Monickers and Namesakes...

A REPOST

Parents have the ultimate weapons to make or mar their kids for good when they christen them. Imagine being named Protius Duxbury…or Lee Bum Suk…or even Mary Christmas!
What is the general criteria for naming your offspring? Down South it is all clear cut. The first born son gets the name of the paternal grandfather, the second one, the name of maternal grandfather…The third son gets the name of father’s grandfather…and so goes the tradition, delving deep into the roots of the family tree for reference!

Once in a while, parents with a penchant for trendsetting, name their kids after their favourite personalities…Thus we have quite a few Khushboos and Simrans growing up in the Tam- Bram households which were used to raising Annapoornis and Sambhalakshmis…
Subhamoy Das reports that Arjun is the most favourite Indian name among the Indians in the US and Maya, the most opted girl’s name…in 2004!

In Kerala you will find a lot of Lenins and Stalins …even Jawahars…but they belong to a different generation. Today you find a the state dotted with Sanjanas, Adityas, Saniyas, Vishnus and whatnots.

But kids with traditional names do face a lot of flak…especially at schools and colleges. Imagine being called Mrugangamouli…actually one of the names of Lord Shiva…but would the boy have animal magnetism…or end up being called a ‘mrugam’ -animal- by his friends? Like Tarakeswari getting the nick name of Tadakeswari… I had an acquaintance called Saachi…each time she walked along the corridors of our college some boy would get a sneezing bout going Ssssaaachchi! on and on…and on!

So life becomes easier on your kid when she is a mere Shilpa and not a Shishirkana, or your son is not called Vyomakesh… Imagine the plight of a girl who is called Mrs. Thribhuvanasundari Chinadanaichelvan after marriage!

I am not mocking at any of these names…I have a unique one myself ! Since I was born on the auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami, my grandma named me Vijaya Sarawathi. I doubt if there is another existing being called Vijaya Saraswathi…you’ll find Vijayalakshmis in thousands…but if you come across a vijaya saraswathi, find out if she is my grand daughter first, before claiming success! My woes were tenfold, when my friends at school found out that my full name was Chittoor Kasi Viswanathan Vijaya Sarawathi…( This is what my SSLC records say!) Luckily, on the day of my marriage, my brother applied for my passport in the name of Vijaya Ravi Prakash or my Visas, DL and Medical card would have had funnier names endorsed on them…( Spelling names in English is an Achilles heel with the officials in the Middle East !)

When I begot twin sons…there was a clamouring around for names…Suggestions were aplenty…Ram- Lakshman (though God knows they weren’t twins), Luv – Kush, Saurav- Gaurav…I came across various options of double names for twins…starting from the very filmi Ajay- Vijay to stereo types like Indran- Chandran (yuk) Girish – Harish, Rohit – Mohit etc etc…I was even presented with a book of baby names with wild choices…but what tickled my funnybones were: Karan- Kumbhkaran, Neela Vardhan – Naga Vardhan, Amarendar – Asurendar ( oh my God!) I even came across Sharon and Notsharon…Reminded me of the joke about twins named Peter and Repeter! Finally we settled for Karthik and Kaushik. My Father In Law used to have a ball calling them monikers like Vajravelu- Vadivelu, Akthar Hussain- Anwar Hussain, Chincholkar- Kakhodkar…

Anyway, whatever the name, people will find a way to pick on it…remember the couple who named their daughter Hazel and the way their neighbours commented: “With all the names of saints to chose from, they go and name their daughter after a nut!” I know….You can’t win ‘em all!

I definitely don’t want my grand daughter to be called Vijaya Saraswathi… (I used to pretend to be deaf when my teachers called my full name…till they snapped out a ‘Vijaya’…I love my pet name that has stayed on... ‘Viju’ ... though my teachers refused to call me that saying it is a boy’s name…) So, I shall grant full freedom (…er….if it is sought…) to my sons to name their kids whatever they want…Khushboo…Simran…Penelope Cruz, Halle Berry, J Lo …David Beckham…even Ronaldinho…which is quite a possibility!

Hi twinsmom,

I remember having friends with such long names in class. D.S.S.S.S.R.B.RAO (I am not giving the full form as i dont remember exactly. but yes we used to sometimes call ds4rbrao..

The same tradition of calling by grandfather/grandmother names.. is in the family..but for a change fil wanted to name the kids as he did not have freedom naming his own.. so gave him the pleasure.. so daughter got a beautiful name
charulatha, but has another name balathirupurasundari thank god for small mercies otherwise she would have been thiruppu to all. Inspite of a beautiful name she gets called charu-moru.. and son is never happy with his name srivatsan as very few pronounce it correct..he says i am waiting for the freedom of changing my name...

We say what is in a name..but names do make a impact...You try to put a face to the name even before meeting....right....

Dear Twinsmom,
My friend's grandson was named Mrutyunjay, when he was born. But he is now (sadly!) called Mruthyu by his friends, though the parents, now (perhaps) realising their folly on giving him that name, call him Dugloo !
My husband's nephew is
G Anantha Subra Manian
My husband lovingly calls him Gas Mani, to his great embarassment !
I was lovingly named Dharmasamvardhini when I was born. But why did my parents switch over to the insipid name Chithra, I wonder !
Love,
Chithra.

Hi twinsmom,
I used to have a friend in my hindi tuition and he lived at the end of the road, his name was so long that before I could finish calling him he would be home.
E.N.G.S.Prasanna.V.S
E.N.G.S.Pradeep.S.S.S
His brother's name was longer than that, pity the attendance regsiter at school then though it was a game for both of us, the fact he was much younger was no deterrent, I used to enjoy it, my teacher used to keep telling me stop yelling like this for she was scared of the neighbours wrath. behave properly you are older, who cared? But even after so many years his name and list of initials are intact in my memory.

Hi Shanvy,

Congratulations... Your daughter will be a beautiful spin bowler! 'Ball'a thiruppara sundari! Charu is sweet... And I am sure Sri will be happy with an abridged name... My brother and his friends used to call a friend named Srivalsan, Elaiyadai... ( Valsan is a term for elaiyadai...! )

Dear Twinsmom,

I know a person whose name was M K Srinivasan. But when he had to spell out his name for ticket bookings, passport office etc.. it was real fun to hear

M K stands for

Maruthiandan Krishnaswamy Srinivasan.:icon_frown: :icon_frown:

Finally he went by name MKS and few called him Sri.

Dear Chithra,

I split a couple of stitches over GAS Mani... and... Dharmasamvardhini has great character, no doubt, but try entering that and your surname in the boxes in application forms... like I had to " Chitoor Kasi viswanathan vijayasaraswathi for my SSLC examination form!!!!!!
I used to rebel in my school...any teacher called me Vijaya sarawathi I wouldn't even respond... till they , annoyed, barked out a Vijaya! or some of the lenient ones... who knew my pet name Viju...

Hi Janani,
I am reminded of an internet joke about James Bond meeting a Telugu guy ( no offence meant to any one...) and extending his hand saying My name is Bond... James Bond...and the guy goes on and on and on with his full name....

Hi malspie,
Paavum Maruthiandan... How can one live down a name like that!

Hi,

Neither we have the freedom to fix our name, nor we give it to our kids........

Great.... Reminds me of the movie... Who am I....

Veda