Halla Unty

When my little neighbours, Sritty (3) and Raphy (2) first moved in, their mother, Sultana, tried to make them feel comfortable with me by calling me “Aunty”. It is a common thing for people to do here. Everyone is either your “Aunty” or “Uncle”, your “Apa” (sister) or “Bhai” (brother).

Every morning since their arrival, Sultana has said to her children, “Say, ‘Hello Aunty’.” And then the children yell out, “Halla Unty!”.

Well, it now seems that this has gone a little too far, to the point where Sultana and her children seem to have mistaken the expression, “Halla Unty” for my actual name, because lately I’ve been hearing them saying such things as:

“What’s Halla Unty doing?”
“Do you want to visit Halla Unty’s office?”
“Where’s Halla Unty?”
“Goodbye Halla Unty!”