In the name of the mother, varsity rechristens the son

In the name of the mother, varsity rechristens the son
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

March 12: Forty-five- year-old practicing lawyer, Madhurakkandy Surendranathan, is no Sanjay Leela Bhansali who proudly bears his mother's name, `Leela.' Instead a desperate Surendranathan has even knocked on the Bombay High Court's door to get rid of an `arbitrary' attachment to his name -- that of his mother's name Bharati.

Surendranathan contends that his original name is simply `Madhurakkandy Surendranathan'; but a compulsory Mumbai University ruling that students have to include their mother's name along with their father's name has officially named him `Madhurakkandy Surendranathan Bharati' or M S Bharati in short.

However the Bombay High Court was not amused when a division bench of Justice A P Shah and Justice S J Vazifdar today outrightly rejected the petition. Justice Shah instead asked Surendranathan,``Are you ashamed of your mother?''

Surendranathan had challenged the circular of January 15, 1999 issued by the Mumbai Univerity to implement its resolutions to include the mother's name along with the student's surname, first name, father's in all the college and University admissions forms, degrees and certificates from the year 1999-2000. He questioned the justification of the inclusion of a mother's name in the name of students who are pursuing their academic at a belated stage in their life after completing their graduation and post-graduation studies.

In his petition, Surendranathan said that having passed LLB, LLM degree from Bombay University in the last week of September 1999 he sought admission for an M A (Philosophy). While filling the admission form, the staff insisted that he should add his mother's name or else his application would be rejected. Hence, he says, he reluctantly added the name of his mother Bharati who expired four decades ago.

He wrote to the Vice-Chancellor on October 4, 1999 and after some correspondence on the subject the Pro-VC informed him that if he did not wish to include his mother's name along with his it could be considered upon receiving a specific request. However despite a letter in this regard, the University did not respond.

Thereafter the petitioner says he met the Director and apprised him of the serious prejudice caused to him with regard to the abrupt change in his name. He pointed out that while his name does not contain his father's name, there was no logic in including only his mother's name. Besides Madhurakkandy was the name of the ancestral family home in Kerala. However the director replied that the VC was not concerned with the father's name but only with the name of the mother. Ignoring his request, subsequently his name was recorded as Madhurakkandy Surendranathan Bharati in all documents issued by the University including his hall ticket and marksheet.

Surendranathan said the University's circular is illegal and urged the court to set it aside. He said the arbitrary addition of the mother's name at a belated stage in the name of the petitioner is unlawful as it was without the consent and against his wish. If shortened it will become M S Bharati- thereby attributing a feminine character to the name and he would lose his identity built up over the last 45 years of his life.

He said in all the records available with the University, he is shown as Madhurakkandy Surendranathan and the addition of Bharati will lead to inconsistency in the records, create confusion and lead to loss of goodwill among the public. He said the University had usurped his exclusive right to decide the manner in which his name is to be given and maintained.

Surendranathan added, that to his knowledge, no other university in the country has taken any steps in compelling the students to include mother's names. Surendranathan derided the circular saying it has been issued mechanically without application of mind and is also likely to cause problems also for students migrating to other universities for further studies.