Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A tag from Dawn

Thanks to Dawn for passing this tag to me and making the possibility of a post in my blog after a long gap.

As in every tag, the rules first!

1. One has to post these rules before one gives out the facts.

2. One must list one fact that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of their middle name. If one doesn’t have a middle name, they can use the middle name that they would have liked to have

3. At the end of there post, they will have to choose one person for each letter of their middle name to tag. And make sure that each tagged person is notified about this via commenting on there blogs.

An interesting, yet difficult tag, at least for me. It is difficult because there is so much confusion with my name. The First Name, Middle Name and the Last Name - naming convention is of western origin and it becomes really difficult to apply it in the east (at least in India). Babies to inherit their father’s first name as their last name and married women to inherit their husband’s first name as their last name, babies inheriting their Surname from the family name or caste name or clan name and finally, all these chaos only results in the significance of the orgional name getting lost. The irony is, my TC (Transfer Certificate) has my name as M.Sivakumar, my passport has it as Sivakumar Manoharan, my voter id has it as Sivakumar, PAN Card (Permanent Account Number for Income Tax) has it as Sivakumar M. When I produce any of these 2 as proof (one as Photo Identification and the other as proof for Date of Birth or proof of Address) there is always a contradiction. To add to this confusion, there exists 3 more cousins with Sivakumar as their name and my name was prefixed with my native place and so to be called as Kodaikanal Siva. In spite of so many Sivakumars at school, there was less confusion as the Roll numbers were predominantly used for identification. However, during some competition, when it came to have the names printed in the t-shirts, I got my name printed in the reverse order as AVIS, to sound like a brand that existing in those times. Coming to work there was yet another Siva and hence, I am to be called as Kumar.

What is a Name? A means to identify an individual? I don’t think so! There are more individuals than the names under the sun. RFID Tags would be most appropriate to identify the uniqueness than the names. I believe, Name is a bridge to relate a person with another and hence is a form of Ego. A name is for others to call us by, where as the ego is for us to call ourselves. Name is the first sheath that is imposed on a person born into this world and we start relating the person with the name, its meaning, its numerology, its popularity, and finally inculcate the qualities of these factors and imitate them.The Kids are named with the assumption that, they would like the way they are called by and hence, if it is not meeting their expectations, they should be allowed to change their names at will. This tag especially gives me an opportunity to think as to how I would want myself to be called as and to add some significance to the name.

A tag extended from Dawn should start with a quote! As Gandhiji quoted “Be the change you want to see”, let me deduce the attributes that I want to see in me from the letters of the name I wish to be called as – SHIVA.

S – Saatvic – To attain the noblest of the three gunas
H – Himalayas – To live in the abode of Shiva, even when in a market place
I – Ishta – To and to be loved
V – Vairagya - To be able Discriminate, Detach and Renounce
A – AUM – To live in the Truth

Rules are rules!

Let me pass on this Tag to

Shirsha

30 comments:

Shirsha said...

Hmm, interesting tag!
and yes you're right, not too many of us indians have the concept of middle names, so most of us will end up interpreting this tag as we please! :)

Deepa said...

good to see you in action after a long time..Thats a pretty heavy explanation on the nomenclature of names.. very thought provoking.. simpe tag... but greatly done... congrats

Vishesh said...

lol shiva
for me there is even more confusion!

what you say is write,the name is the first tag given to a person...for me whatever happens i will be VISHESH UNNI...

Jeevan said...

Interesting to ready the different at each identification! My name is JeevanKumar, but I like to call me only Jeevan. I had two therapists as naming same as Ramesh, who exchange their time in doing exercise, but to identify we use their own place kodaikanal ramesh and Vellore ramesh.

Beautiful what u like for ur name :)

starry said...

So many takes on a name. you always have such an interesting way of doing your tags.loved it.

Princess said...

hi,

now only i saw this post.. sorry
will try to do the tag soon.

good one.

-Aiz

Kumar said...

Great to see you back...

//RFID Tags would be most appropriate to identify the uniqueness than the names//

lol Shiva

Dawn said...

WOW ! amazing! I think I did the best by tagging you :) thats my sincere feel!!!
Am glad this tag gives you that opportunity to call you by what name :)
and believe me I loved all of SHIVA :) its very rare piece that we have here ....my dear friend
Keep it up and thanks for participating in this tag-game
Cheers

mystic rose said...

I like that!!

M said...

sorry ! i just noticed this ! // will participate in 2 day s! . :) but then you have beautifully written / narrated .. hope i keep up 4 tagging me :D

Jeevan said...

where is my comment buddy?

Princess said...

I've done the tag in my other blog Dreamscapes

do check..
-Aiz.

Shiva said...

Shirsha,

Glad that the tag interested you

Shiva said...

Deepa,

Thanks for your words. The credit goes to you as you initiated it

Shiva said...

Vishesh,

Glad that VISHESH UNNI remains VISHESH UNNI whatsoever happens!!

Shiva said...

Thanks Jeevan,

Sorry that I have not been able to spend some quality time on the blog

Shiva said...

Starry,

Thanks for stopping, even though I have been off and on.

Glad that you liked it.

Shiva said...

Thanks Princess!

Shiva said...

Kumar,

Thanks!

Shiva said...

Dawn,

Thanks for tagging me, else this post wouldn't have been a possibility.

Thanks for your words too...

Shiva said...

Thanks Mystic

Shiva said...

Thanks Meenu. Now, I'll check you blog for the tag:)

Shiva said...

Jeevan,

I have posted it. Been off and on. Sorry abt it

Shiva said...

Princess,

Thanks for taking up the tag and posting such an optimistic post.

mystic rose said...

shiva,
thank you for the story - that was very sweet. :)

Kavi said...

Wish you a very happy Deepavali ! Hope things are well at your end !

the name dilema haunts us too! Esp when its a tamil name with one word..recently i got to see a CV with the name Kanithamizharasu sivakozhundu ! I thought " God bless him "

Kavi said...

Hi Shiva !

wishing you a great Deepavali season ! Great post ! Any tamilian with 'one word name + initial' will love it !

some days back i saw a CV with a name: kanithamizharasu Sivakozhundu ! God bless him !

Dawn said...

Hey its been longgggggggggggggggg
where r u?

M said...

i havent yet kept that tag ll do ! sorry !

Ragubala said...

Shiva, I totally see eveybody calling u Kodaikanal Siva, Now I remember! Good post, carry on-Chhers!