Respect thy....

This picture was published in at least 2 local newspapers here last sunday...

2 men. One younger. One older. The older one (on the left) giving the younger one (on the right) a plate (plaket) of honour in a formal ceremony. The younger one, accepting the plate and kissing the older man's hand...resulting the people in the audience to give them a standing ovation....clap clap clap....

The younger man is Abdullah Gül..Once the temporary prime minister of turkey while waiting for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to take his place as the prime minister.. and presently the minister of Foreign affairs of Turkey. The older man... my dad in law.. a *hoca*..an educator..

Baba gave the plate to a total of5 people...when Abdullah Gül's turn came...he did not shake baba's hand. He did more.. he kissed baba's hand..put his forehead onto baba's hand....thus making one of the headlines in the local newspaper... 3 other plate recievers followed suit his action.. they too kissed babab's hand.

He did not do that for fame.. he doesnt need that.. he is a minister as it is..but what made him kissed baba's hand was the respect he has for baba... baba being one of his educators in his learning year...

What a nice scenario, isnt it.. no matter how high u get in life..no matter how rich u have become....if u forget ur roots... the people who helped u to be who u r today... never looking down....then u cannot be humble.....

Gül..in the position he is now.. in that ceremony, he did not forget to be humble in front of his hoca because the respect he has for his hoca made him bent down to kiss his hoca's hand regardless where he was....in front of his hoca.. he is his student..and the respect he had showed deserved the standing ovation he had gotten from everybody..

And in the hoca's place..i think nothing can be more rewarding than to see his student showing his respect for him...it is one of those things that made the educationg job a worthwhile experience....

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..