Issued in the name of the mayor, the card read, ``Mrs Savita V Sharda, H W Mayor, City of Surat, requests the company...''. Critics of the mayor pounced on the two letters H W for Her Worship alleging that Sharda recommended their use and that they betrayed ``her slave mentality (and eagerness) to please the high commissioner'', as the honorific is part of the British tradition.

``I am very upset by the allegations'', Sharda told Express Newsline today. ``The invitation was sent by the commissioner. I had nothing to do with it, let alone recommend the use of the two letters before my designation. They are part of the protocol we have been following''.

She added, ``It is being said that I insisted on their use because of my RSS background. It has nothing to do with that. In fact, I myself do not want to be addressed as `Her Worship'.

While Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan was unavailable for comment as he was out of station, a senior civic official tried to play down the controversy, maintaining that some vested interests were trying to create a misunderstanding between the commissioner and the mayor.

Defending the use of the honorific, Director of Planning R D Desai said, ``This is not the first time that the mayor is being addressed as his or her worship, which is the British tradition. I can show you hundreds of instances in which the mayor has been addressed as HW''.

To buttress his argument, Desai showed Express Newsline a notice issued by then Surat Municipal Commissioner B S Khobade on October 27, 1966. Khobade wrote, `I have been considering for some time past how exactly the mayor should be addressed. I consider that while addressing in English it should be `his/her worship'.

``The use of the honorific is not an sign of an eagerness to please our former colonial master as is being said'', Desai said.

Though the issue may be a storm in a tea-cup, it could well prompt a long look at the custom.