What's in a Name?

To quote the Great Playwright:

‘’ What is in a Name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." 

I don’t know how much one would agree. Calling a particular object or person by any other name would certainly cause confusion. 

Think about ‘Bulakaads’ aka My Dad who usually starts off calling everybody’s name starting with any name which comes to his mind Sana, Shriyans, Revati …. Only to call out my name ‘Julie’. 

Then when I walk forward to oblige to his request…. He will laugh and say ‘’Tu nahi ga…. I meant .....Rijuta’’.Why will I call you to ask where my socks are kept !!

Imagine how cross I get with him !!  A Name changes entire equation. Or does it?

There was a slight angst in the sub-continent when the ‘Call-centre’ employees changed their names from ‘Sameer’ to ‘Sam’ or ‘Rachana’ to ‘Rachel’.

Well,I can safely say that I have a rather unusual name. Moving to the west would have rather soothed the question. But it has rather complicated it.

There was our Parents era when everybody was identified by his Surname and most of them address each other by that. This further narrowed down to someone’s caste.  Now our generation identifies each other with first names and tackles with the surname bit of it at the end. 

Yet our brain does not stop scanning it with an adjective and our guesswork begins.

‘Sunny’ and ‘Kapoor’ + flashy = Panju

‘Partho’ and ‘ some Jee’ + wide eyed = Bong

‘Radhika’ and ‘ some Kar’ + loads of bad words = Marathi

‘Kritika’ and a lamba chowda name + Aio = South Indian

An Urdu name will be a Muslim and a Catholic name will be a Maka Pav.

Now there goes my tryst with my name. My name comes with a question mark.

Hi! I am Julie. 

Catholic? I smile.

Are you from Kerala? No. Perhaps they refer to my curly hair.

Acchhhaa from Vasai? No…I am from Mumbai. (there is a difference)

Mummy is a Catholic? I smirk…

Acchaa you must be a Gujju. They keep such fancy names. Is this your ‘pet’ name?

I spare them going further. Actually, I was named ‘Julie’ as I was born on 1^st July. It’s a long story. 

Ohhh…and what about your surname..’Kanvde’/ ‘Kanvin….errr? Are you a Bong?

(God bless my Bong ancestors)

No, I am a Marathi.

Marathi? You don’t sound like one.

I smile again.  

That’s an unusual surname. You don’t look like a Marathi…..

(Now how am I supposed to look?)

Errr… Yeah that’s an unusual surname , isn’t it?….haha and I make some joke.

After a while, some wise guy comes to me and says.

Your Marathi so good? (The answer that I am Marathi hasn’t registered yet)

I am a Marathi… I speak at home, I stay at Dadar, a very Marathi area….

No, you speak in a different way. Now I have lost my patience by this time.

I mean areyyyy…..you speak like a Brahmin kaku bai. ….your surname is ‘Kanvinde’. Where are you from?

Not in a mood to solict any further questions , I give up all my origins :

My Dad is a GSB aka Gaud Saraswat Brahmin …. So we are from Goa. 

My Mum is a Konkanstha Brahmin. They give me a hard look. (Doesn t seem a light skinned and light eyed chick!!)

Unfettered, the volley of question still continues…..so you don’t speak Konkani?

No, because my dad’s ancestors migrated from Goa to Malavan area of Maharashtra and then to Mumbai. So, my dad has grown up speaking Marathi as well.

Hushhh…. The end.

Did your parents have a love marriage? Does your mum eat non-veg?

Then they would sing the ‘Julie’ song or ask if my Dad fancied the actress in the movie ‘Julie’. Some even remark in disgust…..a Catholic name for a Hindu girl and some equate it with the so called lose character of Julie from the movie! 

What logic!

(At this time, I want to become an ostrich and dig my head 5 ft underground)

I thought moving to London might ease the mundane small talk question. I would have to identify myself just by name and perhaps add the Indian factor.

But adding an adjective is universal. 

One look at my skin tone and they ask if I am from Portugal. No. 

Middle East? A bigger confused question mark.

No, I am an Indian.

Is this your Western name? (Lot of Asians change their names)

No, that’s My Name.
 

I thought you could be ‘Mixed’. I give them one of my sweetest smile.

Similar questions await my younger sister ‘Sana’, an Urdu name indeed. In these times, how would the western world perceive her? Can it be a beautiful girl with a beautiful name – A prayer.

Has the world really become a small place? Have our prejudices eased? 

These are names I am talking about and not even physical appearances.

Looking forward to meet Mr.Rehman Smith and Miss Neha Xiang.