The life of a human being is divided into several stages and each stage consists of some years. Starting the life as an infant, we reach the most enjoyable period known as the Childhood. As we grow up, the most crucial yet confusing stage arrives-Adolescence or the ‘Teen hood’. Then begins the Bachelors stage or, it can be considered as the beginning of Adulthood. And finally, the Old Age which still has a lot of time to arrive & discuss about.

Though these stages are made based on the age of a person but practically, the parameter to identify that which stage we have reached is somewhat different. And here, I will be focusing on the Adulthood.  

Some days back, I went to the nearest Big Bazaar for some apparel’s shopping. Usually, whenever I visit any market, a lot of kids can be seen there. I observe their random activities, the way they move, play, roam etc. They are always busy in their own stuffs. They focus on their own enjoyment & entertainment without thinking about anything else. In short, they just don’t give a damn to the rest of the world. That day also happened to be the same. But an interesting incident was yet to happen. 

I reached the softy ice-cream counter & placed an ordered. Just behind me, a young lady arrived there; probably 26-28 years of age & a mother of a boy may be a 5 year old. She too ordered a softy for the kid. When the counter boy was giving me the softy, that kid was raising his hand & was saying, 

” Pehle mujhe do.” or “Give me first.” just like any other kid. Then his mother told him something that paused my brain for a second, 

“Beta, pehle UNCLE ko lene do.” or “Let UNCLE take that first.” 

Earlier in life, sometimes some kids have called me that because they don’t observe in detail the difference between ‘Bhaiya’ & uncle, and I used to correct them. But this was the first time when a young lady speculated me as an uncle for his son.  

I shared this incident to my mom, to which she commented, 

“You are right from your perspective that you haven’t reached the age of an uncle yet. But, for that lady you are of her age group both, age wise & look wise. So you are like an uncle for that kid.”  

That day I made an observation about life. A person’s adulthood doesn’t arrive when he turns 20, but it arrives when he starts enjoying the random activities of small kids & is speculated as an ‘Uncle’ by any young parent for their kid. Girls may have some different observations regarding adulthood, as they remain ‘Didi’ or ‘Akka’ for a longer period of time.