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Friday, December 11, 2015

Strange is it, my name sounds to you?



Now what is this big fuss about my name, huh? Can’t you even pronounce such a simple name in english? You just have to say it the way it is written. Nothing complicated like other names that are around. So then, why do you have to dissect my name and look at me strangely with a “Whattt???? is that a name?” attitude.

“What does your name mean, anyway?”
“Does it have any meaning?”
“Oh! I didn’t have any idea it had mythological significance to it. It just sounds too different.”
“Oh yes of course, I am aware of religion, but didn’t know YOU would have a name derived from mythology”
“Meh..”, is the reaction in my mind when I get the above replies from people who ask my name.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” goes the saying by Shakespeare. Oh yes! Names were given to objects and people and it stuck with them. And we began to recognise a rose with the name “rose” and not the name “grass”. You had to have identifiers so that we could represent something. It becomes easy for everyone. With due respect for Shakespeare, I do like his saying “What’s in a name…..”. Instead of rose being called a rose, if it was named a “scallion”, it would give the same smell.  But rose it is, now. This was just a thought. Coming back to my name.

I have always had this issue wherever I went. “Hey dear!! What’s your name?” And after telling my name, the reply would be “Haha, how do you say it, can you tell me again?” Whoever asked me this, had such big names which they assumed were easy to pronounce. Tell them a simple name like mine, and they would be like “Huh.. Huh.. What is it, again?”

My name was chosen by my family. It isn’t a common name, I agree. But it does have a meaning. It wasn’t chosen randomly out of the blue to make it sound modern. And it isn’t a big 25 letter name that is hard to pronounce and say. Nevertheless, people have created many versions of my name to suit their convenience. Frankly speaking, it is irritating to listen to the different ways every person says your name. Even more frustrating is that people will say it in three different ways despite telling them another five times.. Ghosh!!! I was once asked if my name had any meaning and received a surprised reaction when I told it had meaning hidden in it. “Go to hell” was the response which remained stuck in my mind instead of coming out from my mouth.

A name is a name, whether it has meaning or not. It’s chosen with great love. Learn not to make fun of it or atleast pronounce properly. A name is something personal and of great importance to each person. No one would like their name being tampered with, atleast I do not like it.

So coming back to rose again, it will still smell sweet by any other name. But why call it grass or grape if it’s recognised as rose all over? Every language has a designated name for it. It has identity because it is called something in that particular language. Calling it something else will be a confusion. Calling me by different versions of my name will not get a response from me because I have been used to being called by my own name. And why give a weird reaction when you hear my name, am I an alien?

P.S. This article depicts my frustration of having to suffer all these years seeing the dissection and different ways of pronouncing my name by different people. I am very particular as far as my name is concerned. And I have met only a handful of people who could pronounce my name in first shot. I do have great respect for them :) :)

4 comments:

  1. haha yeah yeah whats in a name. I have heard quite a few Indians face this problem. Since our names are very diff when compared to a lot of nationalities... Mainly it is like John, James, lily :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Richa! Surprisingly, I have faced this in India ;-)

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  2. I think Seeya is a sweet and small name. Different, uncommon but nevertheless it is a name deserving respect. One may seek help with the correct pronunciation and the meaning of the name but the tone of all those questions above in the post conveyed something. I have faced similar problem in school where teachers were not able to pronounce my name alongwith my surname correctly. I agree it gets too long when said together. During the time I worked in an American company, the counterparts from the US office addressed me as Ana - Mika (as in phonetically) in the conference calls and it sounded like I was related to Mika, yes the singer hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think Seeya is a sweet and small name. Different, uncommon but nevertheless it is a name deserving respect. One may seek help with the correct pronunciation and the meaning of the name but the tone of all those questions above in the post conveyed something. I have faced similar problem in school where teachers were not able to pronounce my name alongwith my surname correctly. I agree it gets too long when said together. During the time I worked in an American company, the counterparts from the US office addressed me as Ana - Mika (as in phonetically) in the conference calls and it sounded like I was related to Mika, yes the singer hahaha

    ReplyDelete