Aunty?

“Aunty” is certainly one of the most dreaded words in the dictionary of women, especially the ones touching mid-life. Lots have been said about a man’s mid-life crisis but very less about their counterparts. Let me confess that women, too, go through a mid-life crisis. And why not ain’t we human?
In a country known for its diversity, one thing that remains unchanged is our mindset towards women, well most. A woman the minute she ties the knot of holy matrimony, giving up most things dear to her, even her maiden name at times, is termed as “aunty”. It doesn’t matter how old is she or the caller maybe ten times older than her. What matters is the fact that she is married, given up her singledom and so has to embrace stereotypes. A married woman has no right to be young or be hep to be addressed by something else. As for rest of the singles, reaching their mid-thirties needs to be woken up to the realization that their shelf-life is really short. Hence, the world of India voluntarily takes up the responsibility of doing the needful and keeps calling her “aunty”. The word has perceived such a negative connotation that one of the hit numbers in Bollywood screams “aunty” and continues cribbing that she will call the authorities because she is too old to have fun. The perception makes people believe that “aunties” are incapable to party, party hard and have lots of fun. While the truth is just the opposite, women of that age are great to be with, else why do you think younger men die to catch their attention?
What you don’t realize is the damage done to the confidence of the woman being addressed. She has enough to fight away from blunt colleagues, critical bosses, unsympathetic family and blah blah. And to add on to the pressure, you’ve burdened her with age even before it actually strikes her. Because, the reality is women get better with time just like old wine.
There is a beauty in age. We grow more graceful, sensible enough to know that you can’t change your shape and colour, successful with career and money, and acquire a stability of the mind that makes us more attractive to younger men. And the day you realize it, life becomes so beautiful. Admiring eyes will follow you everywhere and compliments will come pouring by. The trick is to be yourself and stop fitting on teenage clothes. Let the laughing lines shine proudly rather than conceal them in layers of compact. Let go of the fad diet and accept the body you’ve been blessed with. And most important, turn deaf to people who address you with any other name apart from your maiden one. Your deafness will make them change.
Remember, “aunty” isn’t a word to be frowned at. Those who use it for you are the lesser blessed ignorant lot, they ain’t have a clue about the charm of forties and upwards. They still haven’t heard about the term “cougar”.

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