What's in a name...?!

Well!
Here I am…again!
People think I'm really good at this…I really don’t think so! Its actually the stuff’s that happened to me which makes my blog interesting. I'm just penning them down (Penning…??!). But getting all that positive feedback is always great! Heheh…

(I’ve actually got threatened by some of my friends to hurry up with my next post already! Sheeeesh! )

Well was named Devyani by my parents. Devyani is a Hindu goddess, Lord Indra’s wife. And she was known for her beauty and wisdom (none of which I have….). After being called ‘Devyani’ by my family for the past 18 years …I’ve kind of grown used to and attached to it. (Well, they prefer calling me by my pet name-Minnie, when I'm referred to as ‘Devyani’ by my parents…I know I'm in deep trouble!!)

My friends however, call me anything BUT Devyani. Its ‘normally’ stuff like- Devnani, devrani, devo-ki-nani (this is what my friends in class 3 used to call me which means Grandmother of the gods!!! Ha ha ha!), devoo, dee, devv, devoo motors, devyaniji, mayavati (You don’t want to know why I was called this!!) and the most recent one ‘maharani’ (because of my ‘her highness-ish’ attitude I guess…) but nowadays they’ve stuck to a simple ‘Devy’ which is my favorite of all these names. Now if someone calls me ‘Devyani’ in college…I feel really weird!

My teachers in school called me ‘Devyani’. Plain n’ simple. But it was usually uttered in a half shouting manner and followed by stuff like “…you are the biggest chatterbox I’ve ever seen!” or “…if I make you sit next to a buffalo, I'm sure you’ll start talking to it too!”. And it all ended up in the teacher pulling her hair and praying to God to make me shut up!

In Jr college my professors used to call me, C-56 or F-20 which were my roll numers in class 11th and 12th grade respectively. A few days ago, I met my old biology teacher. She recognized me and screwed up her face, trying to remember my name. A balloon of hope inflated in my heart. “Maybe she will….maybe…”.
She relaxed her face and smiled and said, “ F-20, rite?”.
POP
My balloon burst.
I smiled back and said, “Yeah ma’am…but I'm B-34 nowadays!”

I’ve never felt weird about how long or how unique my name was. Until that one day.

I was accompanying my cousin for an interview she had to give in Churchgate (a place in Mumbai) since she didn’t know Mumbai that well. I had my vacations going on, so I happily (readily, eagerly, enthusiastically, earnestly, ardently) accepted her request. The three of us (My cousin, me and my i-Pod –I count it as a loveable member of my family) left for Churchgate at 8:00 in the am. The interview was basically for as scholarship for studying abroad, which was to last for 3 hours. I didn’t mind as I had my iPod(god bless technology!) with me. With 300+ songs stuffed in it, I knew 3 hrs would pass like 3 minutes. After wishing my cousin all the luck, I popped the headphones in my ears and snuggled in a comfy sofa in the lobby of the venue.
After 21/2 hrs, a harried looking elderly man, much to my annoyance, came and sat next to me. He was getting real fidgety and anxious. I suspected his son/daughter my have come to give the interview too. Parents are the worst people to bring along to such places. I resumed listening to my iPod which was now playing a particularly jumpy song. The man was looking at me. I managed to give him half a smile, which he took as a signal to trigger a conversation with me (much to my annoyance…again).
“Have you come for giving the interview?”
South-indian for sure, by his accent
“No I'm accompanying my cousin”
“Ahhh, I thought so, you were looking too young.”
I smiled back in reply. He went on.
“So what are you doing?... Oh! BSc??... In zoology?... It’s not a very common branch is it?”
“Yeah…it pays to do something different sometimes” I said with quite a conclusive tone. But the man, unfazed, went on.
“Yes, very right you are. People should do different things. The IT sector is overflowing nowadays. In the next few years, there wont be any jobs available…” and he went on and on and on.
“The perfect candidate for the Ameron Batteries mascot.” I thought.
He was still talking about some statistics and percentage decrease of jobs.
“What does your father do?”
“He works for ONGC”
“Does ONGC give scholarships?” he asked with a hint of hope.
“It does, but its mostly for the employee’s wards…I guess”
"They should give it to other students also..."
He went on about the lack of scholarships for aspiring students and how resources are wated on other trivial things like un-necessary perks for employees”
Ahhhh!!
Finally he asked…
“What is your name?”
“Huh??”
“Your name…”
And people call me ‘tube light’ I thought.
“Devyani” I replied
“Ahhh…are you an Iyyer?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not a south Indian?”

Lots of people get confused here, I won’t blame them. I look south Indian and my name is south Indian-ish too. But I'm a rajput through and through.

“Rajput? ”The man said with a disgruntled look, “They don’t have names like these…”

I had the urge of saying, “Tah Dah!!” but I just smiled.

“Why is your name Devyani?”

Somebody please kill me!!

“I don’t know, my grandma liked this name, so she kept it I guess.”
“Do you know what it means?”

You’ve gotta be kidding me dude…

I gave him the above explanation about Lord Indira’s wife and he wasn’t happy with my explaination.
“That’s okay, but what does it mean?”
“I…don’t know”
“Youngsters today!! They don’t even know why they are called what they are called…”
And it started again. I was still having that pained smile on my face.
“Do you know the meaning?” I asked, out of irritation. I really had had enough.
“ ‘Deva’ means god and ‘anni’ (which he pronounced as yanni) means elephant. Your name means God’s elephant.”
“WHAT??!”
“God’s elephant..haathi…”
No ways...any crap!!
I saw my cousin walking out of the lift. I really didn’t know how to react- relived, happy, sad, embarrassed…I was like a soup of emotions that very moment.
“My cousins come…ive gotta go. Bye”
“Nice taking to you…” he said
Yeah right…
I interrogated my grandmother about this. She just laughed it over.
“It doesn’t matter what your name means, its who you are which does”
That really felt better.
“And speaking of elephants…you better loose some weight before I see you next”
“Yes nani…”

Grandma’s simple sentence really made me feel better.
After all, what’s in a name??

(Although God's elephant is a bit over the top...dont ya think??)