Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Maasi

Maasi literally translates to Maa - si, like mother. I am not sure about the origin of the word. But culturally it seems appropriate.

Maasi in north Indian groups or other parts of India as well is used to refer to maternal aunt. So all of my mom's sisters are name Maasi. A Maasi, b Maasi etc.  like Aunt A, aunt B, where A and B are their names.

It probably makes sense to be called so as Maasis are the ones who would step up to help their sister when she needed a break or take up the kids responsibility like their own for a while. Their hearts and houses were always welcoming and love was always freely given.

I lost one of my Maasi this September when Mom was visiting. Mom and me sat and cried together and lived through some of the memories. Maasi was terminal for almost a year and had a really bad last few weeks. The C word just sucks.

Rest in peace Maasi. 

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