The reason I don’t like using the term ‘Sir’

Because it reeks of social and class fragmentation.

Because it inherently points towards the ‘superiority’ of certain commoners (Wikipedia: Since the Late Modern era, “Sir” has been increasingly used also as a respectful way to address any commoners of a superior social status) over others.

Because it leads to the creation of artificial hierarchies that should not exist (Merriam-Webster: a man entitled to be addressed as sir —used as a title before the given name of a knight or baronet and formerly sometimes before the given name of a priest).

And because it can lead to the addressee developing an unhealthy sense of arrogance of superiority.

And where there is superiority, there has to be inferiority to accompany it.

When I joined Infosys, one of the very first things we were taught during the first week of induction was that under no circumstances were we to ever address any of our colleagues, never mind the seniority, as ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’m’. This is because in the corporate world, everyone is equal. Everyone is performing their respective roles, and some might happen to be such that they have to direct other roles. This does not make them superior, or their direct reports inferior. Calling someone ‘Sir’ in a corporate setting belies this thought, and is one of the reasons for the subjugation faced by many in the so-called junior positions (I don’t like to use the terms senior-junior, and boss, either).

In fact, during the early days, when once one of my batchmates addressed a faculty member as ‘Ma’am’, she was quick to quip, “Please don’t call me ‘ma’am’. I have a beautiful name. Please use that.”

(This is just one of the many reasons I love Infosys to this day, 7 years after having left that place. I plan to do a post highlighting all the reasons soon).

Here’s another thought. The inherent irony is, the terms ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ are western imports, and while their use has been discontinued in the western countries except outside of military circles, we Indians have taken to it like fish to water. Indian society is highly hierarchical, and while we have kept this attribute intact, we have mixed it with the western concept of ‘Sir’, which has led to this term seeping into our lexicon. While we have imbibed the western ideas of corporatism, we have not applied all the tenets of it, including equality at the workplace; leading to this mish-mash.

In a world already fragmented on so many levels, some of them natural by way of birth (caste, religion, gender, nationality to name but a few), we certainly do not want fragmentation on artificial levels. And while I understand there are other uses of the word ‘Sir’ that are ‘clean’ (Merriam-Webster: used as a usually respectful form of address), I still advocate that it be dropped from our vocabulary, since its existence (for usage in the ‘cleaner’ form) will continue to cause its usage in its unwanted form as well.

We are all equals. There is no ‘sir’ amongst us. Period.