"What's in a name?
That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
By any other name would smell as sweet."
I’ve always wondered what
the big deal about this quote was. Sure, considering the tragedy that befell
Romeo because of his name Montague was central to Shakespeare’s drama but in
today’s world, does one’s name really matter?
As a matter of fact, yes.
I didn’t care about
people’s unpronounceable surnames or funny middle names when I was in school
but in college, someone’s ‘caste’ is suddenly a very big thing. It’s the first
thing one asks while befriending a person. If you’re a Punjabi, you’re supposed
to be this alcohol drinking, dancing person. If you’re a Baniya, you hate
spending money. If you’re a Jaat, you’re rowdy and somewhat indecent.
Why do we classify people
on the basis of their surnames?
I have all kinds of
friends in college. Yes, they include Baniya and Jaat and Punjabi and South
Indian and some more I hadn’t heard of before. But they are not always what
their surnames suggest they should be like.
We study in a national university;
we are from educated respected backgrounds, so how does it matter what a person
writes after their first name?
It’s not like we even get
to decide our first name, let alone our last name. We are what we become, not where
we’re born right? In a utopian society, yes. In the practical world, not so
much. We need to grow up and move beyond the boundaries of names and castes and
focus on abilities.
That said, I totally
second Kareena Kapoor’s character in 3 Idiots when she says “I won’t change my
name after marriage to Chhanchhar”, because really, who wants to be called Mrs.
Chhanchhar?
