Move over Bard

Marriages may be made in heaven. But what about the names of the children who follow soon after the event? Are they also decided up above? Perhaps not, because everyday we see people changing their names. And newspapers have a column to announce such changes. It is a good business proposition for a tribe called notaries too because whoever changes his or her name  has to swear so before a notary.

Just pore over the classified section of a newspaper and you will se dozens of announcement about the change in the names. There is no need to explain why one is assuming a new name, if not an identity. But law demands that you announce the change to the whole world. And nosy Parkers like me try to guess why someone has changed the name from let us say Savita to Savitaa. Did a numerologist advise her to add an extra ‘a’ to reap good luck? Is there a numerologist also behind Nita becoming Neetha; Rajesh becoming Rajyessh and Kavita calling herself Kaveetha? But will Myna becoming Maina fit into that category?

Cupid plays a part or so, I guess, when I read about Reshma becoming Nazma one fine day. And that fine day might have come after she chose to marry out of religion. Even normal marriages call for a change in the surname of the bride. Thus we have Kamala Sharma telling us all that she will hereafter be called Kamala Verma. There could be other compulsions too. We find a few people adding the family surname without which, they realised later, that their names were incomplete. So Govinda will henceforth be Govinda Gowda. And his name is now complete.
Long time back someone had asked me why I was Ananda not Anand, the latter being a bit modern. Frankly I did not know nor did I bother to go before notary to drop the ‘a’. But I have read about one Harisha becoming Harish. Rajamma becoming Radha or Sangamma turning up as Sumangala are perhaps examples of name modernisation. But there is a reverse gear too - when Geeta changes over to Gnaneshwari Bai or Padma starts calling herself Padmavathi.
Some go to the notary to correct a spelling mistake in their name. Jhon was being wrongly spelt in the records and he has now corrected the mistake someone had committed. He is now John. Was it a spelling mistake that made Irine become Irene and Pawan Pavan? Some have turned a totally new leaf and gone in for a complete change over. Akkamahadevi becomes a simple Lata; Geeta turns into Lalita; Lingaiah is now Srinivas and Shilpa wants people to call her Pragna.
The other day I was simply bowled over by an ad. The father who had changed his name from Sunil to Suniel and the mother from Kavita to Kaveeta had changed the name of their daughter from Sakshi to Sakshee. Why was she not named Sakshee in the first instance itself only the parents know. But Sumathi must be very happy with her new name. She is now officially calling herself Kushi!
Move over Bard, there’s everything in the name.