When I wrote ‘Social Etiquette Necessitated by COVID-19‘, I did not think that I would have to develop an entire genre of etiquette to live through the pandemic and I definitely did not expect to see the pandemic lasting this long.
Those of you from Sri Lanka will have no difficulty in guessing the alternative to a shake of hands; which is to clasp your palms together and say ‘Ayubowan’ or ‘Vanakkam’. The key here is to make it look like a greeting. After all, you would not want to be seen as an overambitious politician or a devotee chanting religious mantras as you clasp your palms when you meet someone.
The Art of the Palm Clasp
All we have to do is clasp our palms together in front of our chest and say Ayubowan. If you are not comfortable with the terminology, simply say ‘Good Morning’ or ‘How Do You Do?’ as you clasp your hands together.
Remember, that it needs to last at least five seconds to count as a greeting. The palms should fully press against one another; it should not just be the fingers fleeting over one another in a confusing gesture and the hands should be directly before your chest. A slight nod of the head or a gentle bow is recommended.
Now aren’t you glad that we need not rub elbows or bump fists with everyone? I sure am!
The Challenge
You have to make sure that you draw first blood; if you dilly dally with the greeting, someone may yank your hand and give it a vigorous shake. Therefore, no sooner you see someone you know you have to greet, please clasp your hands together, approach them fast and get about with your greetings.
Responding to an Extended Hand
The other challenge is in wriggling out of an extended hand. You can’t really blame them all the time as it is quite a natural reaction given our years of training. I have had to withdraw mine half a dozen times in the past year thanks to my inner etiquette springing into action before my mind could tell it that there is a different way to greet now.
When you get caught off guard and someone has already extended a friendly hand to you, please don’t get flustered. Instead, look confident, look the person in the eye with friendly eyes (smile under your mask, though it will not be fully visible) and raise your palms to say Ayubowan.
As you raise your palms, you can either say ‘shall we be law abiding and avoid shaking hands?’ OR go on the back foot and say ‘Oh, I would not want you to catch any bug I have’.
Throughout this endeavour, the trick is to be confident, calm and articulate your thoughts well. Any intelligent soul you come across will understand that you are doing the right thing and they will thank you for your wisdom, and timely action and admire you for your poise.
Since the lockdown is lifted and some of you are back at work, trust the above would help. Till I return with ‘Full of Etiquette’ next week, stay safe!
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Praveeni Jayasekera is the Founder and Editor of fullofetiquette.com; she is a regular advocate on the subject. She is an ACMA, CGMA; holds a BSc. Economics and Management; PG in IT and Diploma in Social Sciences. She is employed full time in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer at CL Synergy (Private) Limited; a Sri Lankan freight forwarding company. She is an ardent fan of the written word and has compiled content for numerous websites for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, corporate profiles and blogs. She has experience in training corporate professionals on customer service and business etiquette. She conducts coaching sessions on etiquette for school children every now and then.
