What’s in a Name?
A charming story from the BBC about a village in Kerala called Moscow, where people named Lenin, Stalin, Pushkin etc are meeting to talk about their names. It seems Stalin and Krushchev have lost their popularity as names, but Lenin is still going strong. Before you conclude that this is just a Keralite communist eccentricity, consider the case of the babies who were named Dhamaka Singh or Visphote Singh in Rajasthan, after India tested its nuclear missile. Or the unfortunate pet-names Bengali babies often seem to get- Poltu, Motu, Bhondu, I could go on.
November 4th, 2005 at 11:32 am
Your observation is thought provoking. Even West Bengal, specially rural West Bengal is also eccentric to some extent about communist movement (CPIM). I have a friend in Bankura, a rural district of West Bengal who has a son. He named him “Gorky”. So Kerala is not alone. And I can remember another child born just after tsunami in Andaman. I heard that he/she was named Tsunami. Though the bard told “What’s in a name?” Name is perhaps the most endearing possession of a person.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:42 am
Not to forget an entire novel by Lahiri devoted to being named.