respect

Respect: high or special regard- Merriam-Webster

Now why is it that the dictionary definition of some words do not carry the same meaning as we choose to define them in common language? Respect for me is not regard but the courtesy that I give others in all situations, not just ones where I am required to praise. When I was younger, my parents would often tell me about the myths and stories that their parents told them growing up in India. Most of these always entailed a lesson for young children and one of my favorites about respect is from the Jatakas, the story “The Ox who Won the Forfeit.”

The story begins with a gentleman making a large claim. "Look at my Ox!" he shouted. "He can easily pull a hundred wagons!"

He ends up making a bet with the locals over his Ox's strength. However, on the day of the challenge, the gentlemen (out of the blue) starts treating his Ox horribly, calling him names and yelling at him.

The Ox thought to himself, "What has gotten into him? He has never treated me so disrespectfully, calling me these horrendous names as if do not have feelings or self-respect."

This internal turmoil causes the Ox to lose the challenge on purpose resulting in the man losing his money. That evening, the man asks the Ox why he gave up when he had pulled that many wagons before. The Ox is honest and shares that he felt disrespected when the man yelled at him for no reason.

The man realizes his mistake. "I'm sorry, my dear friend. In the heat of the challenge I got carried away. I thought those names would make you wired up and force you to pull harder. I had no intention of disrespecting you," he explained.

The Ox understood that the man had no bad intentions and tells him to make the bet again. "This time," he says, "if you give me the dignity and the respect I deserve, I shall win the challenge and get your money back."

So that is what happens: the man makes another bet and treats the Ox with respect and therefore wins his money back when the Ox wins.

This story is simple and to the point. And since the Ox has some power over the man, he is able to humble him easily. However, the Ox is not cruel in explaining the situation to the man. He shows respect in his own way by giving the man a second chance. But that is not the case in real life. Consider, for example, is it acceptable for the CEO of a company to treat his sales employee with disrespect just because that individual is in a lower position and the CEO is the boss? Is that how society is meant to function and how our social hierarchy triumphs in times of peril?

In my opinion, a true leader is one that knows how to manage their team with respect and knows the values of each member in the group. The Jatakas give us these examples in an unconventional setting that is still equally applicable in a modern business setting. We should not look down upon an individual because of their position. In reality, everyone serves a distinct purpose in life, without which other moving parts would not be functional. The biggest lesson that this story teaches us is that we need to be considerate and cognizant of everyone's feelings and points of view to have a better functioning community.

The other lesson to be learned is about open dialogue. The Ox is honest that he felt disrespected and the problem is easily solved. If he had just acted as he did without justifying his actions, the man might not have figured out what was wrong and couldn't fix the situation. I am a big believer that no one is inherently a bad person. It is simply the situation that prompts us to do things which are bad. Since the Ox reprimanded the man for the way he treated him in that situation, they were able to move forward without having hard feelings against each other. When we aren't open about our feelings, it can cause resentment and the situation can deteriorate. This is not only in business or work settings. Within a home, all members of a family need to be treated with the same respect. Within society we need to have a mutual understanding for all peoples. We need to be mindful to remove negative ideologies of age, race, and ethnic backgrounds to acknowledge that we are humans before anything else. This mindset can foster growth and an environment where all people can succeed. ALSO! Like in our story, we should also be respectful of our pets and the world we live in. Be respectful to your mom but don't forget to also respect mother nature!

Author's Note: For my story, I wanted to continue the motivational speech writing style I started in the first post. I also wanted to keep the same stylistic choices, so the name of this story is "respect" and I started the speech with the dictionary definition. Since I am trying to make this into a speech format, I think speaking directly to the audience is the best way to catch their attention. At the beginning of the speech I talk about how my parents would read me bedtime stories. That is actually not true. However, whenever we would visit my grandparents, they would tell us stories about different myths or stories they heard growing up in India. My family is Sikh and from Punjab, so none of the stories we heard incorporated Hindu mythology (which is what most of the stories we read in this class are), so it's been fun learning about a completely different Indian culture. I chose to do the Ox story from the Jatakas Tales because I think it has an important lesson about the respect we need to be even more aware of right now amid this epidemic. People are losing their lives to this disease and others are facing economic distress. In times like these, we must come together as a community and support those around us. Regarding the retelling of the story, I kept the overall narrative the same but added more meaning to how we can interpret the story.

Banner Image: Respect can and should be defined as a two way street: Freesvg

Bibliography: The Ox Who Won the Forfeit

Author/Source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt