How do you feel about names that are different?

Day 58

My dad’s first name is Jacob, my name is Lenji Jacob and my wife’s last name is Lenji. Every time I have shared this theory with my colleagues, their first reaction is they are confused and as soon as the story unfolds there are fascinated. Let me provide you a little background on this concept, I am a South Indian Christian from Kerala State. In the Christian culture of the state the spouse and the kids take the first name of the husband or the father. So strangely the ancestral tree chain will indicate the last names changing with every generation. This was the confusing part but the idea of the wife taking her husband’s first name as her last name is fascinating for many.

So here is my question: How do you feel about names that are different?

People have been able to pronounce my name quite easily and I feel it to be a blessing in disguise. Let me tell you a story about a Gentleman traveling from England to US after a conference. His name is Hemanth Subramaniam and is pronounced Hey-month Subra-man-yam. His name announced overhead to board the flight by the ticket agent as He-man the Superman. I find this story ironic because I always wondered what is thoughts going through the minds of his co-passengers. Do we really have comic superhero travelling with us?

There are more stories as such we encounter in real life. In reel-life Comedian Russell Peters in one of his acts talks about a gentleman he had encountered in a casino had click attached to his name. He explains his attempts to pronounce the name of the gentleman unaware of the possibility of a click sound to the name.

 What is one of the hardest decisions parents face when a new born baby is born? Naming the baby is one of the top contenders of the new parent dilemma. Many different cultures and religions have different celebrations attached to the ceremony of naming the baby.  The theory of names represents the focus to origin. 

“The Name is one of the most sacred possessions of your identity”

~Lenji Jacob

Reference

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxb_57LJ7XY