Stuck with a name!

The other day, my friend Joji and I were having a drink. The weather being awesome in Pune these days, we sat in the little balcony adjoining his bedroom. As usual our conversation moved across several topics - politics, corruption, consumerism, etc.

Wonder why we had come to discuss names - people's names, to be exact. I guess it was triggered off with Joji mentioning how some people have strange names.

Oh! Yes! I know. I have come across quite a few of them.

We Malayalis are renowned for our strange names. Some of them are unisex, too! You will find a Binu, a Biji, a Viji... they could be a man or a woman. We also love our 'combo names'. Confused? Here's an example: imagine the mom is called Lizzy and the dad Joy, so the son naturally becomes Lijo!

The list is endless, I assure you.

I have often wondered why parents choose odd, strange, even ridiculous names for their kids. Don't they realise the child will be stuck with it all his/her life. Unless, of course, they take things into their own hands and change it.

Closer to home, there's my aunt. Myna. Yes, that's her name. And yes, Myna is a bird.

The story goes that my grandparents had named her Jayalakshmi. However, when she was in primary school, she thought her name was old fashioned and wanted to change it. She zeroed in on Myna... it sounded nice. Fashionable. Cool!

She apparently badgered my grandparents until they agreed to change her name. Unfortunately, as she grew up, she regretted her decision. But she didn't want to change it a second time. Her husband and some of my relatives try to help her out by calling her Meenakshi. Perhaps that helps.

One of my grandma's favourite stories was about one of her friends. After the friend's wedding, when the time came for naming their three children, her husband chose 'One', 'Two' and Three!

Imagine being stuck with a name like 'Two'! Of course, the kids did change their names once they could. But until then they had to put up with the jeers of their peers.

A few years ago, I met a lawyer friend of mine. I make it a point to call on him whenever I am in town. On this particular day, he had to drop by a client's house to drop off some papers. I tagged along.

At the house we were asked to wait, since the gentleman we had come to meet was in the shower.

As we waited, we heard the lady of the house calling out, "Cuckoos". I assumed someone in the house was called Cuckoo. (Yes, a bird yet again. Do we have a bird fixation?)

My friend was purple in the face trying to control his laughter. When I asked him why, he said, "Thank God it's Cuckoos, not Kakoos [the Malayalam word for toilet]!"

Years ago, when I was doing my pre-degree, I had a classmate who left a lasting impression. I don't remember how she looked, or, for that matter, anything else about her. What I do remember is her name. 'Lousy'!

I can't fathom why anybody would name their kid 'Lousy'! Several jobless hours were filled with me trying to figure out what prompted the parents to choose this word from the huge ocean that is the English language.

The only reason I could come up with: perhaps they didn't know the English language too well. One of them must have heard the word somewhere, thought it had a nice ring to it, and blessed their child with it.

I hope she had the sense to change it!