It's a Rule

Anindita Dey, 26, who had an arranged married and moved to Hyderabad from Cuttack (in Orissa) says calling your mother-in-law "ma" is like an unwritten rule.

"I did not think twice about what to call my mother-in-law. After my husband and I got engaged, I simply began to call her ma, like I call my own mother," she says.

But was she comfortable with it?

"Not really," she says, "my mother-in-law is nothing like my own mother. I wish I didn't have to call her ma, because I know I am lying to say that I am calling her ma with my heart. But, I guess I have to because that is what is expected of me."

Apart from that, if she would not have addressed her mother-in-law by calling her ma, her traditional mother-in-law would have started complaining about her "bad behaviour" to the relatives.

"It would have been the start of emotional abuse for me, and I didn't want that starting at such an early stage. So, whether I like it or not, ma had to happen." she says.

Also Read: 10 Ways to Win over His Parents

All Goody Goody

Natasha Nagwekar, 28, homemaker, has a different tale to tell.

Natasha and her husband fell in love and decided to get married. When they were seeing each other, she communicated with his parents, but she did not really bond with his parents.

So, when they got married, she decided to continue calling his parents aunty and uncle.

Says she, "I do not call my husband's parents mama and papa because I do not feel comfortable calling them what I call my own parents."

But, on the other hand, her husband is very comfortable with her mother and calls her mama. Since he is not too comfortable with her father, he calls him uncle.

"The best part about this kind of jumbled equation is that her parents don't feel awkward about it at all," she beams "especially my dad, he is very okay with my husband calling him uncle."

The only problem is that Natasha knows that her in-laws would like her to call them mama and papa, but as she says, "It is the feeling that matters. Maybe someday, if I feel that close to them, I just might call them mama and papa eventually."