Trust No Aunty by Maria Qamar: how to survive as a desi girl in America

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NEW YORK – As a young desi girl, did you ever encounter an aunty who you thought was out to get you and wondered how to get away from her or even try to speak up for yourself in front of her? Well, fear not, because now there is a book that takes you through a step by step process of surviving an aunty.

Maria Qamar, an Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi-Canadian Instagramer-turned-author and “aunty-survivor”, illustrates to us in her book “Trust No Aunty,” the different ways a desi girl can survive from different kinds of aunty in various types of situations.

Divided into six parts, Qamar describes a number of scenarios in the following aspects of life: academics, professional, love, physical appearance, domestic skills and lifestyle.

For each she gives characteristics, where one can often find them, the strengths and weaknesses along with different scenarios, graphics and snippets about problems encountered in everyday life situations.

In part one, Qamar talks about the Aunty in Training; giving out possible solutions for three different scenarios with a detailed graphic of curfew times as well as the most popular and awkward situations a Desi girl faces in high school and college such as Halloween costumes and maintaining a specific budget along with recipes for success and tips on how to actually stay focused on your schoolwork.

In part two, Qamar talks about the professional side of life and how one can survive the CEO Aunty (your boss’ wife) through four different scenarios and has provided a chart on how to choose your career with words on how to explain it to others and how to survive in the workplace.

In part three, Qamar explains how there are two kinds of auntys who will always be interested in your love life; the Matchmaker Aunty for which she has given two scenarios and a ‘Where’s my Shah Rukh’ section and the Soft Aunty for whom she gives two scenarios as well as a list of the types of guys that exist, some dating advise, a checklist of what to look for in a guy when the marriage is arranged and of course her ideal Bollywood movie.

In part four, Qamar shifts gears and helps the Desi girl out with looks, good looks and beauty by looking at two scenarios, criticizing the famous beauty product Fair ‘n’ Lovely, gives recipes and tips for natural beauty products and demonstrates the difference between what’s appropriate and inappropriate in terms of physical appearance.

In part five, Qamar discusses the struggles of a domestic life for a Desi girl as she provides examples of how to make the perfect round roti and the perfect cup of chai and she ends the book adding the remaining bits and pieces in part six, with a guide on how to wrap a saree, deal with the Online Stalker Aunty, the Bollywood Aunty and the Anonymous Aunty along with giving an explanation of Desi culture for the young Desi girl.

This 178 page, bright yellow book full of graphics is an essential guide for young desi girls on how to live a traditional lifestyle in the modern world and is highly recommended for all.