Friday, January 20, 2012

What's in a name: A rant.

My name is Indira. That's I-N-D-I-R-A. Not Anndira. Not Indoora. Not Andrea. Not Indiana. No, I didn't pick it (hello, did you pick your name?!). Yes, I've heard the "endearing/Indiring" pun before. My parents and sister call me I (just the letter). My extended family calls me Ra (as a result of name difficulty among my cousins when we were small). My friends call me Indira. Even the ones who have known me since we were four years old...well, she sometimes calls me Indy500. Fair enough.
Yes, I know who Indira Gandhi is. No, she's not the one with the hunger fast. No, she also wasn't his daughter either. Nope, no relation. Just like how Jack Black isn't Rebecca's dad. YES I AM SURE. Don't you think after 21 years on God's green Earth, hearing these comparisons all the flipping time, I'd have figured that out?
My name is what it is. I guess it suits me fine. Certainly not my first choice, and while I'd like to give my kids somewhat unique names (actually, I'll probably stick with names from family members), I don't think I'll saddle them with anything quite like this. Oy vey.

1 comment:

  1. Aww. People are annoying sometimes. The Lawyer has a name that is now used as both a girl's and boy's name. In the 80's (when we grew up), it was mainly a guy's name. Now, it's mainly a girl's name. Anyway, when he was interviewing applicants for his company's firm last month, some college girl was like, "Oh, I'm waiting for [insert his name]" when he called her name. He just let it slide and said, "Yep, that's me. You can follow me now." But, she kept insisting that she was waiting on a girl, and he was all, "I AM NOT A GIRL and I AM THE LAWYER WHO IS INTERVIEWING YOU. Now follow me, please!" Guess who probably didn't get hired? :)

    ReplyDelete