Well Mr. Shakespeare,
not sure if you were making a statement or posing a question. Regardless, this
sentence can be the punch line of my
immigrant life. For, I am the one whose first name, according to the Western society,
belongs to the other gender.
That’s right. My name is Viki. Not Vicky or Vikki or Wiki.
The story begins in the last
quarter of the past century (specific
dates shall remain anonymous!!). The long wait of the human race (especially
my parents) to have a super-splendid soul on planet earth had ended with my
birth!! Indra devta (God of Heaven) greeted
me with a thunderous lightning. The wind began to pick up as if Pawan devta (God of Wind) was embracing
me in his arms. During that same time the Richter scale showed minor tremors
near my birthplace. That was Dharti mata
(God of Earth), expressing her joy by dancing. Suraj devta (God of Fire) was around the corner as well (it was
dawn).
Apologies, I got a little carried
away. My hidden talent of screen writing took over my thoughts!! Ok so coming
back to the main story. Following the tradition, my aunt was supposed to name
me and she did, but that name never made it to the official documents. Just
like the other famous nick names (pet name), ‘Lalu’, ‘Pappu’, ‘Pintu’, ‘Munna’, ‘Viki’ became my nick name. One
thing led to the other and it so happened that my nick name became my first
name and the rest as they say is history.
Boy was I happy with my name.
Short, Simple & if I may…Sweet!!
‘Viki’ was a popular nick name
but not a common first name. Question
mark started to follow ‘Viki’. Whenever I gave my name, a follow up question
was always asked, Is it your first name? So, I got use to confirming my name at each and every social gathering and official venues.
So much for having a ‘simple’ name.
And then my world turned upside
down, when I immigrated to the United States. ‘Viki’, apparently is associated
with the feminine gender. I didn’t know this fact during my FoB (Fresh on Board) days. So was surprised
when my classmates and professors started to confirm my name. The feeling of déjà vu was overwhelming. Then the
reality struck, since ‘Viki’ is normally associated with a female, they were
just being polite and making sure, if my name was pronounced correctly.
This naming confusion has led me
to some very funny and awkward situations. In one of my internship interview, which
was scheduled without a phone call, I had to literally confirm my name three
times with the interviewer (I guess he must have felt bad because he did gave
me that internship). Receiving junk mails (and emails) as Ms. Viki has become
very common now. When I go to my daughter’s school with my wife, some teachers
and parents just assume that my wife’s name is ‘Viki’!! Occasionally I get
tired correcting the silly case of mistaken identity, so I just go along.
Needless to say, I will
definitely never change my name or adopt a nick name. It will be hilarious,
adopting a nick name for a name that is derived from a nick nameJ.
So this is the story of me…VIKI
Before I end, I just want to say
to the guys named - Piyush, Atit, Ramit, Viral,
Deep Sheth, Shital & countless others who also face this predicament,
although at a much awkward level. I know what you are going through.
Be Brave…Be Contrarian…after all
What’s in a Name?
