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by R. Perera

For a non-English speaking country the amount of 'Siring' that is done in Sri Lanka is surely remarkable. Everywhere you go there is someone being sired. The policemen sir the sergeants, the sergeants sir the inspectors, the inspectors sir the assistant superintendents, the MPs sir the ministers, the ministers sir the prime minister, the students sir teachers, the teachers sir the principals. It happens everywhere.

It does not take long for one to realise that in Sri Lanka this common form of addressing a male person is not quite the same as what it means in the English culture. In that culture any male depending on the circumstances can be sired. Traffic policemen invariably sir motorist. A head of department will sir a member of public he serves. It is the common form of addressing a person in a formal letter. But here in our country obviously there are quite different connotations to this civil English form of address.

Most Sri Lankans obviously believe that to be sired is to be honoured by a person they deem of a lower status. It is a fact that in our status conscious society siring will not happen in the reverse order. A judge would not sir a witness. A teacher will not sir a student. A clerk will not sir a member of the public. Siring as we apply the word denotes a certain hierarchical standing. And that is very important to us in this island!

As we all know 'sir' in the English sense is a polite way of addressing a male person. The President of the United States does not hesitate to sir a policeman. The Prime Minister of Britain would generally sir a member of the public. European judges routinely sir witnesses.

In European schools, the students would generally address the teachers by name. In most offices one addresses an official by his designation such as judge, inspector, director etc. In our part of the world this is considered disrespectful. One's employment gives the holder a status of a different dimension in our culture.

On the reverse side, it almost looks like we work overtime to breakdown and demean the pride and self-respect of an individual. The number of persons a Sri Lankan has to sir respectfully from birth to his death is astonishingly large. The European culture on the other hand attempts to install pride and self-respect in individuals and inculcate them with the idea that they are second to none. The achievements of European cultures are of course light years ahead of us. European etiquette and attitude have evolved through a period of time.

European culture created the concept of equality. Other cultures may pay lip service to the concept but the possibility of personal equality exists in its most advanced form in Western countries. Equality cannot operate without a culture of respect and safeguards. In any situation the English law will bestow one with equality before the law. I have also no doubt that no English policeman will beat me up in custody. Can I have this assurance in a Sri Lankan police cell? European methodology is something that has developed from a constantly improving civilisation. To sir someone in that society is the done thing. It does not mean you are putting your self down. It only means you are affirming your civility.

As cultures go, Indian subcontinent culture is one of the most hierarchial. Looking down on another person is almost a lifetime vacation in this part of the world. We designate certain occupations as low. A person's birth dooms him to a certain caste. Even in the modern day a student of Royal College is supposed to have certain traits which will be unattainable to a student from Lumbini Vidyalaya. A Ratwatte is credited with what is called 'respectable' genes, which Ran Banda of Udu Nuwara will never have! Of course when we came up against European powers in the 15th century our fragmented nonsensical societies had no chance in the world. We fell like a house of cards. It is the same even now. We can imagine that we are really something great. But it is just imagination! The achievements of all these so-called worthies that we sir all the time in our country are indeed meagre!

The modern state is undoubtedly a creation of a developed civilisation. It needs a developed social consciousness to fashion the features of such a State. A modern State is also an idea of civility. The presidents, prime ministers, judges and policemen represent a civilised State when they address a member of the public. Therefore it is only natural that they address the public civilly.

In this context it is clear that to 'sir' a person does not in any way define a status in an advanced civilisation. It is only a polite way of addressing a male person.

But what about the ubiquitous siring we see in old Sri Lanka? Here patients sir doctors, clients sir lawyers, voters sir politicians and everybody sirs the tourist. Either we are an extremely polite people or we are naturally inferior. The most inferior obviously are those who insist on being sired.

It is about time that we Sri Lankans in this poor little island stopped playing the donkey.

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