The five lettered four letter word

Last updated on: November 17, 2009 at 5:52 pm by Jennifer Clark

The five lettered four letter word 2009-11-17T17:52:31-06:00 Jennifer Clark

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It is a word we women dread the most. We try to avoid it yet there’s no escaping it. Many of us have learnt to live with it, accept it as our final destiny.

I vividly remember the day when I first heard this word. Of course, I had been using it all my life but someone using it in my context caught me unawares. I was barely 24, married for just over a year. It was a usual weekday morning until the door bell rang. Outside stood our neighbor’s teenaged son with yet another missive from his overbearing father. “Aunty, your cooler is………”

AUNTY ???

My entire neuro-sensory system stopped responding. My world came crashing down. All I could hear was the sound of my sobbing heart. “Does he think I am old?” “Have I aged overnight?” “Is this the end of my youth?” “Why me??” I was an anguished soul seeking answers from anyone who cared to listen.

We Indians are a congenial lot and we take the adage “the world is a family” rather seriously. All our lives we are constantly forging new relationships. The sabziwalla, raddiwalla , gaswalla are our long lost brothers, so we address them as “bhaiyya”. Men and women in indeterminate age groups are relegated to the category of “Uncle” and “Aunty”. Names are meant for family members and fools. “Uncle, can you please not park your car in front of my gate!” “Aunty, your pesky son has been hurling live bombs in my balcony yet again!”

Of course there are times when people do not take kindly to this term of endearment. Like our 50-something landlady of a house we lived in a decade back. She turned vivid shades of blue, red and green when I tried to forge this loving bond with her. She let out a woeful litany on how the whole universe was ganging up against her youthful self. Even 70-somethings at the Mother Dairy booth were clamoring to be her nieces. Empathizing with her, I hurriedly swallowed my ‘aunty’.

The same wronged lady, however, had no qualms in addressing my parents, barely a few years older, as “Uncle and Aunty”. That left me literally fuming. Anti-ageing creams be damned, these magic words are enough to make you feel younger, as long as you are the one hurling these at others.
My age has always been subject to a lot of speculation. Since the age of six, I have always managed to look younger than my age. Of course, now I take it as a compliment. My 30’s were plagued with a tussle between “didi” and the dreaded A-word. The younger lot insisted on addressing me as “didi” while their parents wanted to consign me to aunty-dom. I have had instances of a stray sabziwalla trying to aunty me up, only to be met with the iciest of glares. Thank god, looks don’t kill.

Gently introduced to my 40’s now (that took guts to put in print), I am finally in the reconciliation stage. I still get mildly outraged when a college type kid addresses me as Aunty. Old habits are hard to get rid of, especially vanity.

My 15-year old daughter gets even more livid when people gush about us looking like sisters. “Do they think I am old?” “Have I aged overnight?” “Is this the end of my youth?” “Why me??” she asks anyone who cares to listen.

Life indeed has come full circle for me.

Humour

Previous Post

November 17, 2009

Hamid Gul on Pakistan, US and India

Next Post

November 20, 2009 The Invitation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Aarti Achievement and Leadership AfPak Africa Annual and Year-end Asia Audio Australia Behavioural Sciences Bhagwad Gita Bhagwad Gita Blogging Blogs Business Business Intelligence Business Strategy Cannes Careers Chanakya China Conservation Corruption Creative Daily Links Desh Poems Development & Welfare Devotional Audio Devotional Songs Drama Earth Economics Education Entertainment Environment Europe Everyday Quotes Featured Articles Featured Songs Finance Flickr Pictures Food Geo-Political Global Warming Globalization Health & Medicine Hinduism Historic History Humour India Indian Culture Indian music Indian Weddings Israel Issues Legal Link Love Minorities Misc Motivation and Personal Development Movie Lists Movie Reviews Movies Mumbai terror attacks Natural Disasters Nature News Outsourcing Pakistan Parenting Personal Philosophy Poetry Politics Poverty Quotes Recipe Regular Blog Post Relationships Religion Religious/Spiritual Audio Sciences Showcase Slideshow South Asia Special Stories Spiritual Quotes Spirituality Sports Stories Strategy Technology Technology Terrorism Travel Uncategorized US Video Women Women_s Rights Worship Yoga

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 June 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 September 2014 August 2014 January 2014 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which letter is addressed "to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James Jude 2 John Galatians