by my students.  Over the years I have come to accept and even like that.  A dorm mate of mine, who had left leanings, used to call me “Balasaab” likening me to the cartoonist turned politician from Mumbai whose politics he did not like.  He was having a dig at me for having ambiguous political positions. If people call me Balaji, it becomes a completely different name in my culture!

I do not remember politicians of older times being referred to by any Ji. Sometimes certain honorifics were added like Pandit for the first Prime Minister and Maulana for Abdul Kalam Azad. I am sure those who were close to him and equal to the Prime Minister probably addressed him as Jawaharlalji in public; but kids like us could refer to him as Chacha Nehru.  The Father of the Nation was referred to as Mahatma all right; but he was Mahatma Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhiji in Hindi.  I suppose somewhere along he transformed in to Gandhiji even in English.  People who have done research on this could tell us when. (There is a debate on the deshbhakti of a regional newspaper which referred to him as Mr M K Gandhi for a long time – but that is another story)  Imagine Sardar Vallabhai Patel being referred to as Sardar Vallabhaiji Patel or even Sardarji Vallabhai Patel!  The redoubtable Smt Indira Gandhi was that till the Emergency; when she became Madam Prime Minister.  Before 1975 one  would hear some senior politicians who were her equal in age or could be called her equals in politics based on the number of years they spent referring to her as Indiraji; just plain Indiraji.

Dhirajlal became Dhirubhai to those who are close to him and to his equals.  Dhirubhaiji is ridiculous and a contradiction in some sense.  If I was speaking to Mr Mukesh Ambani in Gujarati it would probably flow if I called him Mukeshbhai but definitely not in English.  If I want to refer to him or address him directly, it has to be Mr Ambani and in Hindi it could be Mukeshji.  But somewhere, someone decided that it was not enough to call him that.  So you would hear people introducing him using such funny additives like Mr Mukeshbhai Ambani, Mr Mukeshji Ambani or even worse Mr Mukesh Ambaniji.  Mr Mukeshbhai  or Mr Mukeshji is not right as you are mixing up two cultures; but people insist on doing it.  So far we have not gone to Mr Mukeshji Ambaniji. Why don’t we realize that Mr Mukesh Ambani is honorific and polite enough if we are speaking in English.

Some religious saints and leaders are curious.  One person goes with the prefix Shri 108 times; soon he would be promoted to Shri 1008 times!! Another person goes around with Sri Sri; huh? They are people who have given up the material world but revel in such honorifics.  Swami has become Swamiji in whichever language.  Yesterday I saw a “Parmpujaniya ____ji” arriving at the airport and there were about 500 acolytes and disciples crowding the arrival hall.

When did the need to add “ji” come along? Why is not Mrs Sonia Gandhi enough?  Why has it to be Mrs Soniaji or worse Madam Soniaji!!  Is it that we are adding these suffixes to sound more and more obsequious.  It seeks to bring in some more social distance which were reserved for an era of caste and land owing era.  My grandfather used to get letters addressed to him as Ma Ra Ra Shri – meaning Maha Raja Raja Shri -- even though there is not a drop of royal blood in my family. That is the Malayalam version and I remember M.R.R.Y its English equivalent! Instead of going away from these feudal hangovers we seem to invent new ones.  Thank god Mr has not become Mrji.  In the meantime, co-existence of Shri and Mr on the same table is a new one and seems to indicate new layers to these two words.  Anyone knows the difference?

Bala@Jaipur