Giving names

Recent reports about the Swedish authorities allowing children to be named after Cola-Cola, McDonald’s, Budweiser, or Metallica reminded me of similar incidents in the recent past. There was news of a couple from New Zealand who wanted to name their newborn baby boy “4 Real”. The registrar of births had rejected this name, as it did not have a sequence of characters. The couple, who obviously wanted their son to have a unique name, finally decided to call him “Superman”.

Nearer home, we have a gentleman who renamed himself “A minus One equal to Five” or maybe Four. My parents of course did not have to undergo such ordeals. My mother simply decided to name me “Nataraj”, and that was it. To this day, I am known to the world by this name. As a schoolboy, I was never comfortable with this name: all my friends teased me by calling me “Nataraj Pencil”. My mother, when confronted, said that this was the name of god, and I should be happy. I was angry with my name; as well as with the pencil manufacturers who named their product after me.

Shakespeare’s “What’s in a name... a rose by any other name...” did not make sense to me at that time. However, over time, I learnt to live with my name. Today, I cannot imagine myself being called by any other. Shakespeare was probably right. I will be the same old fool, no matter what my name. Like most south Indians, I too have two names. The other name is what I have inherited from my paternal grandfather, and I use it during Vedic chants and prayers. Most south Indians name the first male child after the paternal grandfather, the second male child after the maternal grandfather. The names of the female children will go after the paternal and maternal grandmothers in that order. The third child, if one dares to have one today, will be named after any of the many gods that we have. While ordinary mortals know me by the name of “Nataraj” the Lord knows me only by the other name.

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