The president and us

It's not the name but the designation which counts
"They did not even know they were talking to the president", the unanimously-elected head of a Bangalore apartment owners' association remarked the other day while referring to someone who had the temerity to knock at his door for donations for an old-age home. Apparently, referring to oneself in a deferential tone is not just the prerogative of the President of The United States of America (POTUS) Barack Obama.
Where would some of us be without a designation? And how would life be if we reach a stage where there are no more designations barring the familial ones of 'Pappu's father' or 'Dimpu's uncle'? No wonder some of India's bungalows have gates with signboards giving not just the name but designations like 'IAS (retired)'.
It's only in America that former heads of state and erstwhile envoys are referred to as Mr President or Mr Ambassador. For instance, even after she hands over charge to John Kerry, Hillary will continue to be described as secretary of state Clinton. It's a bit like President George Bush (the father) and President George W Bush (the son) — not to mention the latter's younger brother, Florida's former gubernatorial office-holder, still known as governor Jeb Bush despite his term ending in 2007. At least until he graduates from once being a head of a state to becoming the head of state.
India does not have such a system and a retired PM has to go back to being a Mr or a Ms. Could even the UIDAI's unique identification number assuage the withdrawal symptoms for a someone who was a somebody until he went back to being a someone?
Not everyone can handle those withdrawal symptoms with the humorous detachment of a V P Singh who once wondered when the media would stop describing him as a former prime minister. But then, V P Singh was a poet-philosopher disguised as a politician. The letterheads of some other ex-PMs from Karnataka and elsewhere unambiguously say "former prime minister".
Of course, becoming a prime minister is not something to be sneezed at. The world's most populous democracy of 1.2 billion people has just had 13 PMs from Jawaharlal to Manmohan Singh if one does not include the caretaker variety like Gulzarilal Nanda. But alas for them, only India's defence personnel can take their last official designation with them when they retire.
Some of the latter go on to become members of the managing committee of apartment owners' associations and, while handling sensitive assignments like senior citizens' activities, draft minutes saying "Wing Commander so-and-so (retired) proposed" in the second paragraph, followed by "Wing Commander so-and-so (retired) seconded the motion" in the third para. Some families in Punjab and elsewhere have even started naming their boys Major and General so that these children stand out from the hoi polloi in the rat race.
In Kannada theatre, there was an actor who gave a standout performance decades ago in the title role of a play called Mukhya Mantri. He subsequently entered politics and it remains to be seen whether Mukhya Mantri Chandru will become one in real life. And if he does, it's only fair. After all, we have had chief ministers and other politicians of all stripes whose main talent seemed to lie in the realm of theatre and drama. Why shouldn't someone cross the aisle in the opposite direction?