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Sunday, 28 September 2008

Of baby names

Yesterday at a friend's place we were having this discussion on baby names and it's religious connections in India. A friend suddenly burst out laughing, thinking about an incident. It so happened that she was visiting a friend, during her gestation period. The friend inquired if they had zeroed in on any names. To this my friend and her husband replied that would go in for a 'short and sweet' name. Suddenly, the host said, "What madness? Your child's name should do honours to your name too. I've decided that I'll name my child Padmabhushan, if it's a boy and Padmashri, if it's a girl."

My friend and her husband looked bewildered. The host soon answered their questioning eyes. He said," I know I'll never get the Padmabhushan or the Padmashri. But think about this. Whenever my kids will be addressed by their full names, my heart will swell with pride. My name is Delip Vaze. So my kids' names will sound like this - Padmabhushan Dilip Vaze or Padmashri Dilip Vaze. Who gets honoured? Isn't it a brilliant idea?"

Indeed Mr. Vaze, it is. What foresight!

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