Saturday, January 09, 2010 I sat waiting in the hustle and bustle of Heathrow airport today waiting for our prebooked taxi to arrive. Sitting next to me was Mrs Patel, in a wheelchair waiting for her daughter and son in law to come and pick her up. She was old and frail, dressed in a beautiful Indian sari and then her eyes lit up as she saw her grandchild come running towards here. They all leaned forward and kissed her and then helped the old lady out of the chair. When she was standing, all three bent forward, one at a time, while the others were talking to her, kissed their hands and touched her feet and then their own heads as a sign of respect for their mother and grandmother. The little granddaughter, who was about 3, did it a few times, smiling.

Just searching the internet about this old custom revealed many different opinions about this Indian tradition, which from the sites I read, said it was originally a sign of submissiveness in a feudal system but over time has, for the most part, become a sign of reverance and respect towards elders.

In this case with Mrs Patel the sign was given with great joy and it feeled me with delight and interest.