Babu (title)

The title babu, also spelled baboo, is used in the Indian subcontinent as a sign of respect towards men. In some cultures, the term 'Babu' is a term of endearment for a loved one as well. The honorific "ji" is sometimes added as a suffix to create the double honorific "babuji" which, in northern and eastern parts of India, is a term of respect for one's father. "Babuji" can also be used as a term of respect for any respected elder or man.

Quotes

• He who has one word in his mind, which becomes ten when he speaks, hundred when he writes and thousands when he quarrels is a babu. He whose strength is one-time in his hands, ten-times in his mouth, a hundred times behind the back and absent at the time of action is a babu. He whose deity is the Englishman, preceptor the Brahmo preacher, scriptures the newspapers and pilgrimage the National Theatre is a babu. He who declares himself a Christian to missionaries, a Brahmo to Keshabchandra, a Hindu to his father and an atheist to the Brahman beggar is a babu. One who drinks water at home, alcohol at his friend’s, receives abuse from the prostitute and kicks from his boss is a babu. He who hates oil when he bathes, his own fingers when he eats and his mother tongue when he speaks is indeed a babu . . . O King, the people whose virtues I have recited to you will come to believe that by chewing pan [betel], lying prone on the bed, making bilingual conversation and smoking tobacco, they will reconquer India.
  • Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay [This translation is from Partha Chatterjee’s The Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Postcolonial Histories, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1993. quoted from Akbar, M. J - The shade of swords_ Jihad and the conflict between Islam and christianity-Routledge (2008)