Saturday, June 4, 2011

What's in a Name?

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I don’t like the sound of it or anything. It’s just that it has too many inconveniences attached to it.”

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating. Or atleast overreacting to the whole thing.” I could see that even though he was trying to maintain a neutral, even somber tone, he was finding it increasingly difficult to suppress his smile.

I sighed. “I know most people find it funny. But it is true – despite my parents’ best intentions, my name has presented a few difficult situations.”

He laughed out loud. “Oh please, what sort of difficulties could the name ‘Rahul’ present? If anything, it should have made you a lot more popular and actually helped than hindered.”

This is a common misconception that most people have. I am not sure if anyone besides Shah Rukh Khan has found the name ‘Rahul’ to be a lucky charm. But then again, I am not sure if any of my countless namesakes find being christened ‘Rahul’ a cross to bear for life. Maybe I am overreacting.
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I was sitting, as usual, in the last bench of the class, slowly dozing off to sleep. Just when I was about to lose track of reality, I was brought back to earth with a shrill “Rahoool. Don’t be napping in my class.” I woke with a start. In a class with two other students sharing my name, I was the only one who was addressed as ‘Rahool’ by my English teacher. I guess it was an elegant solution to the problem of having too many students with the name ‘Rahul’. Never mind the fact that it spawned countless imitations and the fact that many of my friends still make fun of me.

But even then, the fact that my individuality was preserved made all the jokes tolerable. However, not every teacher was as considerate to my plight. In most other classes, every time the name “Rahul” was called out, my eyes darted from one Rahul to the other like a pinball trying to figure out who would respond. Needless to say, we were constantly nagged by friends. A case in point – once the Chemistry teacher called out to one of us, which was followed by “Rahul”, “Rahul”, “Rahul” from all corners of the class – ‘helpful’ students ‘inadvertently’ adding to the chaos.
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The train arrived ten minutes late, and we didn’t have much time before the train to Chennai would leave the station. We frantically ran towards the coach A2, and looked for my name. As I was unable to see it, my heart started racing. Had the travel agent screwed up? Would my college admission be in jeopardy? Would it be another yelling session from my dad for no fault of mine? “There it is!!” Relieved, I moved my eyes towards the name my mother was pointing at. Wait a second, why did the name read ‘Ragul’??

It was not until later that I realized that the Tamil alphabet doesn’t use ‘hu’, but rather uses ‘ku’ or ‘gu’ instead. During the three years of my college life in Chennai, there were countless instances where my name was written as ‘Raghul’ or ‘Rakul’. I won’t even get into the various ways my name was mispronounced at that time!
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My fever was getting worse. I made the long overdue decision to visit the doctor. The receptionist, after giving me a concerned look, took out a card and asked for my name. On hearing my name, with a sly smile on her face, she said “Rahul – naam toh suna hoga”; which was followed by giggles from all and sundry. How naive of me to think that my 103o F fever would suffice to stop random people joking about my name. As though I had not heard enough of “Rahul is a cheater!!” to last me several lifetimes.
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I guess these are trivial occurrences in the grand scheme of things we call life. But then again, isn’t this enough suffering on account of one cause, that too one not of my doing?

He probably figured out that I was taking the topic a lot more seriously than he had guessed. “Dude, don’t take it to heart. You are a person, not just a name. As Shakespeare wrote; ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' ”

It was then that I realized that he was right. People liked me for who I am. Who cares if they had a little fun at the expense of my name? Why did I let it get to me? I had found inner peace. I was Po.. er, no, Rahul. But that’s the point. I would no longer be bothered by people……..

“Hey Rahul Gandhi. When did you get out of prison?”

AAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
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