My name

       I am a malayali who was brought up in Maharashtra. I grew up amidst the exposure of both the cultures  right from my childhood. That’s why before starting my school life, I was already aware of three languages-Malayalam, my mother tongue, Marathi, my favourite language and Hindi(thanks to Shaktimaan and the other Hindi tv shows I binge watched!).

       So, going to school made me realize that something about me was quite awkward to the others- my name MANU MOHAN .I had no surname. All my friends had surnames, but why didn’t I? I never got it back then. My mother told me that we are Keralites and surnames do not really play any role in our society .There I was the surname less weirdo. Quite frankly, I am often bombarded with questions like, ”Is your name for real?”,”Is MANU your first name or MOHAN?”(btw my father’s name is Mohan) and blah blah blah. I know Manu is a boy’s name. My parents named me after a boy because I have an elder sister .So they had already decided in advance that they’d name their second child as Manu-be it a boy or a girl.   All of you might have guessed by now that I’m going to babble about my name in this post. Yes, you are absolutely right!

      “What’s in a name?” is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous lines. Umm, Mr.Shakespeare, I  disagree with you. There are a lot of things that a person with an awkward name in the society could relate to. For instance, my name in my voter’s card is Manu Mohan Mohan. My Aadhar card name is Manu Mohan G.(Again why should my father’s initial G be included in my Aadhar card??) I also remember running errands to the university for getting a correction in my name. Some of the forms I fill get rejected because I leave the surname box blank.  In fact, some people just enter my gender as male in forms, as soon as they see my name. So “What’s in a name?” doesn’t really imply to me. All these incidents made me loathe my name at one point in life.

         I remember complaining to my parents and blaming them for naming me so. My mother responded by asking me a plain simple question, ”Have you ever come across a girl named Manu?” I never understood her logic. Now I understand what she meant. She wanted my name to be unique and stand out from the crowd. What’s so wrong with my name anyway? Manu was the first man on earth according to Hinduism and so was it Rani Laxmibai’s nickname(also it’s an abbreviation for Manchester United..!!)                            

           Today, I am really comfortable with my name. I would be ever thankful to my mother for giving me such a beautiful and unique name. If I ever come across a person who finds me being surname less bizarre, then I really pity that person. Ok. Fine.  Maybe you’ve never met a person from South India to understand our naming system. But I bet you sure as hell must have watched cricket. Haven’t you come across names like VVS Laxman , S Sreesanth or Ravichandran  Ashwin? Haven’t you ever wondered what their surnames were? Well, ignorance is not bliss.

            This one goes out to all the malayalis out there. If you think my name is weird owing to the fact that I am a girl, then well, news flash-I am MANU and I am a girl. Go ahead and make fun of my name.  Atleast you’ll always remember me.

             I don’t mean to impose anything on this post against the people who don’t understand my   name. It’s just that sometimes some people sideline me and set me apart because of this. Anyway I’m proud of my name and would never in a thousand years consider changing it.

              I think today I have written an exceptionally long post. But hey, I was just pouring my heart out. By the way thanks for reading this. I would appreciate your feedback (even if it’s negative) and take it as a part of constructive criticism. Have a nice day ahead!