A Caricature of Social Ethos

Age(less) -A Pun Intended totally! I bit my finger in utter surprise when Mrs. X had the gall to address Mrs. Y “Aunty” during a conversation, while the latter bore no significant age gap. However, she showed her resentment about keeping a mum, making her indignant annoyance obvious . The fallacy of branding herself younger and other ones older with a negligible age gap or no gap shook me. Such terms are kind of easy fallbacks in indian society; which at times appear not less than a tool to yield “feel good” factor or “Abhi to main jawan hoon” feel than the portrayal of any respect. Self proclaimed youths! I got instantly reminded of a hair dye commercial flashed during Doordarshan days which flaunted the idea of how changing the hair colour transforms the social perception towards a lady, and overnight, turns her from being an Aunty to Didi. At times, I wonder at the disgusting hypothesis of society to brand a lady Didi or Aunty, especially post marriage and post delivery ...