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Humourist Soumya tells us the gender confusion that names create, in the weekly column, exclusively for Different Truths.
In the days before gender identity became infra dig and when fond parents gave toy cars and guns to little boys and dolls and ribbons to little girls without being politically incorrect. I was burdened with a unisex name – Kajal- phonetically spelled ‘Kajol’ of Bollywood fame. This led to merciless ribbing by peers and taught me a great deal about unarmed combat. Being a skinny kid, I often paid in blood for the honour of my young manhood, tears being strict “no-no” for the boys. I heartily hated my grandma for this indignity and tried to keep my dark secret from strangers, always emphasising my official tag of ‘Soumya’ – in Bengali, an unambiguous male nomenclature. This saw me through until college.
Some years later, two developments caused complications once more. I had started working for a South-based corporation and had also gone into that partnership allegedly made in heaven. In our case, probably it was a result of detente between different heavens. For, my alliance partner was a North Indian lady of another religious persuasion, who answered to the extremely masculine call of ‘Tajinder’. The name always conjured up in my mind an image of a large hirsute transport operator – the exact opposite of the petite accountant with whom I had hitched my future.
In the South, ‘Soumya’ is commonly associated with the fairer sex, the male equivalent being ‘Soumyan’.
How I wish my name had been chosen with greater foresight or at least that the Capital’s penchant for unisex names like ‘Hunny’, ‘Sunny’, ‘Guddu’, and ‘Tinku’ had influenced the naming process. Now, when my young nephew’s sport long hair and ear studs, chain, kara and rings and my daughter are equally comfortable with the politically incorrect AK-47s and Barbie dolls, my name probably would not matter. But things were vastly different in my youth and continue to be so for my generation. Maybe I should file an affidavit in court and carry a declaration in the personal columns to clear the sexual ambiguity of my tag.
©Soumya Mukherjee
Photos from the Internet
#NameIssues #GenderAndNames #ConfusionOfNames #SexualAmbiguity #IndianNamesAreConfusing #Humour #WhyPigsHaveWings #DifferentTruths
Very interestingly written piece.
What’s in a name , said the Bard 🙂
Nice article. Name has its own value.
Not “blaming” you wife’s climb up the corporate ladder on her skills is kind of sad. I hope your ego has healed somewhat. 😉
It had to. Once you’ve seen the glass ceiling from the wrong side
True
A great deal
Shukriya