Friday, October 26, 2007

The Aunty - Uncle Phenomenon


Wondering what? Well, get married and you would know. I had anticipated a lot of things that I would have to face once I got married but this one somehow managed to creep out of my list!

My first hand experience was hardly a few weeks after we got married when I was walking with Sand,hand in hand on the pathway just outside our apartment. On pinkie-frockie 2 yr old kid and her boy friend came running behind us screaming "Auntieeeee....please movvvveeeee out of the way...we are playing !!" Their sudden shreiking itself had me jostled and on top of it those kids got me paranoid for another reason... "Aunty????? " and Sand, right in front of me was laughing as though he had read atleast 50 santa-banta series in one shot!
Welcome to the Aunty-Uncle club,all you newly-married people!! Your neighbour's kid will start addressing you as 'Aunty' even though you are only in your early twenties. Get married and for that matter, even an 18 year old will turn into "Aunty" sighhh!! Reminds me of the old Godrej hair dye ad that supposedly addressed a common burning issue!!

The second,third, fourth and n-number of incidents came in quick successions that I started getting really worried! Some relief flooded in when I heard the kids call Sand "Uncle" :-) Soon, if you observe, you find that its not just the kids who call you Aunty but their dotting moms too !!! "Say hi to aunty..." How much more can you tolerate !!
I am a little confused as to what exactly makes you an aunty..coz when I was a kid I used call all ladies wearing a sari as Aunty and the rest as "chechi" (sister in mallu). Or atleast, you had the sense to guess the age! I admit that you don't work out any equation or go through if-else condition in deciding whom to call what, they rather come spontaneously ,but my point was that a little analysis would show that this was how I(or for that matter many of you) concluded.
But on that fateful day, I was in my jeans n t-shirt and if my memory is right, wasn't looking more than my age... sad!! :-(
>Is marriage the culprit??? Yes it is!!
But then another question comes up naturally ...kids make no mistake in identifying if a couple (however young they may look) is married or not!! How do they do that!!! At the ripe age of 24,am still faltering when it comes to conclude if a guy and gal are "just friends" or "much more" !!

4 comments:

Rat said...

Good thought :-)
It comes as a coincidence, that I recently read something on these lines in 'The Hindu'. The title was "why i like the doorstep vegetable vendor". This was written by a lady. Agreed she is on slightly the older side, and can be referred to as Aunty. But her complaint box read "Where did the word 'akka' disappear" ? A slightly different issue. But slightly comparable too

Unknown said...

That's really awful, even though u were in jeans & T. My Sympathies are with you, aunty ;-).

Though the topic made a decent blog,I guess you must have really felt the bitterness inside when all these happened( & when it will happen again)

Btw, the last line was interesting. I know whom you had in mind. Njan parayooolaa :-P

Anonymous said...

I think kid these days call anyone Aunty, its not that you have to be married...And I hate it when their moms say,"Ask aunty her name" or "Say hi to aunty..' I feel like telling the lady, that I am elgible to call u aunty and thus ur kids should call me didi or chechi(As u prefer:))...

Soorya said...

@ Rat, I missed it I guess...Hindu Sunday Magazine? Thanks for the info anyways...will track it online..

@ Anand, don't worry, am sure you will get ur share soon :-p

@Silence Killed... thanks for your comments... yes,few ppl told me they have already been addressed as aunties n uncles though they r not married...