What’s in a name??? I guess in today’s world that’s become everyone’s favourite dialogue. On hearing this...anyone would say "William Shakespeare". Yes, but then at once Alec Smart would stand up and say “But below that he wrote his own name”. Well my dear friends for the record Shakespeare never ever said that…the phrase was a mere dialogue in one of his plays.
Though a lot has been said about what there being in a name, I beg to differ. A person’s name to him is the most sweetest sound in any language. A name may not be of any significance to another person, but to its bearer its of utmost value. None of us would liked being called as ‘Excuse me, Hello, Aaaa, Tsh Tsh’. When a person calls you by his name it means that the person relates to you in some way or another. It means that he regards you as one of his own to an extent.
Down the line even if a person changes his name, he is still called by his old name. Our previous generation refers to Amitabh Bachan’s wife as Jaya Bhaduri while our generation says Jaya Bachan. The same is going to happen with Aishwarya. Referring to Mumbai as Bombay & Pune as Poona I guess is no crime & according to me both should be officially recognised. I feel that for cities of the stature & fame as Bombay, the name shouldn’t be changed. One, it creates confusion & there is a lot of formalities to be done. Two, however much I try I can’t change history. After a few decades I will be wondering as to whether the place exists or not. Eg. How many of us know that Benaras is the old name of Varanasi. By changing the name no drastic development & progress has taken place. After all CST & VT mean one & the same; just like my (horrible) train experiences. So what the heck! Whenever I am supposed to fill any form asking me for my place of birth, I always answer Bombay. Whenever I am corrected, I answer that when I was born it was called Bombay, after that it changed to Mumbai.
The most important aspect of a name from a business point of view is that it speaks of its brand value. Lets say tomorrow I start a telecom company & name it Neltonz. Any person using my service will fall short of words when in a group of people. The people around him will wonder as to which service provider is this. No matter how much I may advertise using all forms of media, I will still fall short. Reason? Because my company name lacks credibility & value, a thing which obviously comes with time. More importantly my company name lacks class. Lets take an example of Vodafone. Everyone around would love being associated with Vodafone. Reason? Simple. Wouldn’t you love to say with pride that you are a part (even if that is being insignificant) of the world’s largest telecom company. A brand name that is valued & respected around the world. I’m not saying that I cannot achieve such brand value. But time is a very clever player. At the advent of the internet any website clicked, but in today's time where the net is filled with hundred thousands of websites (most of them being crap) it’s difficult for a newcomer to create a niche for himself.
It’s for this reason that there are so many companies who concentrate on creating a value for their brand. Realistically speaking there are more double who concentrate on imitating the latter. That’s where copyright & patents come to the fore. That’s the same reason why so many companies prefer not changing their names even when they have undergone acquisitions or mergers. That’s the same reason why television & the print media were flooded with messages just to convey the fact that Rin Supreme had now become Surf Excel. That’s the same reason why even though the world over we have M&M’s in India we still have Gems even though they are owned by the same company. Ultimately that’s what each company wants us to do & believe. Two toothpastes may be the same in composition, yet you may have one’s sales plummeting the roof, which the other taking a nose dive.
The other day my friend’s friend was listening to Linkin Park. Nothing wrong with that, except the fact that I doubted whether he understood anything given his tastes. Seeking a clarification I asked him. Well as I guessed he didn’t. All his praises for the band was a mere fallacy. Now that’s wrong. I asked him what made him switch, he just said that the coolest guys in class listen to them. The rest need not be explained. Many a time we do thing for no reason at all. We love things, do things just because it has been kind of endorsed by a particular section of people or society. Just not to be left out we endorse those things too. Even though they may be unaffordable or uncomfortable. Well that’s the same reason big brands utilize the services of the bigwigs of society to advertise for their products just for the prime reason that if at least no one else the celebrity’s fan following will at least purchase the product. Bigger the celebrity, larger is his/her fan following. That’s the reason you have Kareena Kapoor advertising for Dermi Cool talcum powder, Shah Rukh Khan for Navratna talc, Amitabh Bachan for Navratna Hair Oil etc, etc, etc…the list is endless. These people advertise for these products, their fans purchase them, but do these celebrities actually use them. On one such occasion during an interview, Sachin Tendulkar was asked what his favourite drink was. To everyone’s astonishment Sachin answered “Water”. Now where did the Pepsi go that Sachin endorses??? Only God knows.
Now coming to individual names there’s a lot in a person’s name. The country that we live in (I have started to believe) does not judge a person by his work, but by his name. On hearing a person’s name for the first time, the mind begins to analyze the name carefully as if titrating an unknown solution. For further analysis, the spelling is asked & for confirmation the surname is asked. Then that person is categorized as a Sindhi, Marwadi, Bengali, Maharashtrian, etc, etc, etc. Not to mention Christian, Muslim, etc. Over here I just have a simple question. Why? Why do we need to be so regionalistic? Why aren’t we contented with a person’s name & that’s it. End of story. What difference does it make if a person belongs to a particular section of society? Isn’t the goal much bigger than the individual? What criteria do we need to satisfy to be a part of a community? More importantly who gives us the right to judge other people? An incident comes to my mind from the movie ‘Mr & Mrs Iyer’. In that movie Rahul Bose plays the part of a bengali. On Konkana Sen Sharma coming to know of the fact that he’s a muslim, the question that pops out from her mouth is “But you said you were a Bengali”. To this Rahul Bose replies “I am”. Well all I would like to know is what defines us & makes us Indian. Who is an Indian & who is not? Tomorrow if I learn a particular region’s language can I say that I am a part of that community? Is going to temples & bathing in the Ganges being Indian. Does that mean that all the Muslims & Christians & many other non-Hindus who think & work for the betterment of the country stand no chance of being Indian? Is this what our country has been reduced to? Sadly speaking before this a 9% GDP growth also seems insignificant.
Hoping that you have an amazing day & week ahead. Until next time.
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On Nana Patekar being asked on his take on the IPL his reply was “I like to watch India play another country. Here Bombay is up against Delhi & Calcutta is against Madras. They are all part of my India, which side do I support?
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