Respect

 We have all seen most all performers touch the stage before stepping on it for the first time. The gesture appears as if they are bowing down to it. At times, it does look as if it is a mere ritual, and showy at that.

 Despite such oft repeated gestures, (classical) singers touching the earlobe at the mention of the guru or any other great singer, for example, and despite the 'drama', the 'acting' involved in it, that respect, however showy, makes us feel respect for the artist, right?

It seems Amitabh Bacchan removes his shoes while greeting his fans. In a way, that kind of respect is indeed much deserved as no performer can be totally complete without the audience, if not, the fans. Just as students are at the centre of  teaching, and a teacher has to respect this fact without pandering to their whims, a perfomer, too, has to respect the audience, however superb his art. A lovely symbiosis of an ideal give-n-take, right? Both ways it works, give respect and take respect, right?

In fact, i would like to go a step ahead, and maintain that showing respect, without licking anyone's feet, without lowering one's own self respect is indeed an art, and only genuine people, however a small fry they might appear to others, manage it.

Well, these days, the excessive exposure in the social media seems to belittle the allure, the charm, the mystique of respect, i feel. There are two sides to it, too. The YouTube videos can create many Eklavya's without the sincere dedicated practice for hours on end. One has to just create a smart video with so many editing, impact enhancing, photoshopping tools available. Often hence, veracity vanishes, and with it, respect, right?

Yet another aspect of this process is that respect vanishes when you see a person 24 by 7, and with warts, and all. Everything then appears false, an act put on, as in the multiple talent and reality shows fixed beforehand, and for reasons that hardly command respect, right?

Despite such horrible PR jobs, and false fandom, real respect for genuine talent never vanishes, what say? Market may maraud most everything, but never the genuine respect, given and taken. What say?

Pratima@ "Respect for ourselves guides our morals, while respect for others guides our manners," says Laurence Sterne, one of the most respected novelists in English.