Cheers to all auntyjis!
Cheers to all auntyjis! He was polite, quite good at his job and loved to talk, non-stop at that, but Mani did not seem to mind. The third morning as I opened the door for him, he again bowed his head slightly and with folded hands, said – Namaste , auntyji . That took me by surprise. He was not being sarcastic or offensive. Waves of mirth rose in me. He had greeted me with only a ‘ namaste’ the first two days. He seemed to be of an indeterminable age. Short, bald, paunchy, with furrows on his forehead, moving with measured steps, he could be anything from 35 to 50. I am not good at guessing age and revelations about how long someone has been on this planet, generally take me by surprise. What is funny is that he still calls Mani – ‘ bhaiya’ (brother), yet promoted me, Mani’s wife, to aunty , one rank above, in relation. In India it is considered rude to address an older person not related to you by their name unless you are in a business environment. (Then too, it ...