Ask Auntyji

wedding. I couldn’t help myself and I went and spoke to her. I actually asked her out. She declined to go out with me and I don’t care about that - because hey, at least I tried, right. So anyway, the next thing I know, everyone is teasing me about asking Shanya out and what’s more, they all know what I said to her. What really bothers me is that Shanya actually told everyone everything I said. I find that irritating, and sometimes when I see Shanya, I just want to go up to her and give her a piece of my mind. It really irks me that she told everyone. I don’t care about the fact that she doesn’t want to go out with me, particularly as I now have a girlfriend who is just as beautiful as Shanyabut I find her behaviour disturbing. Do you think I should tell her what I think of her?

Auntyji says

Well, I can’t see any signs of your ego being hurt by this episode, especially seeing that you have a beautiful girlfriend, but I can quite easily see how upset you would be about this. I too would be most upset, no, I would be livid if something I had told someone in a private conversation started doing the rounds at a dinner party. So here’s what I suggest you do. Shanya needs to learn that what she did was wrong - not the rejecting you bit, but telling Aunty Shallu, Uncle Rikku, Munna mama and Pushpa bua about what you said. So the next time you see her, go up to her and tell her that while you don’t mind that she didn’t go out with you, you find it most disturbing that she went around telling everyone what you had told her in confidence. Tell her that she caused you a lot of embarrassment. Tell her that it was quite impolite what she had done. And stress on the embarrassment part. And don’t talk like a loser, and don’t be awed by her beauty. Just tell her like it is; she really needs to know when to keep her beautiful muh bund

Whoa, Wuha…

Dear Auntyji

I have a neighbour who has just had a little girl. She has named her Wuha. Now, as an Indian, I understand the beauty of this name; however, when my Australian friends hear about this, they give me a strange look. I found out that usually, in moments of extreme happiness or joy, an Australian has the tendency to holler wooohaaamuch like a cowboy would. Do you reckon I should say something to my friend? Or should I get my other neighbour with no tact to tell her this. I feel sorry for the child when I think about her at school.

Auntyji says

I’m hoping that by the time Wuha starts school, she will be living back in Mangalore where all her friends will think she has a lovely, lilting, mellifluous name which means nothing more than what it originally meant. So, should you poke your nose into Wuha’s business, or leave her to the mercy of little bullies who will torment her mercilessly by running through the playground hollering Woohaa at the top of their little voices? Hmm, this is a tricky question. People’s lack of foresight confounds me to the extreme sometimes. I say leave little Woohaa alone because by the time she goes to school, there’ll be lots of kids with even stranger names. Wuha will seem mild by comparison. But, I do question Wuha’s parents’ sense. I don’t know what they were thinking, and I wish I could make them see the error of their ways, but what the hell, I can’t solve everyone’s problems.