No, this article isn’t about the Dalit Indian women who converted to Christianity for better treatment and better life. That topic is too serious to be dealt by me. This article is about women who are our masis, buas, chachis, mamis, bhabhis etc, etc.
Before my family members read this article and also my immediate and not so immediate relatives read this and draw a conclusion about who is the inspiration behind this article,I would want to give out a disclaimer—
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental!
Well I decided to write this article when my aunty Mina got a little furious when I introduced her to my bunch of friends. In her introduction I had used — Hello friends, meet my aunty Mina, she lives in… The moment she heard ‘Aunty Mina’ she corrected me by saying “Hello people, I am Mia”. Confused with what she actually meant by Mia, I confronted her later in the day and I asked her from when has she become ‘Mia’. She got a little annoyed initially and then started off with ‘You know my name Mina sounds so ‘behenji’ types so I thought of dropping that uncool ‘n’ from my name and now I am called as ‘Mia’ in my kitty party circle’. Hmm…I was amazed that the name she carried for more than twenty years has now became uncool for her and she now prefers getting called as Mia. Well this was just an example of the growing ‘so-called modernity’ among our chachis and masis and buas and bhabis. These so-called cool ladies are mostly in their thirties and forties and they largely want to fit into that ever growing modern group of their colony, city and country. They want to dress up all modern and chic despite their body’s plea of not wearing those clothes, making that extra kilos peep innocently from their clothes! At their homes, pav-bhaji gives way to pizza, vadapao to burgers and samosas to potato puffs. They want to eat modern, dress modern and sound modern. They have a fervent desire of speaking fluent English,some of them manage,but some of them don’t. Those who don’t still speak it, making mistakes with his and hers, in short making a total fool of themselves but I feel that just that feeling of pride that they can speak few words of English (so what if not all are in the correct order) gives them a strong sense of being cool and modern.These females usually spend time with the younger generation(cleverly escaping the company of the oldies and according to them the boredom of the experienced) at family functions, get-togethers and dinners. They hear the younger lot with full concentration and enthusiasm and try to catch up to their lingo. In her vocabulary,the word ‘beta’ has taken a back seat and she now addresses her nephews and niece and kids(and sometimes husbands as well) with words like ‘baby’,’sweetheart’ and ‘honeybuns’. These aunts call saffron clad babas and white robed gurus teaching yoga and meditation a gimmick but when the same is taught by Bollywood beauties and Hollywood celebrities, it becomes a rage among them.My aunty Mina… oops sorry… aunt Mia’s display of affection has also changed from giving me a peck on cheek to blowing side-ways kisses. She has even given her display of love and affection a modern touch. Unfortunately what these modern ladies fail to understand is that modernity isn’t depended on just outer modern appearance and superficial gestures. If you want to be modern, become modern inside. Make your thinking modern and not your make overs.If you want to get a command over language, then get the command over ‘Language of Love’. If you want to be influential then influence the bad and wicked with the basic goodness that resides in each one of us. Broaden your views and not just your closets!