Whats in a name?

If i say the name Preeti, what kind of a person comes to your mind? And if say Joshi? Then?

Everytime you hear a name, you conjure up a person in your mind.. the way the person will be. In fact i remember one of my friends told me that she was getting married to some guy named **** and i was like...."not a person named *****!!" You are so dynamic! That person sounds like .. like.. so .. so not alive.. so not dynamic!!! And all this just basis the name!!! I didnt know anything about him, never even heard about him!!!!



The other day, i had gone for some meeting. And incidentally the client we were meeting was my namesake. We had never met her earlier. So as we waited in the reception, one girl came into the reception area - all of us looked up.. she was wearing the weirdest of clothes (weird coz i dont wear such clothes to work), had full make up on, long hair, broad built etc.. completely unlike me.. and i was like.. no, not this one.. cant be!!! Then she left and i caught my colleague's eye and both of us smiled. (nah... this one cannot be a *****) . and we were like.. life is still good.... Then we met my namesake.. she was not like me.. definitely.. but i was relieved that it was her and not the other one.. not relieved but.. ummm what should i say...


Whats weird is, all these thoughts were processed in a moment.... till then i had never thought how a person named ***** should look like , be like or talk like.. i mean i never had come across a person by that name.


For eg, if Amitabh Bachchan went by the name Rajesh Kumar or something? Completely takes the zing out , doesnt it? (Apologies to any Rajesh Kumars reading).


So what do parents think when they name their children ... that the child will imbibe some qualities from the name.. perhaps?? Or the name should have dum???


Then there are some name - surname combinations that are just meant to be.. together... I love it that my surname is my dad's name.. wouldnt have it any other way....


Names are our identity.. all our life.. 60 -70-80-90 yrs of life someone/ everyone calls you by that name.. in the shops, on the cards, at work, at home, in the gullies, at airports, at stations, at meetings, in the universe.... everywhere... so perhaps, we do absorb some qualities of our names... we melt into our names...maybe... do we accept the name.. or does the name accept us and shape us, mould us to make us compatible with the name.

BTW can you think of someone else by my name???????? I think i would feel cheated :) AM very possessive about my name!!! Cant have some aira gaira person with name!!! :)