“Say Hello with Namaste and Goodbye to Handshake”

In the interest of health hygiene for everyone, I’d like to propose replacing “handshaking” with “namaste” for anyone greeting another person as they go about their everyday life - routine, work or business. Namaste is the equivalent of hello, but with an element of respect as it translates to "the divine in me bows to the divine in you." It’s an ancient traditional greeting practice followed by billions of people in the Indian Sub-continent and South East Asia. It’s well-meaning and one of the humblest and most respectful gesture a human being can show to another, as they meet kith, kin, friends, colleagues, acquaintances or total strangers.

In the wake of the current pandemic coronavirus situation all over the world, call for this practice couldn’t be more timely or warranted. This is a simple practice to keep coronavirus or any other contact contagious disease at bay. Of course, in addition to the above one must follow the basic hand hygiene methods such as washing/disinfecting etc, particularly after being in public places or before having a meal or snack.

And what better place to start this custom than from the biggest house in the land – the Parliament House! So, I encourage our parliamentarians - federal and state - to start this new tradition. Trust me, you’d all look awesome, graceful and more trustworthy in your Namaste pose! Hopefully, the corridors of power in the rest of the world can catch up this “healthy greeting infection” from the exemplary Australian parliamentarians! The next big step could be the United Nations endorsing this practice.

Please do consider the healthier and sincere greeting. Make it countrywide and global. Make "Namaste" go viral to fight COVID-19 or any other virus for that matter!!

With heartfelt namaste,

PK