What's in a name?

"What's in a name?" is a one of the famous lines written by William Shakespeare.  The point is whether we believe the line.  I mean, what if someone unknowingly says, "This line is written by William Wordsworth".  Will it change the idea?  And the funny part is - one who tries to rectify the mistake is actually going against the thought.   I feel that there are lot many things in a name.  For example - "My name is Bond....James Bond". This line appeared in first James Bond movie way back in 1962.  More than 50 years have passed but still the name has such an aura surrounding it and the fictional character that you start sensing the mystery and the action.  Now try saying the same line by putting your name.  Ok, I will use mine - "My name is Bhopatkar, Kamlakar Bhopatkar" Nah....sounds ridiculous isn't it?  

I have always struggled with  my name.  First of all it is too long.  Some people don't understand, that out of the two words, which one is first name and which one is surname as both end with "kar'.  If I have to tell/spell my name on phone to others, it takes a long time for them to understand.  While doing supervision, we are supposed to write name as well as sign on the answer books.  Some students become impatient when I try to do my duty.  My mom and dad are smart.  They kept "Kamlakar" as my official name and for family purpose, they assigned me a shorter name - "Rahul".  In family, everyone calls me "Rahul".  In school/college days, my friends used to abbreviate my name depending on their level of patience.  I tried telling them - "if you find my name to be longer, I have another name  Rahul, plz call me by that name".  But they used to say - "Rahul makes us think as if we are talking to a different person".  It made me realize how important your name is to identify you. Surprisingly, my surname is so unique that I have hardly come across another person with that surname.   Have you?

There are lot of things in the name.  First of all, it suggests your religion & caste - "Anthony", "Suresh", "Akbar".  Sometimes it may suggest where your ancestors belonged to - "Aurangabadkar", "Dadarkar", "Chemburkar".  Some names suggest profession - "Koli", "Sutar", "Kulkarni".   Names also identify gender - Sagar, Neha etc (except few such as Suman, Shirish, Sheetal etc).   People have names which resemble God's names or may be elements of nature.  There are theories of Astronomy/Numerology which also suggest/predict nature of a person from the name.  So just from a name, you come to know so much of information of a person!  Few people also have nick names like "Pintu", "Bacchu", "Chhutki" and they last even if they grow old.  But, a person whose name is going to identify him/her for the rest of life, doesn't get to choose it.  I don't know why women feel bad when they actually get a chance to change their name after their marriage. 

All moms & dads out there.... please give a good name to your son or daughter.  Don't just consider first name, consider full name.  Say that name couple of times, try telling it on phone & listen carefully how does it sound.  I mean "Rahul Lele", "Padmanabh Bhosle".  Same letters at the end of first name and start of the surname make full name bit odd.  Combination of letters with heavy pronunciation such as "Pa", "Bha", "Dha" etc in both names also make it harder.  Avoid use of similar letters - like "Ajit Dixit", "Pushkar Kashikar".  Consider "Pushkar Lele", "Ajay Bhosle" - would sound great.  One also needs to consider overall length of full name.  If surname is having more than 4 characters, then let first name contain 2 to 3 characters only.  And if surname contains 2 to 3 characters then let the first name contain 3 to 4 characters.  Names like - "Akash Fadtare", "Seema Bhanushali", "Padmakar Joshi", "Madhumita Roy" suggest a nice balance.  But - "RamaShankar Chourasia", "Jay Sen" are either too long or too short. 

The problems of names is not only this.  How to do you spell them in English also matters.  One major problem which I feel has happened in our system is the way we use single A in names.  For example - KAMLAKAR.  The spelling deviates too much from the pronunciation.  As per the pronunciation, the name should have been spelled as - KAMALAAKARA.  If we had kept consistent rules for use of A(Ajaya - अजय)/AA(Aakaasha - आकाश), I/EE(Raaginee - रागिणी), U(पुष्पा) /OO(पूजा), it would have solved great deal of problems to convert Indian languages to English language.   

In modern times, digital identity is so important.  If possible, parents can also create his/her mail(or any popular) id with name.surname style if its available. Your child would appreciate your foresight for the rest of his/her life.  Few celebrities create their personal website.  A time is not too far where majority of the people would like to create a website of their name.  In that case, while applying for birth certificate, people would be asked to create and reserve domain name for the child. 

Finally it's not just the name that matters, but what work you have done also matters a lot.  "Lata Mangeshkar", "Amitabh Bacchan", "Sachin Tendulkar" are not just THE names.  What they have achieved in their life by shear hard-work, dedication and consistency matters a lot.  Like them, our work should create our identity, not just our name.  Is bat pe ek sher yad aa gaya - 

खामोशी से बनाते रहिये पेहेचान अपनी,

हवाये खुद् गुनगुनायेगी आप का नाम \