Myself, Malpani

Names, particularly those that sound rather unusual, had always appealed to me. In Ahmedabad, I was recently introduced to someone with the ...

Names, particularly those that sound rather unusual, had always appealed to me. In Ahmedabad, I was recently introduced to someone with the surname, 8216;Chhapan8217;, meaning 56. I turned the pages of the local telephone directory, it had ten Chhapans.

Curiosity duly whetted, I scanned the directory closely for some more unusual surnames. I counted five 8216;Chhalishazar8217; and ten 8216;Dasrotlis8217; stared at me there were no 8216;chapatis8217; or 8216;rotlas8217;, fortunately. 8216;Puri8217; was, of course, a common surname in the north and figured prominently in the Delhi telephone directory. Living in a Maharashtrian area of Mumbai, I was introduced to people with names like 8216;Dahibatte8217;, 8216;Malpani8217; and 8216;Sahasrabhojane8217;. Names like 8216;Gada8217; and 8216;Kutte8217; had to be pronounced carefully so that it became clear we were not referring to the animals that bore these terms.

Growing up in Tamil Nadu, I came across quite a few extraordinary surnames and names. In Tamil conscious Madurai, a classmate had the name 8216;Umaiorubaham8217;, a reference to Lord Shiva8212;one of whose body parts was his consort, Parvati. Some of the names really didn8217;t suit those who bore them. How did the parents of a really ugly son name him 8216;Manmadhan8217;, god of love?

Of course, I had never been stumped by such difficult names. The real challenge came recently. As a teacher of journalism in several Mumbai colleges, I went through the class project of a student which was marked, 8216;Foram Trivedi8217;. Puzzled, I wondered if she was really named 8216;Forum8217;? Had misspelt her name in the project? Or worked for the Forum of Free Enterprise? When I met Foram after the Diwali holidays, the first question I asked her was whether she was really 8216;Foram8217;, and if so what does her name mean. 8220;Sir, I8217;m Foram, and in Gujarati it means 8216;khushboo8217;, fragrance.8221;

Of course, there are endless possibilities of playing on the word 8216;Foram8217;. Since I joke a lot with my students, I would inhale deeply and announce, 8220;What a Foram!8221;, when my student entered the class.

Believe it not, Foram has a sister named Mausam! But she does not in turn blow hot and cold, has no dark monsoon moods and would shudder to cause leaves to fall.