Aunty

“Good bye Papa.. I’ll miss you”

“We’ll miss you too sweetheart! Take care..”

“You can leave if you want. Train may take some time. And it’s totally alright. I’ll be fine”

“You sure?”

“She’ll be fine, Uncle. Don’t worry”

“Yes, Papa”

Father leaves

Sheena and her friend, Riya, were travelling in train. The other passengers in the berth were a mother along with her son. She seemed to be in mid forties and the son was in his late teens. The two shared a good bond with each other. The lady too seemed quite rational and sensible, the way she was talking to her son, explaining him things and sharing her experiences she had in her early life. Sheena was engrossed into her book, while Riya was busy with her phone. Both in their mid-twenties, Riya was single and Sheena was  married for a year but revealed no such sign of being married, until the time when she removed her baileys and the woman sitting opposite saw her bichhiyas (toe rings). Yes, married women wear them and the woman sitting to their opposite saw her feet and ignored.

Now, before this journey, to whichever place Sheena travelled, nobody could ever make out about her marital status. Everyone thought she was single and must be working somewhere because of the way she carried herself (no bindi, no sindur, no managalsutra, no bangles, etc etc). That is how she liked it. And so whenever she used to meet kids, they always called her didi and the elder kids too greeted her by the same address. And she was used to listening it that way.

But this train journey, as was passing, a little conversation was made between that woman and the 

two friends. When they were about to reach the destination, the woman said something to her son which completely bewildered Sheena and stupefied Riya!

“Help ‘Aunty’ with her luggage, beta”

Sheena was dumbstruck for a moment.. Aunty..!! Ok.. Aunty..!!!! Wait.. come again.. Aunty..!!!! And it was going on and on and on in Sheena’s head.

“Just because she saw my toe rings, she calls me Aunty!!! That too for her son who’s almost 20..!! What on earth is the thing with marriage and being called an Aunty? Not because you look like one, but because you show signs that clearly states you’re married.. and hence.. making you an ‘Aunty’..!”

It was her friend who was laughing and helping her calm down at the same time. Apparently, no woman likes to be called Aunty, and Sheena had met people who’re not even able to make out if she’s married, and here, on the other hand, the woman calls her Aunty just because she saw her toe rings and realized that she’s married..!!

Pissed.. yes she was.. and more than that she was not able to understand this whole concept.. but her friend Riya had a good time and good incident to tease Sheena all her life!! All thanks to Auntyji!!

Silly things happen around us all the time. Has it ever happened with you or you saw someone addressing people like this? It’s fun to hear them out and gives us all a good laugh.

Happy Reading

Cheers