I read this post today, on Rashmi Bansal's awesome blog. It's this analysis on common Indian names for girls and boys. Very interesting insight, though some of the Sanskrit names are really freaky! Sample this: Mrigankshekhar, Joushura and Arkoprabha! Yikes !!
I, for one, feel very strongly about parents giving their children nice names. I know it may not be a big deal to some, but a name is like your identity for the rest of your life! I don't know how many of you have noticed, but a person with a nice-sounding or unusual name always manages to grab attention of the listener a lot easier than a person with a run-of-the-mill name. And given the importance of "first impressions" these days, a nice name is the work half-done, right ?!
Like this incident that happened when I visited IIT, Bombay last week. I was on the train from Kanjurmarg to Dadar to catch a bus back home. And there was this lady with her newborn kid (his first travel by train it seems, taaliyaan !!) and her mother-in-law. They were playing with him, trying to keep him occupied n all....and all of a sudden, the MIL takes him in her arms and says, "Kaalicharan...arre o Kaalicharan! Train mein baitha hai mera bachcha....!!" Now I know that Kaalicharan is probably the name of a Hindu God and so they've named him that, and I respect their sentiments. But imagine what a complex that kid will grow up with, with a name like that in 21st century India! Realistically speaking, it's not very fair to the kid, right?! Gogol Ganguly type crisis all over again!
I keep telling my parents that one thing I'm glad they gave me (apart from the usual moral studies on respect for elders, honesty blah blah...) is a good name! It may sound vain, but it's true.. (Also, I inherited the weirdest hair in the world from my dad's side, and there's not a week I don't crib about it. So this, kind of, has a mollifying effect! Makes him feel less guilty! ;-)) Suparna is a name that's not very common in Maharashtra and neighbouring areas (more of a Bengali name apparently!) so I get a lot of the "Hey, nice name!" from strangers and that does make me feel uber-cool...!! ;-) Besides, all my friends have like the most boring names in the world (sorry people, but it's true! :-P) so that's like icing on the cake!
So, lesson to all parents: Give your children good names, please. Very important issue.
P.S.1- I'm named after a character on a daily soap that used to run on DD around the time I was born! There was apparently this lawyer lady called Suparna on the show, who had a really strong and powerful persona. My mom loved her so much that she decided to name me after her!
There's something about me I'm sure you don't care about !! :-P
P.S.2- Two names I really love are Aditya and Niret. And though Rashmi says Aditya is the most common name among boys these days, I don't have any friends called Aditya! (Only acquaintances but I can't take the liberty of calling them "Adi" na !! Sob! :-( Lol.. That's such a girly thing to write !!)
I have no idea what Niret means, just love the sound of the name!
That's another bit of useless trivia about me for you !! Enjoy !!
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