AUNTIJI

2019-05-10T22:11:38-07:00

When I was much younger I used to call older women Auntiji out of respect―in my Punjabi Sikh culture we are taught to address all significantly older females and males as Auntiji and Uncleji respectively, whether they are related to us or not. I recall them voicing incredulous anger when someone close to their age called them Auntiji: “Did you hear that? She’s virtually my senior and she’s calling me Auntiji! The cheek of it.” I continued to use the term of respect over the years. It was only when someone looked at me sideways one time that I realized I had become older than a lot of women, and I should probably stop myself from uttering that word like a reflex. I immediately forgot the lesson and continued to insult women with the respectful term. In my defense, I’m not often in the company of other Indians; I usually find myself in trouble when I go back to England to visit my parents. In trouble for other things too, but that’s another story.