Loonville

Disclaimer: No, this is not one more post on how narayanan became knowrrayeknayan thanks to the Cheiro and his book of numbers.

There are times when a name comes up and hits us right in the balls face, ones that you just can’t ignore. Wollongong, Boing-Boing, Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya (Yes, these are places) God forbid, i get lost and have to ask directions to Mamung-blah-blah. My dad comes from this little village in Kerala called Paruppu. Paruppu roughly translates to ‘pulses’ and a certain derogatory term in the Tamil. Well, T.Kallipatti isn’t exactly regal either, you pandis.

Again, i have digressed. A name is a study in aesthetics. When a teacher looks down a Lakshmi Veera Raghava Iyengar on the answer-sheet in class four, it’s a foregone conclusion that little LVR Iyengar is going to have a great grade-sheet. But twenty years later, Mr.Iyengar is not going to get too many hits on Facebook. Let’s face it, ‘LVR Iyengar’ conjures images of a bespectacled over-enthusiastic nerd high achiever. Before you dismiss this merely as an exercise in inanity, this rather over-stretched example just serves to highlight how we tend to associate names with certain stereotypes and how some names have meant a tad little more to us.

Here are my top five names, some that blow you away, most that could leave you ‘huh, what was he even thinking?

5. SAVITRI – (f) Belonging to Savitr, the sun god

People that know me understand my fascination for the name and must be surprised at its being at only five. One has to thank the stunningly hot lady from the Amarchitra Katha comics for my love affair with this name. The evergreen heroic Savitri that stands up to the Gods and raises her ‘pati dev’, Satyavan, from the dead. Some lady she must have been. Then I moved over to the Keira Knightley types and curvaceous Savitri was all forgotten. A couple of years ago, this advertisement, the sardar kid saying ‘SAVITRI, MY LOVE’ happens (Watch it here) and it all comes rushing back again. Savitri is my muse, my ‘louwe’, my everything and yeah my guitar

4. a) SHENBAGA DEVI / b) SHANMUGAPRIYA - (f) a) roughly flower-goddess / b) lover of the deity Shangmuga

These names get to a joint fourth position purely on what they have meant to the entire physics batch at Loyola College. While I wouldn’t venture to pass a comment on shanmuga, Shenbaga is a different story. A dear friend, my namesake,Sid G, calls me up in the middle of the night and says “dude, this chick Shabana emails me. She wants to come over and study with me” Sid G was elated and over the moon. Given his luck with women, especially their weird names, everybody was so happy for him
“Sid G is hooking up with some hot musla babe.” “Lucky bugger, major CAT- sessions with Shabana.”
A couple of days later, he is back with his ‘PM’ and a sheepish grin
“Macha, it was Shenbaga Devi da, not Shabana”

Thanks Shenbaga and Shanmuga for making college a lot less weary.

3. YESHUA – (m) Aramaic form of Jesus, meaning “God is salvation.”
This is one kick-ass name. Somehow it personifies everything heroic and great. Being the Hebrew form of Jesus adds to the mystique. The only guy name in my top five.

2. ZARA – (f) Arabic, blooming flower
Zara is one exotic name that completely blew me off my feet and I had no clue what it meant till i looked it up a couple of minutes back. My first tryst with Zara was way back in the mid-nineties when my neighbour got this Zara bag and couldn’t stop flaunting. This has remained a name I just can’t put a face to. Stand-alone. Complete by itself.

1. NATALYA – (f) Latin, Christmas Day. Russian, birthday
An angel from an ancient russian fairy tale volume. The little girl in the poster above my bed. The book and the poster are long gone but Natalya is still there. Somehow all my childhood notions of love are inextricably woven around this name. I shall say no more. Btw, I intend to name my daughter Natalya { Savitri is the mom, of course }

So, what did you tell me your name is ?