HISTORY OF HONORIFICS AND SOCIAL HIERARCHIES: AN ANALYSIS OF ‘SIR/MADAM CONTROVERSY’ IN KERALA

Abstract

A recent resolution which was passed by Mathur Grama Panchayath in Kerala banning the use of honorific salutations like ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ to address its office staff or office bearers triggered some significant debates. Instead of ‘sir’ and ‘madam,’ more endearing words like chetta (elder brother) or chechi (elder sister) are recommended. The resolution also decided to avoid the use of words like apekshikkunnu or abhyarthikkunnu (I request) in official correspondences. Instead, avashyappedunnu (I insist or demand) or thalparyappedunu (I desire) can be used. Following the trend, there are similar demands in social media to stop the use of honorifics to address teachers in colleges and other educational institutions in order to bring a sense of egalitarianism. The incident provoked some discussions regarding the colonial influence on language in India and the need for decolonising it and making it more democratic. The honorifics like ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ are criticised for being anti-democratic in structure and feudal and colonial in spirit. At the outset, this paper intends to ask whether a tokenistic and cosmetic intervention at the peripheral level of language would suffice to make it more democratic. It examines the foundational coordinates of democracy like Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and concludes how a caste-based hierarchical society like ours can never mature into an egalitarian society without addressing the core issues of structural discriminations and social hierarchies. The ideal situation is to have an office where both the officer and citizen are treated with mutual respect. The paper concludes the discussion by arguing that social stratification is the real issue, not the honorifics. The need of the hour is to help the individual ‘subject’ evolve in to an autonomous ‘citizen’. Words like ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ can be easily replaced, but the culture of social stratification and hierarchy is a tough and painful stain to remove.