Uncles, aunts and 'chechis'

In India, we have the peculiar custom of calling any man reasonably older than us 'uncle' and any woman 'auntie'. Anyone below that particular age limit becomes a 'bhaiyya' or 'didi' (older brother or sister) or another local variation of the two terms. It leads to comical situations. For example, our former landlord's granddaughter used to call me 'chechi'(older sister). I used to call his mother 'chechi'. She used to call my mother 'chechi'. So logically, the kid's mother becomes his older sister. If that was funny, listen to this. The daughter of my current landlady calls me 'auntie' and my sister 'chechi'. Needless to say, I am mightily miffed!

This bizarre custom started as a way to show respect to older persons. It was sensible as India was a patriarchal gerontocracy. Now, however, with the gradual emergence of equality and rationalism, this custom ought to be buried. I find no sense in calling a person 'chechi', uncle or auntie when they are in no way related to me. I believe there are many similar souls who feel oppressed by this irrational system of nomenclature; who find that they have become uncles or aunts even before their sisters or brothers get married. I don't believe that calling a person by his name shows disrespect. Respect can be shown to others in much better ways than by adding useless tails to their names.