Names

In India, every name has a meaning. My name, Himanshu (हिमान्शु) means moon. हिम इव अन्शु यस्य सः (One whose rays are cool like ice) is the origin. This all basically stems from the fact that most of the names have a Sanskrit origin.

Where it becomes interesting is that very often, its not Sanskrit but the adapted version of the original word that gets bestowed on someone as his identity. Don't get me wrong, there is no problem with this. This is the way languages are born and grow, by adapting, borrowing from other languages, twisting pronunciations and so on. I am a great fan of the enrichment of languages in this way and am quite opposed to puritanism in languages. However, it leads to some interesting things, especially in names.

Most often, the name adaptation is influenced by the local languages. A good friend of mine is named Suprio. As he is a Bengali, its pronounced Shuprio, as Bengali's have a way of softening their words pronouncing "S" as "Sh". It took me a long time to remember that Bengalis also have a way of pronouncing "a" as "o" (अ as ओ) and so what was being pronounced as Shuprio originally stemmed from Supriya (सुप्रिय), meaning very loveable. [Note: Don't confuse this with Supriyaa (सुप्रिया), which is often written as Supriya in English, and is the feminine version of the word I am talkin about.]

Then there were these two friends of mine in my high school, names Pramendra (प्रमेन्द्र) and Parminder(परमिन्दर). If I were to tell you that their surnames were Pandey and Singh, and you have some basic understanding of north-Indian surnames, you can surely match the names to surnames. I am not sure whether both of them, in their years of studying Hindi together, realised that their names both stem from the same Paramendra (परमेन्द्र) and that both their names are adaptations or abberations (अपभ्रन्श), one being extra-sanskritised while the other the Punjabi version.

The trends in naming people have changed. My parents generation were all named after gods. Our generation has mostly these sanskritised meaningful names. The trend for the next generation seems to be short and sweet sounding names. All my friends' children have beautiful names like Ansh, Yash, Jiya, Parth, Rahul and so on. Nice sounding, easy to pronounce (both for Indians and Americans) and nice enough meanings. Friends, the names not mentioned here are simply a sign of my age, not of the beauty of those names. I must commend all of you in naming your children so beautifully.

Finally, an interesting coincidence in names. My wife, Madhu's (मधु) name means honey/ sweet. Apart from the fact that I like sweets a lot, note that our names put together - Madhu Himanshu - translate to honeymoon.

P.S. - My wife reminds me that moonhoney doesn't mean anything, and that is an indication she should always be the first.

Happy Holi

होली मुबारक
ये होली आपको जीवन में खुशियों के रंग भर दे
Or to speak in English, wish you all a very happy Holi. May the festival of colours fill your lives with colours of joy and bliss.