What’s in a name?

 



Hey Koko, 

What do you think of the title? Too obvious? I don’t care, I love Shakespeare, sue me. 

So this is a letter is more about me than about you to be very honest. 

Here’s a quick fact about me. I love my name, I am sure a lot of people do, don’t they (love their own name I mean)? It’s the one thing that screams you, what’s not to love and why wouldn’t you be touchy about it? God knows I am. I am in fact overtly sensitive about it. Hence, when I moved to this part of the country I would get quite irritated when people took the liberty of spelling it wrong. At desks where forms were getting filled, bills being generated to the wrong name et al. 

“But Ma’m, we wrote your name, you said Amrutha”

Hello! No, you did not write my name, because that’s how you spell someone else’s name. 

“No, I said Amrita, A-M-R-I-T-A”  I would slowly spell out each letter.

Still they would make atrocious changes - Amrutha, Amruga, Amreeta, whatnot. I have seen in all. So much so that you know about this quirk and look at me mischievously if I have to give my name somewhere. Things were going on the usual. Around nine years of rebellion had taught me to make peace with this demon. But then your classes started and the other Kraken was awakened and this one is far far bigger and scarier, though you find it hilarious. 

Whenever I am in any sort of educational set up, especially where there would be interaction with an instructor, I have this pathological need to raise my hand and answer the question. And there is a student in your class who shares my name. So whenever the teacher calls her out, and I have a feeling she gets called a lot, I have this itch to unmute and answer the question. 

So nowadays, you just wait for your teacher to call her and then look at me for my reaction - Am I reaching out for the unmute button? Am I squirming in my chair?

I have lived my entire school life with a person I shared a name with, this is nothing, just you wait. Soon you will meet another Ayushman and then we shall see how you fare.

I’ll be watching you,

Ma



Comments

  1. Travel BugJuly 19, 2021 at 10:23 PM

    Wow I can so relate to what you have felt. Amazed people spelt your name incorrectly.

    ReplyDelete

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