Rush to name newborns after cyclone 'Titli' in Odisha

As people in the coastal belt of Odisha battled 'Titli', several mothers have rushed to name their newborns after the cyclone that left behind a trail of destruction in the state.

Several families in Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Nayagarh have named their newborn daughters as "Titli" because they were born either before the very severe cyclone's arrival on the coast or after it made landfall.

Twenty-year-old A Allemma of Paradip, who gave birth to twins at the sub-divisional hospital at Chhatrapur at 6.05 and 6.12 am on Thursday, at the time of landfall of Titli at Palasa, wants to name the newborns 'Titli' which means butterfly in Hindi.

"I want to name my daughters as Titli, said Allemma, who delivered the first baby when the cyclonic storm was crossing Odisha coast.

Similarly, Bimla Das (29) of Plurugada, who also delivered a baby girl in the same hospital, wants to name her after the storm. The baby was born at around 7 am, said the sub-divisional medical officer, Chhatarpur, Kanhu Charan Patra.

Titli is Bimla's third child, he added.

In the community health centre (CHC) Aska, as many as nine babies were born between Wednesday night and 11 am on Thursday. All of them were girls.

"We have decided to name the babies which were delivered after Wednesday midnight as Titli, said Mohan Barik, the gynaecology specialist of the hospital.

A baby was born to Gitanjali Gouda (20) of Kalasuta village at about 2.10 am, he said. The baby's parents gladly accepted the proposal and named one of the babies as Titli he said.

At the CHC Hinjili, at least four babies were born since Wednesday evening.

Manjari Jena (21) who delivered a girl at CHC Polsara also wanted to name her daughter Titli. She delivered the girl at about 12.55 am, sources said.

Chief district medical officer (CDMO) Ganjam, Sadananda Mishra said they have admitted over 100 pregnant women in different hospitals in the district on Wednesday for safe delivery.

Of them, at least 64 have delivered during the night hour and Thursday morning.

Chief District Medical Officer *CDMO, Jagatsinghpur Ashok Pattnaik said: "I understand that the parents have named their newborn daughters as Titli. It is a good name. Of the 18 women admitted ahead of the cyclone, six have delivered babies."

This is not the first occasion when the people of Odisha have named children after a cyclone. During the super cyclone in 1999, where about 10,000 people were killed, the parents had named their babies after the name of the calamity.