Mausa & Mausi

think the way the terms Mausa and Mausi in Odia is getting replaced
with Uncle and Aunty respectively soon they could vanish from the
Odia lexicon. Years back I addressed this couple in America of my
parents age as Mausa and Mausi. Apparently they were not amused

and took offence to it. They told me up front “TUME KANA AMAKU
BUDHA BUDHI KARI DAUCHA” (you are making us prematurely into
oldies). Age is a matter of mind, not body or the way someone gets
addressed by. Anyway, I politely asked them how they would prefer to be
addressed as. They responded, as Bhai and Bhauja (Bhabi). Thankfully I
wasn’t told to say bro and sis-in-law. The reverse has never happened. No
one ever since requested me to be addressed as Mausa or Mausi in America.

I think this culture is slowly permeated back home and
“Mausa/Mausi” calls could soon become extinct as our Royal Bengal tiger.
Often the addressing depends upon a person’ s attire and lingo of
communication. A gentleman wearing a LUNGI or DHOTI (loincloth
wrapped around waist, an attire conducive to the Indian clime) is addressed
as Mausa, by wearing trousers or shorts elevates him to Uncle. A lady in
Saree is Mausi but becomes an Aunty in Scott. I would care less if someone
calls me Mausa or Uncle. It hardly impacts my age or ego. As the last nail is
hit on the coffin of the popular “Mausa and Mausa “, let the coffin be on
mine. I would love to be remembered as the last Mausa who roamed free in
this world.

~ Sj. Sambeet

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