She was greeting all the passengers enterinthe aircraft with her dazzling smile. The passengers seemed to be in a rush to board the plane to Pokhara. The Nameste offered by the air hostess was greeted differently by different people. When it was my turn to get in, she gain greeted me with an energetic smile and Nameste. I greeted back with Namaste too. Each time I travel by domestic plane, I see the same greeting from the air hostess. By in the first time I boarded a domestic flight, I was very confused to watch passengers ignor in the greeing offered by the air hostess.

The last time I had got into the plane, a quetion hit me. Why almost all passengers from Nepal ignore the greeting? Foreign passengers, I found, always returned the greeting. Basically, Namaste is a respectful greeting. It honous people and in our culture indicates the respect and admirtion for those being greeted. It brings people closer. In the same way, we find people from other countries greet with hello, hi and other greetings.

I just couldn't get the cavalier attitude of Nepali passengers out of my mind. To placate my curiosity, I talked with an air hostess serving in a domestic airline on my way to Nepalgunj form Kathmandu. Why did she think most Nepali passengers never bothereed to acknowledg eher greeting? She said, "People believe that sincerely have paid for the journey, they need not do any more. These self-important ant people make me laugh." Nilima has experienced that many Nepalis travelling indomestic aeroplane, especially the rich ones, never respond to her greeting. "Look, the foreigners always respond without hesitation. They honour us for we honour them, "Nilima says. To say that Nilima is disapointed at the cold response of her fellow countrymen while the foreigners treat her with respecst would be huge understatement.

I don't get it. Why were our pride on our sleevers unnecessarily to make ohers feel bad and sad? Doing Nameste is our culture and we should try to respond to it gracefully.

During my last trip, when the aeroplane landed in Pokhara and as people were getting out, the air hostess, as usual, offered her Namestes; unfortunately almost all Nepali passengers totally ignored her.

If we want to get respecst from ohers we need to know how to respect them. If not, we won't even be able to respect ourselves. No matter who greets you, you give a measure of your acculturisation and civility responding to the greeting. When I greeted the air hostess at Pokhara with a, she smiled back coyly. I bid goad bye her and disappeared into Pokhara city.