Hi, Aunty!

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Referring to older folks as Uncle and Aunty is actually the Indian way of showing respect. Everyone is part of the family. So, we have aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandpas and grandmas. Any and every one of Indian descent is related that way. It's cute. Sort of. 

If you are married, your chances of Aunty-dom has increased two fold. If you have kids, you are pretty much doomed to Aunty-ness for the rest of your life. I don't mind being an Aunty. It makes me feel special.  

I guess when the system was originally invented, we had all kind of tags like Ammamma, Achachan, chetan, chayans and so on. Since, the whole thing was getting way too complicated for us, we dropped all the other tags and stuck with the basics! 

So, an age difference doesn't automatically qualify someone as an Uncle/Aunty. Like, for example, a 20 year old kid will call me an Aunty, but my 2 year old refers to them as Chechi or Chachan. And, then we have those folks who are in the same age group but refer to each other as Aunty and Uncle. 

It's getting complicated to explain to my kids since I don't understand it myself. Like, when a 30 some man informed my kid that he is not their uncle but their brother. What!!! I guess this shouldn't be a life threatening problem, but i find myself blabbering, "Say Hello, Naomi.. this is soo and soo.. er er Chachan" 

I'm starting to like the American way of showing respect. Use your first names. And, if you are so inclined, add a Ms. or Mr. and be done with it. 

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