For those of you who thought the title was in French, please be enlightened by the rough translation, read as "What's in a name?"
I'm definitely full of harsh, sour words for parents who christen their children with multiple names. These days, the name of a child is subject to change based on locality, people and emotional state of mind. What may be a decent, 3-word long name at school will soon transform into a 3 letter abbreviation fit for a pet, the moment a child reaches home. The parents and grandparents each have their favourite names for the kid while the neighbourhood aunties try to figure out a new name they find appealing.
My own cousin's daughter has a lovely name. Nisari.
It is a combination of the saptha swaras Ni, Sa and Ri. She was named by her Dad hoping the child would follow his footsteps and grow up to be a fine singer. But as luck would have it, Nisari does not even sing in the bathroom and has little interests in any of the art forms except, body-piercing, of course!
Her Dad regrets that he named her Nisari and now calls her Rin. Maybe after RIN Supreme Sakthi detergent powder, i'm not quite sure! Her mom (and my cousin) calls her Niri, which during the course of the day, has every possibility of changing into "Naaaarri" (translated as @@****@*@%) , thanks to Nisari's naughty deeds at home.
The other week, i was invited to Nisari's Annual School Day Celebrations. She had won the second prize in the Fancy Dress contest. Good girl! At least she has inherited her mom's bad style of dressing and put it to good use as well.
Imagine my surprise and pain, when the Chief Headmistress rumbled out the name Ms. Bethsheba Alphonsa Clive from the jarring mic system and in walked my niece with a smile, giggle and frown, all rolled into one strange expression. I looked at my cuz and asked point-blank, "When did you change her name?" 'Oh, that's her official name in the school', was the expressionless reply i got from cuz dear.
We are often concerned that our well-brought-up children are growing up into multiple personalities (or schizophrenics). Well, how will they not, when you give them meaningless names to suit your whims and fancies???
A child should be called by a single name and taught to live up to the meaning of that name. Nisari may not be a singer in her life. But she is artistic and appreciates music. She could be moulded to listen to her Dad's songs and may be include a few of his background scores for the next fancy dress contest.
Believe me, there is a lot to a name than what meets the ear. It is the child's first identity of being a part of the world, community and family he/she is born into.
I still haven't recovered from the shock of discovering that my niece had a totally alien name i didn't even know existed. And to add more salt to misery, my cousin is deep in thought trying to name the new kitty that walked into her home a few days back. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't call it Mickey Katrina Paw!
