Name recalling

It was to be my first trip abroad over two decades ago, and my first port of call was to be Germany. Travelling with a husband who swore by everything German, their professionalism, sense of perfection, sturdy, dependable products, et al, I was reasonably reassured. But since he was essentially on a business trip, I knew I would be spending a lot of my time discovering places on my own. Most of my preconceived notions of the country and its people came via American and English writers and Hollywood 8212; needless to add, they were hardly positive!

Anticipated horrors and what do you know? You are confronted with them! I was sure the painfully thin, blonde immigration officer was going to find something wrong with my passport and visa by the way he kept peering at it through his steel-rimmed glasses and then glancing at me only later I learnt that all the while the document was being photocopied! Though this was years before 9/11, we had to still walk through metal detectors and while I was about to cross, the beeps went on an overdrive which led to a female officer taking me aside for frisking. She could find nothing objectionable and after a hurried consultation with a male colleague, she pointed to the zari on my sari and asked, 8220;Iz zat metal?8221; I nodded and both of us sighed in relief.

The next few days in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf were most exciting. I was no longer up against officialdom and found some warm friends among the people my husband was dealing with. Towards the end of our stay, there was another business meeting in Bremen to which I tagged along. Once again we were met by the archetypal platinum blonde, ramrod stiff, corporate official. He took one look at my husband8217;s business card and enunciated 8220;R-a-m-a-n-a-th-a-n, are you from southern India?8221; Once he got the amazed assent, he added, 8220;and you are an Aryan, I know by the number of 8216;A8217;s in your name!8221;

I was stupefied. I spent the rest of the hours in Bremen, mulling over this. To be told by a German that Aryans in southern India had names with a preponderance of 8216;A8217;s! Over the next few days and after my return, I listed every single Brahmin name in Tamil Nadu I could think of, or gather 8212; from Akhileswaran to Yagneeswaran 8212; and, sure enough, while there were other vowels, the most predominant and prolific vowel was 8216;A8217;!