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Aunty, What the hell!

by Sangeetha Rathore
(Indore, India)

Don't call me aunty, it hurts.

So what do you do when someone calls you an aunty? Yes! The dreaded A word. You want to presumably punch that person and break all his teeth or go home, look at yourself in the mirror and worry. Hey congratulations, your mid life crisis has made a come back and how! Being called an aunty might sound like a screaming hard rock composition that is just unbearable to the ears (to me at least). You start to think and remember the time when u called someone an aunt especially when she deserved to be called a Didi. You sadly think, it's all karma, sigh!!!

But an important question that lingers is why aunty? Why not madam or even better getting addressed by your name?

We all do have a habit of forming relationships everywhere and anywhere. Some just use it loosely and the others to have some fun. The entire womanhood who are from a little older to you, to a lot older to you becomes your extended family!! You do not know her age but you still called her aunty. You have college going people whose age difference with you may not even be 10 years, calling you aunt.

It's OK being called an aunty by kids. That's allowed but what about these bearded and lipsticked guys and gals? It's like, you are older and from the other world, and we are young, so there is a distance between us. Well, they have the right! You are voluptuous, married and yes, they might have seen you carry your baby. This is how clichéd their thought process is. So you see, if a 20 year old has been married off she automatically becomes an aunty but if a 32 year old is still single, slim and partying she has a bright chance of not being called an aunty. Grow up dude! If you don't know what to address her as, ask her, don't assume.

When a woman is being addressed that way several thoughts flood her mind. She wonders if she isn't attractive anymore. She's invisible now she moans.

You torment your brain with confidence damaging thoughts. You want to defy age. You want to cheat it. You diet, use expensive cosmetics, wear clothes making you look thin, all this to look a tad younger than before. It's amazing how this A letter word can make one so desperate and craving for attention. Yes it's a shock you get, upon hearing it for the first time. It's like getting caught in a web or being locked in a windowless room till eternity. Nevertheless, you can't change the whole world and their thoughts on this. It's practically impossible to do so. So it's better to live with it. You can either ignore it, or call him, "yes beta" and embarrass him. The answer lies within you. You'll have to decide whether you want to get affected by a bunch of idiots or you choose to remember that you are way smarter, sophisticated and enlightened than them. That's the only way because its a virus that is becoming an epidemic. It's catching hold of ignorant people since they have the lowest level of sensitivity!!

I hope that reassurance works!! Singing off "Aunties."
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