Salute

I salute a person every day. And its not Modi. J Let me go back to an incident last year. The new security person in my office building one day stopped me from entering the building as I was not carrying my I-card on my way back from a run on Infy ground. Many of us would feel offended .. our ego doesn’t allow us to be ordered by people we perceive as ‘lowly’ than us. I however smiled and apologized and said it wont happen again as I am myself a stickler for rules and regulations.

From the next day he started smiling back. And one day I stopped to speak to him and he turned out to be an ex Army jawan from Rashtriya Rifles who has spent more than a decade fighting insurgents in our border areas. From that day, whenever I see him at our reception, I salute him. This guy genuinely deserves my respect more than even most of the people up the hierarchy. And it makes me think, someone who serves us deserves more respect cause they make our life much more easier at such a meagre pay. So next time don’t forget to say a simple thank-you to the person who cleans your table at a restaurant or the guard at your apartment who opens the gate for your car.