This phenomenon is pan-South Asian. It is very common to address women as 'mother' 'maa/amma/aayi' and men as 'father' 'baapu, ayya, appa'. It is also common across linguistic families to address sons and daughters endearingly as 'mother' and 'father'.

Suresh.

On Thu, May 23, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Howard Resnick <hr@ivs.edu> wrote:

Thank you, Matthew, for raising these key questions. Gaudiya [Bengali] Vaishnava communities, expanding around the world, typically follow and teach this "rule" of addressing women as 'mother.'  Are they merely propagating a Bengali Hindu custom? Or does it include Bengali Muslims? Is the custom, to any degree, pan-Hindu? pan-South Asian?
        Thanks to Jonathan and Somadeva for their information.

Howard

On May 23, 2013, at 4:33 AM, Matthew Kapstein <mkapstei@UCHICAGO.EDU> wrote:

> This thread included the comment that in Bengal men address even their daughters as Ma, and so far as I know this is indeed the case.
>
> Two questions:
>
> Is this so widespread outside of Bengal?
> Among Bengalis, is the use confined to Hindus or is it current among Muslims as well?
>
> Both of these questions, of course, are pertinent to the issue of whether or not this should be
> considered 'Hindu' usage?
>
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études,
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
>
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> The University of Chicago
>
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>


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