What’s in a name?


Well, for starters, if naming a baby wasn’t that great a deal then why would aspiring parents think so much to name their newborn? Atleast in India, there is no dearth for names…Most of them picked up from religious mythology, gods, goddesses, kings, princes, saints, blah blah…So for all you know your kid could be named Ram, Laxman, Bharat, Shatrughan…or hey they were a 100 Kauravas…How convenient !!
Going by the trend, they can be Pepsi, Cola, Sprite,…or just simply ShahRukh, Salman, Hrithik…So what makes people put their grey cells to work for as trivial an issue as naming a baby?
During one of those morning walks, I could not help but overhear a bunch of grey-haired men in their immaculate white sports shirt and shorts discussing a name.
“Its so soft, I never seen a skin so soft…” “And such a gleaming wheatish and silky look, its terrific”. I wondered if the baby was of royal lineage! I strolled across, now taking shorter steps so as to not miss their lively conversation. The third one (baldest of the three) seemed calm for many moments. “Ajju, naam theek rahega !” (The name ‘Ajju’ will be appropriate). Wow ! Now that sounded like a nickname. “I wanted to name my nephew as ‘Ajju’. My family astrologer says it’s a very powerful name.”
Ok! So much was going into naming this kid. Whose kid is it anyway? I wondered.
Meanwhile another one joined the group. Only with a few silver streaks in his hair, I assumed he was younger than them. “A very good morning”, he waved at them.
Now, its customary in India, how the elite use clichéd phrases like “Very good morning” as compared to the plain “Good morning” and they ask you “What is your kind name?” or “Your good name sir/madam?”
How does a name become good/bad? That is an issue debatable. But some other time.
The new addition to the ‘Name the baby’ team seemed to shock me with his contributions. “Just see what color it is and name it.” “Browny, blacky….u know” Now that was such a racist remark!
“That is so old-fashioned”, snapped the baldest one. “Holy shit, why are they even considering color, for God’s sake!”, I thought loud. “I think they would have already named it by now”, spoke another. I was hoping they did bcoz these men weren’t exactly naming the baby right. And out of the blue, one of the men rattled “There he comes…”
What? The baby? I turned my head as fast I could. And what I saw amazed me. It was shining, barely a half a feet…with silky skin and chocolate brown in color, a set of eyes that were so awesome with the perfect innocence as that of a just-born infant. Only that it wasn’t a human baby. It was a new born puppy. As adorable and cute as a human child.
The men weren’t racists after all ! So next time you think whats in a name, think twice and also to which species it belongs to. Oh ya, and ultimately I did find out its name. “Skipper”