What's in a name?

 “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”- Shakespeare

Juliet here is expressing that Romeo’s name (Montague) is irrelevant and she loves him for who he is, not the name he bears.

So a name is a mere label and doesn’t define the essence of a person or a thing.

Or is it? Why is there so much fuss about what you call anyone or anything?

The humble “biskuts” that we dip in our chai and relish every evening becomes the sassy “cookies“ coming in fancy wrappers and exotic flavors. And while we take the rickety ‘‘lift’ to our modest ‘flat’’ the Yankees take the suave ‘‘elevator’’ to their swanky ‘‘apartment’’. We lie down on the ‘’sofa” bingeing on bhujia while watching our favorite “serial”, they laze on the “couch” munching fries while watching their daily “soaps”. We throw our “rubbish” in the “dustbins” and they put out the “garbage” in the “trash cans”.   

I remember being corrected when I said “vomiting” to “you mean puking!” We have evolved from “latrine” to “toilet” to “restroom” to “washroom”. Why is it that latrine sounds gross while washroom sounds sophisticated?

We automatically assume that a person who is fluent in American English is superior to those speaking in a desi lingo. The Brits have handed down our vocabulary which we have subconsciously imbibed over the years. But India has also given many words to the Oxford dictionary derived from Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Persian. Like bungalow coming from “bangla”(house), shampoo from “champo”( to soothe), chit from “chitthi”( letter/note), bandana from “bandhana”(to tie ).

That’s the beauty of language - it allows different cultures to seamlessly merge into one another.      

Names become important in science where definitions are precise and cannot be tampered with. We are taught to say “ASTHMA” and not beat around the bush with Hyperreactive airway disease, Wheezy bronchitis, Allergic bronchitis etc to emphasize the correct diagnosis. So names have power and using the right word can make an impact.

I have heard many renditions of my name from “Unjallee” to “Unjalleeka” to “Onjulika” (the Bong version not be confused with the terrifying “Monjulika”) to  “Angie” to “Engel-i-ka”. Not complaining as all these names are still more contemporary than my birth name “Pinky Mogra”.

So “That which we call Angelica by any other name would be just as angelic”…

                                                                                                    - Dr Angelica         

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