Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Namkaran

Naming ceremony in  most Indian households is the first big celebration for a newborn.Many insist that without a name ,there is no identity.

The paternal aunt, in many cases names the child.Just shows our patriarchal mindset.The aunt rarely chooses the name,she just anoints it on the baby.The names are chosen by looking up religious texts,or by naming after ancestors,etc.Nowadays,the net is wide open to choose names of every kind.This makes for more confusions.There is going to be a  naming ceremony in my extended family on this  weekend.I was told that the name is being selected .Elders,dad,mom,uncle,aunty,in fact all are busy meditating on names so that they can select, the most unique name for the baby.While the grandpa insists on a name from the religious scripts,the dad insists on a name, that symbolises the internet age.

When a name is that of a God or Goddess or an ancestor,I suspect that ,it has ulterior motives.Whenever such named person is scolded,reprimanded,cursed,the others get immense pleasure as they feel they are cursing the Almighty ,the long dead ancestor,etal.

We often name or rather nickname many persons in our midst, so that we can converse in our secret code lingo.A harassed daughter in law is named Dukhi aatma,a bald fellow is named Chand ( the moon ) ,a person hovering around the boss is named Chamcha ,a lady who is matching her dress with accessories is named matchless,a person who takes time to follow is tubelight ( as it takes time to light up ), etc.Narendra Modi has been named NaMo ,Rahul Gandhi as RaGa & so on !

While I worked in Public Sector Insurance Company ,one Veternary Doctor invited us to his baby's  naming ceremony.Vets in insurance company  have to tag cattle ( for identity ) which are insured.Someone quipped "tagging ceremony." In my office ,there was a clerk who would go & report to the boss on all of us.He was aptly nicknamed "Office Wife " by the staff !

This is my blog post for letter "N" for A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Sharing blog posts of fellow bloggers :

Nischala Murthy

Deepa Iyer





15 comments:

Afshan Shaik said...

I liked the office wife name
ROFL !

Good set of nick names

Nabanita said...

This reminds me that I named my sister 'AAM' during her Naamkaran :)

N for Nauseated-Random Thoughts Naba

Suzy said...

Neither of my children had a naamkaran. I don't think anyone in my extended family has had one!

Unknown said...

Neither us nor our kids had namkaran. We just chose the names we liked.

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Thank you ,Afshan !

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Nabanita,

Nice to learn, that my blog post reminded you of your sister's namkaran.Thank you !

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Suzy,

In India,naming ceremonies are a big deal.And some of us have really very long & difficult names :)

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Sfurti Sinha,

You are lucky that you & husband could select names for your kids.

My daughter keeps complaining that she wants some other name !

Next ,newborns will insist on naming themselves & later, even their parents !

Ghata said...

Ha ha...cute!

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Now I have something new about cultural traditions. This is a great joy for me as I am very interested in all different ways of life. You did a great service to me by explaining this! I loved it! Thanks! jean

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Thanks,Ghata for visiting my blog ! Glad that you liked it !

vasrao@gmail.com said...

Jean,

Naming ceremony is all very traditional in India.Relatives & friends bring gifts for the newborn as also mother.There is feasting & a festive atmosphere !

JANU said...

Loved the nicknames.

Found In Folsom said...

Hahaha...Office wife....loved it...and btw, I am matchless...:P
I wrote on the same topic too..names...

Prathima Rao said...

Funny one Vasudha. Enjoyed reading it.

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