R-E-S-P-E-C-T

If you had met me some 8-10 years ago, I would have told you my dream of making it big. "I will sit in my air conditioned office and scream 'Ramu!! Chai laa!'. I'll have a secretary, and as soon as I enter the office everyone will get up like in a Hindi movie and wish me Good Morning."
I was always in fascination of those teachers we had who would enter the classroom and everyone would just shut up. In fact, when I played 'Teacher, Teacher' with my friends, we would all decide the temperament of the teachers: strict, medium and mild. And I would be the strict teacher. Hooray for power.

I interned for TTML (look it up!) for my undergrad and I called to thank the person that had arranged this for me. He was one of the members of the board of directors for Tata Industries, and that is as huge as huge gets. (He lives on one of the topmost floors of a high rise in Nariman Point, if that makes any difference in conveying how high up the professional and financial ladder he is.) I was respectful of his post, and I was courteously thanking him. This was toward the end of my final semester, and probably my voice sounded overwhelmed with the amount of work I had left to do to not flunk my courses.

This great, great man later got in touch with my mother and asked her if I was okay, and if everything was okay at TTML and why I sounded so tense. I still remember I got chills when my mother told me that. ME?!! He asked about me?! He was actually listening to what I was saying? This busy, busy man, took the time to show concern for an intern who wasn't even on the payroll.

Whenever I see this man, I will shut up. Whenever I see him, I will get him chai and I will stand up. I will say Good Morning. The only difference is that I will want to, I would love to and he won't even have to ask. I don't think he has ever had the need to ask.