By Siva Kailas in 6th Grade

Indians greet each other with namaste. The two palms are placed together in front of the chest and the head bows while saying the word namaste. The greeting is for all – people younger than us, older than us, of our own age, friends and even strangers. There are five forms of formal traditional greetings in the scriptures. Namaskara is one of them. So why do we do namaste?

Namaste can be a way of saying hello, a cultural condition, or a way of worship. Namah means salutation, and te means you. So, namah+te =Namaste, or I salute you or I bow to you. Namah can be interpreted as na mama, or not mine. It shows spiritual significance of destroying one’s ego. But really, namaste means may our minds meet.

We indicate namaste by folding our palms before our chest. When we bow our head, it is a form of extended friendship in love. But there is still more. The life force of all, the divinity, and the Self in me, is the same for everyone. When we gesture namaste, we are actually bowing to the divinity, the Self in them. That is why sometimes we do this to a revered person or to the Lord.

When we do it to the Lord, we sometimes accompany the gesture with words such as ‘Ram Ram’, ‘Jai Shri Krishna’, ‘Namo Narayana’, ‘Jai Siya Ram’, ‘Om Shanti’ etc. When we know the significance of namaste, the greeting doesn’t make it look like a gesture to the guest, but shows a deeper connection with another for love and respect.