It is the new global currency for greeting each other and now ‘Namaste diplomacy’ seems to be the new norm especially at the time of corona virus outbreak.
From the US President Donald Trump to the the Prince of Wales, to the French President, the Israeli Prime Minister to diplomats in the UN and top corporate honchos, everyone these days are adopting Namaste, a greeting with folded hands in view of the outbreak of COVID-19.
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu @netanyahu encourages Israelis to adopt the Indian way of greeting #Namaste at a press conference to mitigate the spread of #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gtSKzBDjl4
— India in Israel (@indemtel) March 4, 2020
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even went to the extent of saying that people can avoid personal touch and adopt a simple form of greeting, i.e. Namaste. These comments came during a press conference.
This is an ancient Hindu custom which signifies the message of greeting from one person to another.
A person folds his arms across the chest in a gesture and then says Namaste.
The word is a combination of two Sanskrit words.
Namah (I bow respectfully to you) and aste (let there be).
Président Macron has decided to greet all his counterparts with a namaste, a graceful gesture that he has retained from his India visit in 2018 pic.twitter.com/OksoKjW7V8
— Emmanuel Lenain (@FranceinIndia) March 11, 2020
The French President Emmanuel Macron too was seen greeting members of the public in this manner.
Namaste 🙏🏽
A healthy Indian tradition is gaining new ground @UN as diplomats strive to keep in tune with the times.
As on so many other issues, India & Singapore agree on this too. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/E0I06PD6Ec
— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) March 7, 2020
India’s Permanent Ambassador to the United Nations, New York was seen greetings his counterpart from Singapore in this manner.
Ancient Indian wisdom has taught and enriched this world at different points of time in the history of the world.
At sensitive times such as this, it is time to look at the glorious past and imbibe certain lessons which are time tested.
This is exactly what even the Chairman of the Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra re-tweeted and asked everyone to adopt this simple custom.
With even the World Health Organization (WHO) suggesting certain steps to be taken, it is probably the right time to say ‘Namaste’ to the world, and India must popularise this as the new diplomatic currency.