Indians greet each other with ‘namaste’. Most ignorant form of ‘namaste’usually comes from smiling politicians approaching the common person to casttheir vote with out any sense of commitment or shame. It is beside the point.Nevertheless, with out that statement the article may be in complete as we becamefamiliar with the word by the repeated actions and utterance by them.

NAMASTE is the one word in IndianQuality Management (Brahma Vidya) that describes the quality managementconcepts; mutually beneficial supplier relation ship, Involvement of people,customer satisfaction

Once you understand the meaning ofthe word and act accordance in its true spirit, all of the above concepts areautomatically accomplished.

At present Namaste could be just acasual or formal greeting, a cultural convention or an act of worship.

However, there is much more thanmeets the eye.

In Sanskrit namah +te = namaste. It means – I bow to you- my greetings,salutations or prostration to you.

Namaha wheninterpreted as “na ma” (not mine). Thus, it signifies negating or reducingone’s ego in presence of another.

The real meeting between people isthe meeting of their minds. When we greet another, we do so with ‘namaste’,which means, ‘may our minds meet’. Bowing down of head is a gracious form ofextending friendship in love and humility.

The spiritual meaning is evendeeper. The life force, the divinity, the self or the lord in me is the same inall. Recognizing this oneness with the meeting of the palms, we salute withhead bowed the Divinity in the person we meet. That is why sometimes, we closeour eyes as we do namasthe to a revered person or the Lord-as if to lookwithin.

When we know this significance,our greeting does not remain just a superficial gesture or word but paves theway for a deeper communion with another in an atmosphere of love and respect.

We are quiet used to the reactionwhen we meet a person for the first time. Either it could be a sort offriendliness or an aversion. This happens to us unconsciously. As businesspersons,we cannot afford to have a customer’s displeasure at his first sight itself.The power of the word ‘namaste’ in its true spirit just neutralizes the firstsight aversion from the customer.

“ Aditi devo Bhava!