There is a rising trend of addressing people using English names in our personal, professional and social circle. It is either sir or madam in the professional circle, most people are either ; in the social and personal circle, most people are uncles or aunties.

This trend, which looks very innocuous, is in fact culturally destructive because it replaces an existing system of addressing people with an inferior one. We find the sir/madam or uncle/aunty way of addressing people to be inferior because it does not carry the depth and meaning of the Bhāratīya way of addressing people.

For instance, the indigenous names for our relations reflected whether they are from the paternal or maternal side, and what their position and privilege in the family is. For example:

• Valyachan, in Malayālam, refers to father's elder brother, and is a father figure too.
• Cheriyachan, in Malayālam, refers to father's younger brother(s), and is too a father figure, but second to valyachan.
• Bade papa, in Hindi, refers to your father's elder brother. This position also carries the privilege of your father figure.

But now, we have reduced most of our relations to mere uncles and aunties, removing their position as well as the pedigree from our addressing. The names now carry less information. Therefore, this new trend is a downgrade we look at it merely as a system.

Looking from a cultural perspective, this trend contributes to the slow erosion our existing socio-cultural system. Language is one of the most important pillars of culture, thus making it a great attack vector to kill a culture.

Looking from an emotional perspective, if a person grew up speaking his mother tongue at home, addressing people in that tongue always carries an element of affection, a sense of closeness and a bit of love. Although it is hard claim to prove, it is an easy to claim to experience.

To return to the practice of addressing our relations in our mother tongue, we are building a repository of relationship names in various languages.

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Among the professional circle, it is common for a person to refer his or her superiors as sir or madam. There are two side effects to this practice — one is cultural and the other isn't.

The cultural side effect is that a foreign system of formally addressing people replaces the indigenous system, thus contributing to slow erosion of the culture. Since the relationship dynamic between people in an ethnic group is largely influenced by the language, a system based on foreign language will also create a conflict in the general relationship dynamic between people in formal spaces.

The non-cultural side effect is the cultivation of a strict and bossy relationship dynamic in which, proper communication becomes the first casualty. Such a dynamic that inhibits proper communication and criticism from subordinates isn't the best for a functional team as several management studies have pointed out. This is one of the reasons why there is no sir/madam addressing in corporate culture.

So how do we address people in our professional circle?

There are two ways: address them by their names but with the respect the language asks you to adhere to, or you can address them by their ranks and positions.

Staying true to our diversity, there are multiple ways to show respect while addressing people. Some languages of Bhārata suffixes the name with a ji, as in Modi ji and Rahul ji. Other parts encourages you to include a brotherly or sisterly tone if the person is an elder, such as Amit bhai, Lal anna and Shobha chechi. And if you are not close, simply addressing them by names but with a tone with humility is acceptable.

If the person holds a commonly recognised position, you may address them by their positions. Doctor, nurse, inspector ji, officer, major, teacher, mashe (for male teachers in Malayalam), mantri ji, etc.

There is a risk though. We have been so accustomed to the culture of sir and madam, that it might ire the person in power if not called sir or madam. That is not to say that we must stay with the sir/madam way of addressing people. We have a moral responsibility to the preservation of our culture. That responsibility can be easily gratified by practising the culture and imparting it to the next generation.