Namaste

Namaste – This is a sanskrit word which means (NAMA – I bow, AS- Me, TE – You) I bow to you…this is one of the greatest ways of greeting people I have come across. By the way how many of us actually bother to greet anyone we see? I have seen people who don’t care to even smile when someone greets them and it is just not the matter of their rudeness which I see but what worries me is the fading sign of respecting each other.

This one is for all of us who are either lazy to greet or head weighted enough to bow or not rightly educated in terms of respecting others…as I believe one of the simplest ways of respecting others is just “stand up and greet them”…

This is one of my personal experiences where I have seen this great personality being so humble and respectful to even the youngest of the gathering.

It was in a marriage celebration where I learnt this lesson….

There was this elderly man in white shirt and simple dhoti in his early 70s sitting in the second row of the marriage hall which was fully crowded.. and approximately every 15 minutes once there were few people who were walking towards him and introducing themselves to him….Believe me he greeted every single person who came to him with at most respect by getting up from his seat and wishing them and spent at least a minute with each of them knowing who they are……..he was none other than

Dr. T V Venkatachala Shastry
(Dr.Togere Venkata Subba Shastry Venkatachala Shastry)

He is one of those gems who have contributed enormously to classical literature. Some of us might know him and some might not because his works are extremely research oriented and far ahead of common man’s understanding. His contributions are in the field of grammar, prosody, textual criticism, lexicography, history of literature, literary criticism, biography and translation.

Below is just a glimpse of few awards he has won for his contributions

Pampa Prashasti, Sahitya Academy Bhasha Samman for ancient and medieval literature, Rajyotsava Prashasti, Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award, Masti Prashasti are a few among them. ‘Sreemukha’ and ‘Kannada Meru’ are the felicitation volumes presented to him.

When a great personality like Dr. T V V who has extraordinary literary contributions in his basket and big list of awards and great recognition in society greets even a small child with so much respect… It is sad that we who are just stepping and seeing the world without any identity as an individual fail to show a simple sign of basic manners in respecting others.

“Dr. T V Venkatachala Shastry – Simple Yet Splendid”
I learnt from his simplicity did you?