The Meaning of the Term “Ji” in the Indian Culture: By Dr. Harsh K. Luthar

At Arunachala Ashram in Canada

In the Indian culture, we sometimes add the word “ji” at the end of someone’s name to convey respect.

For example, if someone’s name is Ashok, and we want to convey warmth and respect, we call him Ashok-ji. If someone’s name is Maya, we call her Maya-ji.

However, in the Indian culture, no one will ask or demand that we add “ji” when addressing them to show respect. That would be very uncool. It would actually be humorous. It is up to us when we want to add the “ji” after the name of the person. There is no compulsion that we have to add “ji” to the name of everyone we meet and greet.

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