Hum aapke hai kaun? Waise toh koi khoon ka rishta nahin hai. Par kehne ko sab apne hi hain.
One of the things that I love about our country and miss in other parts of the world is the way we address people- friends and strangers alike! The autowala becomes ‘bhaiyya’ or the chaiwalla- ‘dost’, the kaamwali bai becomes ‘maushi’, the good old peon is ‘boss’, the man in the chequered shirt sitting next to you in a train is ‘chacha’, the complete stranger whom you ask for directions is ‘bhaisaab’, the vegetable vendor calls you ‘tai’, at the garment store you become ‘bhabhi’, your mother is everyones 'maaji', the sandwich wala is comfortable calling you ‘didi’ while the elderly man making his way through the traffic becomes ‘uncle’and his wife who is bargaining as she window shops is ‘auntyji’.
Depending on the person and place our fellow countrymen and women become 'bhau', 'bondhoo', 'bhai','dada', 'anna', 'amma', 'ben', 'praji' 'munna', 'sishter' and so on.
Jo jab dekho jahan dekho rishte bana raha hai, jaane –anjaane mein logon ko apne saath jod raha hai. Hain toh sare ke sare paraye, phir bhi hain apne hi.
Dear Aishwarya ,
ReplyDeleteSomebody must have addressed you as "beti",thereby making you most affectionate& worshipable almost equivalent to a goddess ! thats the beauty of our hinduism,embracing universal brotherhood.But i must tell you an interesting incident ,when I was young & a vegitable vender addressed my mom as " maaji"" & she felt offended as she liked to be a sister & not a mother at that age !! Any lady at any age should be proud to be called a mother by anybody of any age!You are good at writing ,keep writing on various topics!
Tushar mama
Age, maybe is a matter of perception and deception.Thanks a lot mama for your encouraging words.
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