What's in a name??

As far and as long as i can remember i have always taken my own decisions, good or bad, fortunate or drastic, whatever may have been the consequence, have always stuck by them...to the extent that i have been termed 'obstinate', 'in-flexible', 'stupid' and the works...but have i ever cared!!?!

But one decision about myself..and an important one too...was not taken by me..'coz then i had just about arrived in this world and had no experience with 'decision-making' till then..in all his good intention and out of the in depth knowledge of the Sanskrit scriptures, my grandfather, before anyone could even think of anything..named me 'Ipshita' (the root of the word being the Sanskrit word 'ipshit' which means 'the desired one')..and voila what a decision that was...a decision of a lifetime!!!

Then came the natural progression of going to school..making friends..interacting with teachers and so on..and as days passed by..i found that i had kind of started hating answering one particular question -- 'what is your name?' 'coz everytime i would say 'My name is Ipshita'..the standard replies would be 'what?', 'sorry can u please repeat?', 'can u please spell it?!!!', 'oh deepshikha (that was the craziest i reckoned)??!!'...NOT a single person could ever understand my name at the first go!!! After 2-3 attempts (rather struggles), i accomplished the 'name' mission..before i could even take a sigh of relief...another one hit me..'oh that's a different/nice/never-heard-of name..what does it mean?' fortunately for me, my dadu (grandfather) was also my tutor at home..and obviously by then he had made me memorise what my name meant...so there i rattled to anyone and everyone...'my name means.......' by this time i was quite tired and sick of my own name (believe u me..i was!)...as time went by i thought how lucky all my friends were...'Anu', 'Pooja', 'Neha', 'Rati', 'Parul'...and so on...noone ever gave them 'that confused look'...why on earth did i have such a complicated name!!?! (It was only later that i realised that my predicament was one of the perils of growing up in Delhi - North India...away from the 'Bong' land...'coz in Kolkata..noone seemed to have any issues with my name!!) So there...i was the only 'Ipshita' in my entire school..and by the time i passed out...everyone (hopefully!) knew how to pronounce 'it'...and as i had added one more name in their dictionary of names...they added multiple to mine...so now i was 'Ipshy', 'Isha', 'Sheeta', 'Ips'...and probably many more!!

Then came college...again another round of introductions (ragging i meant!)..and once again my name became the topic of contention...by now i was grown up and took it all by my stride...i spelt it even before anyone could give me that 'confused look'...in one of my ragging sessions i was asked to explain 'why i was the desired one?' ... well that's another story...will delve into it sometime later...my micro-economics professor was so impressed by my name..he spent almost half the session delving into the beauty and gravity of the sanskrit language...i must confess by now...the feeling of repulsion towards my name was gradually turning into a kind of 'pride'...for the first time ever i felt being a bit different/out of the ordinary was good...so once again i was the only Ipshita in my entire college...had reconciled myself to the fact that my name was probably unique..that was a good feeling...TILL....

I reached MICA!! What a shocker!! In a batch of 58, i had two namesakes!! My name was no longer UNIQUE!!! I felt devastated (hahaha!!)...as one can imagine very well...three Ipshitas in one batch certainly became a topic of discussion for others...for the three individuals who held that name..it became a matter of confusion..total chaos...phone calls getting answered by the wrong Ipshita...all three getting up and running off whenever that 'name' was announced...oh what a mess!! then thanks to the kind soul (or souls?)..(i still do not know who)...for bringing some order to the ongoing chaos...the three Ipshitas were given nick-names...so there from that day on..from Ipshita i became 'IC'...my other two namesakes became..'De' and 'Ghosh'....and 'Ipshita' got lost somewhere....and till this day...i am known as IC to many...

I can't even begin to explain my predicament with my name once i reached Aussie land...just imagine...!! Those who turned 'Kolkata' to 'Calcutta', 'Bengaluru' to 'Bangalore', 'Mukhopadhaya' to 'Mukherjee' and 'Gangopadhaya' to 'Ganguly'....could i ever think they would spare me!!??!! So my adventures (rather mis-adventures) with my name continue...in the last one year..numerous permutations and combinations have been added to my name-dictionary...impossible to even jot down with the written word....

Well...thanks to you Dadu...for if it were not for u..i would have probably missed out on all these numerous interesting experiences/anecdotes!! and would have probably never wondered 'What's in a name?'!!