The game of the name is still the same
By I. M. Soni

GOOD name is what you really are, reputation is what others think of you. William Cowper is right when he says that if you have a bad name (even if you have a good reputation), you are already half hanged.

A string of alphabets arranged in an order that spells our name casts a magic spell on us. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Molly, the foolish white mare spells out her name in flowers and prances around it in ecstasy. Her name casts a magic spell on her feeble sensibilities.

According to a recent news item a Sikh gentleman settled in London, paid 1,08,000 pounds to have a personalised number plate on his car. The registration number spells out the name "Singh."

The letter S denotes the year of manufacture (the current year). The figure 1 can look like the letter I. And the letter NGH represent the district of registration.

Most of us, given the wealth, will go to the same length or more because a name is a personal insignia. Not having your name on the number plate is itself a mark of identity. The queen of England, example, carries only a crest — not her name. The rajas (rulers) of yore in India did not flaunt their names on number plates. They knew of other means of inflating their already swollen ego.

Cast a look around and see the mortal’s feeble, but ego-inflating attempts to perpetuate his name. Even the humble auto wallas join the race. Most carry Guddu di gadi, Pummy aur Rummy the gadi. The truckwallas, however, carry inscriptions like Buri nazar wale tera muh kala but conceal their identity.

Over zealous borrowers of books from libraries affix their signature along with the author’s name. I suspect, they equate themselves with the author.

Flamboyant members of the fourth Estate carry "Press" conspicuously displayed. Even those from television do this. Soon, however, it may be converted to media. Name takes us on an ego trip. We think we are leaving "prints on the sands of time" by writing our names on walls, cars, scooters, gowns, handkerchiefs, sky (uncommon in India) even sand.

There are some who autograph books borrowed from library or friends. I have stopped lending books and magazines to these "gentlemen" with itching fingers. Once, the books and magazines return to me (if at all they do), they give me the feeling that I am reading a borrowed or a stolen book.

The name is the most important thing to a mortal because that is the only thing he leaves behind. There is hardly anyone who does not want to see it in print. Many writers to the editor’s mail belong to this category. See the angry reaction of the one who speaks at a function but does not find his name in the news report the following day in the newspaper.

I can also quote examples of greenhorns who buy several copies of the newspaper and distribute clippings to friends and relatives who could not care less.

The name being a precious possession, a person reacts angrily if someone spells it wrongly. Banks are equally touchy. I was once returned a cheque because ‘i’ in Soni did not carry a dot at the bottom. Newspapers too are sticklers. Spell Jawahar Lal (Nehru) as two words, and the ever-vigilant presiding deity of the desk makes it one word.

We put ourselves on a pedestal of immortality, by getting our arms tattooed, writing names of writing pads, doodling on benches and desks, names on finger rings, belt buckles and scarfs.

Leaders are name maniacs. Look at the way they swagger if a university, a college, a park, even a shoestore is named after them. It is a different matter that the leader may have never seen the inside of the classroom. But it is flattering because there is the invisible magic of one’s name.

Our women asserting their gender-equality now do not drop their surname (identity) and instead add the surname of the husband at the end of their names I would love to know their reaction — if they do not want to skirt the issue!

A study conducted by the Psychiatrist Institute of Chicago has revealed that if a person has three names and signs all in his signature, he is concealing his inferiority complex. One who signs only his first and third name is out spoken, honest and individualistic. The study is silent on those who drop their first name. Like Raj Kapoor. His first name was Ranbir.