Niche Nomenclature

I was wondering the other day, "Why the hell did Sippy name the film as 'Sholay' ... Why!"

When you see the film, there's just one literal depiction of 'sholays' - that's in the majestic train-dacoit scene when you can observe the coal-engine being fed with coal. Otherwise, the name could have been anything from "Dosti", "Badla" .. to "Intequam", "Thakur" etc. It was 1975, and names like the one's I mentioned appealed to the rural audience!

However, I don't intend to debate the aptness of the name at all. The name, now that the movie is an all-time classic, rocks! I had to show my thoughts off, though!

What I intend to write here about is the recent culture of naming children. I call it, "Niche Nomenclature." 

I have seen examples in my personal life, and of course, the world of recently-turned parents is littered with such examples, where the couple spends *weeks* together to find the most unique, the most ethnic, the most out-standing, and, sometimes, the most weird names for their children. They just won't stoop to the seemingly abject levels of lending some common name (like Sorabh/Saurav/Sourabh/Saurabh) to their child. 

It's like, "Why should I buy a 3310 when I can buy a customised iPhone?"

In other words, parents take remarkable, truly truly remarkable pride in lending a unique name to their children. It, in my opinion, has become a social status symbol. That's why, it's "Niche Nomenclature". 

Before I write the next few lines, I find it mandatory to assert that more than 99% of these names are truly beautiful. So I just don't mean to offend anyone of my close friends and family.

Names like Amit (boring), Ashish (yux), Saurabh (sigh!), Gaurav (take-a-walk), Prateek (get-a-life), Vijay (you-still-alive?) etc. have become the lowest common denominator of the naming algebra. They are just fall back options, if after 20 weeks of thoughtfulness a couple fails to find a "decent" name. Actually, they are not even fall back options. Fall back options are names like: Rohan, Aakash, Shalini (yes - DCH effect working here), Akshay, Kunal. Rishabh, Ayush etc. 

I remember naming my nephew some 8 years ago as "Shourya". I am still proud of this feat (though Shourya urf Sunny gives his generous Kaka very little bhaav for this)! His younger brother was born 2 years ago, and Yogesh bhaiyya and Tanu bhabhi spent weeks togehter to come up with a name,"Lakshya". I guess they wanted a short, sweet, but ethnic kind of name. Eventually, they had to "settle" for Lakshya - the ambitions were way higher!

At some level, the K-soaps on TV have made these ethnic names very popular. Names are like dresses - their appeal changes like fashion. For example, some years back, the sardarjis would name their kids: Happy, Johny, Lucky, Happy-Go-Lucky (ok, joking), Tommy, Dreamy etc. ... may be because many of them intended to send their kids to the US/UK/Canada ... No wonder I have a Happy Singh and a Johny Singh in my friends-list :)

Off late, the enthnic names have taken majestical proportions. No more Tanvi, Shourya, Kaavya  ... It's the era of bombastic names like Shatranjay, VeerBhadra, Pratyancha, Kaavyanjali, Anoushka, etc. etc. Either that, or some unheard words-cum-names like Aashrith (KK's son) or Mahika (Miki didi's daughter)!

Names are being created in an innovative manner too. I recently heard a name, "Athvika" ... which, on interrogation, I found out is the reverse of "Kavitha" (written in Hindi). Then, didi named her kiddy, "Jaanvi" ... which is not Jhanvi ... but a combination of "Vi for Vishal (jeeju)", and "Jaan" .. which, of course, is didi ;) 

Phew! This much for naming! It's like, the child is not just a child, it's a brand - and the appeal has to be good right from the start. I pity the pundits and maulvis who come up with an august alphabet-letter for a child's name ... a suggestion which the excited couple wraps and packs in the box for ever. I also pity the kids themselves, who will finally start pronouncing their names only when they turn 7!

Very soon, the dude-generation of today will grow up and deliver kids. It will be very interesting to see those "Hey Homie! What's up maannn!!" generation-dudes of today finding names for their kids tomorrow. I admit that I gave it a thought, but my imagination fails me when I try to think about the kind of names they would choose. Till then, I will amuse myself with the naming culture of today!

"Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat."