Tags:
Journalism of Courage
I have been on a first name basis with many people. However, I never thought that my recent shift to Raipur will drastically alter the way I spell out my name.
After 29 years in New Delhi I shifted to Chhattisgarh about a month ago and I seem to have lost my first name somewhere along the way. The change appears to have begun during my train journey to the state. During the trip, I shared my travelling space with a number of apparently well-educated gentlemen, who insisted on knowing my full name. Once I spelt out my full name for them, and the caste connotations along with it, they seemed reassured enough to indulge in some friendly chit-chat with me.
What complicates this insistence on knowing my full name is that many of the people I encounter aren8217;t familiar with the caste specificities of my Punjabi second name. They sometimes presume it to be a Maharashtrian second name, made famous by the BJP leader 8212; the late Pramod Mahajan. But I seem to be handling this problem rather well, and in fact sometimes use it to my advantage 8212; switching on my Maharashtrian or Punjabi persona as the occasion demands.
However, over the past few weeks, I have also noticed an ominous trend. The other day I heard myself asking someone I met what his full name was. The syndrome seems to be infectious.
