So, I was in God's own country for a period of one month. And trust me, the NGO life was not easy when it came to my *name*. :(
My name is Abha. Pronounced as Aabha. Its a sanskrit word having a lot meanings like sharpness ( sharp I am, of course! My parents always complain about the sharpness of my tongue ;) ), beauty or charm (that's a beautiful meaning I say :P ), shine, etc. *Abha* definitely is a word that's in malayalam dictionary too. Unfortunately at various parts of Kerala, people mis-pronounce *bha* as *fa* or *pha*. :-| And, Gandhi Bhawan has people, I guess, the majority of whom belong to those *fa* and *pha* parts of Kerala!! x-(
Mis-pronouncing my name is one of the things I can hardly tolerate. And in Gandhi Bhawan I was put through this tough task of hearing my name mis-pronounced every now and then. :(
And, finally a day came, when I bowed my head in surrender and asked my roommate, Vijayalakshmi Chechi to change my name for the time being. After the first week of my stay, began the strenuous task of finding a nice name for me. By the way, the task was for others. My only job was to reject most of the names, which I of course didn't like for one or the other reason.
Someone suggested the name *Abhirami*... Hmmm... Naah! I did not like that! *Anuradha*. I have a friend named Anuradha. *Anusree*- Oh please! NO! *Lakshmi.*-- I again have a friend named lakshmi. *Saraswati* :|. I just need the name for 20 days!Gimme something short. *Gayatri* - That's the name of my dance teacher's daughter's daughter.
It was such a weird time. In the mission to find a name for self that too for 20 days!
And there entered Ganapriyan Sir in the scene. He is an intellectual guy. A former journalist and writer. But in the course of time, he lost his mental balance. Can't call him insane though, but of course, he wasn't sane. We used to spend a lot of time together discussing general issues. And I asked this intellectual persona to suggest a name for me. And he asked me to give him some time to think about it.
The next day, Ganapriyan Sir came upto me in the office and suggested *PAINKILI* (means 'a little bird') :-|. The thought that crossed my mind was, why couldn't he kill me with a single punch???! Out of all names in the world, he could suggest Painkili??!! Even Unniyarcha would have been better!
But luckily, when he saw the expression of my face, he immediately changed his mind, and came up with the name *Devu*.
Devu...
My name, Abha, is very short. So, practically I never had a nickname. As I never had one, I always desired for one. And when I heard Devu, I was silent for a few moments. And then I smiled as an approval. :) :) :)
And Vijayalakshmi Chechi, also loved it.
Since then, I have been Devu at Gandhi Bhawan. Many though continued to call me Abha. Those who called me Aafa, or Aapha, I corrected them by asking them to call me Devu. So, I became Devutti, Devu, Devu chechi, Devu akka etc to the inmates of Gandhi Bhawan.
Today, I prefer being called Devu. :) I tell the people, close to me, to call me Devu.
The last day, when I was getting ready to evacuate the room, Vijayalakshmi Chechi, my roommate, looked at me with a smile, she just said one thing, "My advice to you would be, never get married. Even if u get married, never have kids. And, if ever you do give birth, and if that happens to be a girl,do name her Devu, ok?" :)
Okay... :)
Mis-pronouncing my name is one of the things I can hardly tolerate. And in Gandhi Bhawan I was put through this tough task of hearing my name mis-pronounced every now and then. :(
And, finally a day came, when I bowed my head in surrender and asked my roommate, Vijayalakshmi Chechi to change my name for the time being. After the first week of my stay, began the strenuous task of finding a nice name for me. By the way, the task was for others. My only job was to reject most of the names, which I of course didn't like for one or the other reason.
It was such a weird time. In the mission to find a name for self that too for 20 days!
And there entered Ganapriyan Sir in the scene. He is an intellectual guy. A former journalist and writer. But in the course of time, he lost his mental balance. Can't call him insane though, but of course, he wasn't sane. We used to spend a lot of time together discussing general issues. And I asked this intellectual persona to suggest a name for me. And he asked me to give him some time to think about it.
The next day, Ganapriyan Sir came upto me in the office and suggested *PAINKILI* (means 'a little bird') :-|. The thought that crossed my mind was, why couldn't he kill me with a single punch???! Out of all names in the world, he could suggest Painkili??!! Even Unniyarcha would have been better!
But luckily, when he saw the expression of my face, he immediately changed his mind, and came up with the name *Devu*.
Devu...
My name, Abha, is very short. So, practically I never had a nickname. As I never had one, I always desired for one. And when I heard Devu, I was silent for a few moments. And then I smiled as an approval. :) :) :)
And Vijayalakshmi Chechi, also loved it.
Since then, I have been Devu at Gandhi Bhawan. Many though continued to call me Abha. Those who called me Aafa, or Aapha, I corrected them by asking them to call me Devu. So, I became Devutti, Devu, Devu chechi, Devu akka etc to the inmates of Gandhi Bhawan.
Today, I prefer being called Devu. :) I tell the people, close to me, to call me Devu.
The last day, when I was getting ready to evacuate the room, Vijayalakshmi Chechi, my roommate, looked at me with a smile, she just said one thing, "My advice to you would be, never get married. Even if u get married, never have kids. And, if ever you do give birth, and if that happens to be a girl,do name her Devu, ok?" :)
Okay... :)
5 comments:
interesting...seems like the time u had spent overthere is something like - once in a life time one can have it..and i am sure u must be proud to say that..and as we ppl live in metros we actually does't knw what is acutally a life...v all r just like a machine ..the actual life is lived by them..
hmm kollam abha...name nte meaning okke nannaayittundu..
but athinu vethaalam ennoru meaning koode ille ennoru doubt....[:p]
Kaatturajave!!! (Anpin)
Theerchayayum anginorartham athinund!! Anpin enna perinu kaatturajavenna artham ullathu pole.!
I appreciate Abha for spending time with the inmates of Gandhi Bhawan and sharing her experience with them. Instead of concentrating on herself like looking for a nickname etc., (reflects the childish or rather immature behaviour hidden in her), let she share/narrate her days spent in Gandhi Bhawan. How does she knows that her parents don't access this?
hey through your blog, i can figure out what an amazin time u had there in kerela.. and it actly feels something right out of those classics one reads.... n yeah...i must say ur decision to write a blog, has inspired me too...
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