Monday, November 21, 2005

Name

I am upset. Malar was like a star today. When she comes to our class, everyone wants to be friends with her. I am a kind of loser with this name, no any other person has. Whenever Shanthi is referred, they always ask me, which Shanthi? Then I tell them which Shanthi she is. There are two Shanthis in my class. But, there is only one Rajalakshmi in my class, but still people ask me which Rajalakshmi? Then I tell them her father's name. Some people still don't get it. Then I tell them her mother's name. For some other girls, their brother's or sister's name works well too. But, in my case, they ask me who I am, when I tell my name, they know. Because, there is no other Premalatha in my whole class, in my whole school, also in my whole street, also in my whole relative houses and in my friends houses. I was surprised when Shanthi named her younger sister (just born you know) Premalatha. There was another surprise to me that she gets to name her sister. I don't understand why would she want to name her sister with my name? She said she liked it. I don't like it! I am going to ask mother why did she name me like this. "Well, we did ask your suggestion, but this is what you liked too". Mother is laughing. Why are you laughing? Is it a funny name? If it is a funny name that makes you laugh, you could have told me and changed my name! "I don't believe you. If at all you had asked me I only would have suggested the name Malar". "Malar"? "Yes, you know, Paappathy Teacher's daughter Malar, that Malar". "Oh, right". "Next time, if we can change your name, we will definitely ask you for suggestion". "Do people change name?" "No, not generally". "Then why did you say that we will change name and you will consider my suggestion?", "Well, because you don't like your name, we should do something about it, like changing name". "Is it possible? how will they all know it is me still?" "We will tell them". "how"?, "Well, think about a new name for yourself for the time being, we will figure out how should we tell everyone about it. OK"?


Thenmoli is a good girl too, except that, her mother is not as popular teacher as Paapathy teacher. I don't like to be in Then's mother's class. Also, when Then comes, no one really cares about her. And there is Lakshmi teacher's daughter. She is in my class, so she is always there, so no one really treats her any different from me, and above all, her name is Latha!! I don't want that name. Shanthi is cool. You know, just father's name wouldn't be sufficient to make you completely differently identifiable from any other Shanthi. Wait, if I am Shanthi, then it goes like, that military man's daughter Shanthi.. Oh crumps! They will know it is me. Nobody is going to ask another question. Even if they tell Ponniah's grand-daughter, no another question either. There is also this, "Muthulakshmi teacher's sister's daughter" I am known by...


PS: I was told that I was named "Angayarkanni" originally, which my father thought that it was too old fashioned and then they changed it to Premalatha. I always remember that name, as it was the name I could have been known by..


must read: En peru padum padu (I will translate for non-tamils, later).

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

ha ha , i always liked latha -- and i am not lying -- u know that.
And I also liked the way they called you -- lathaponnu :-)
And I think I know only one another premalatha. Its a sanskrit name meaning the "the creeper/vine of love". liked the post very much - hilarious :-)).

Premalatha said...

Hi,

Yes, they call me lathapponnu, lathappillai, lathamma.. :) but, it is with that soft th/dh. if someone calls me lathththhtha, I really hate that.
:)

I have found out the meaning of "Premalatha". in my +2 classes, there were three premalathas.

I thought no one will be able to relate to this one. but, just wait for my next comment.

Premalatha said...

http://tatooines.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_tatooines_archive.html

Anonymous said...

yes i like lathapillai too :-). and i like it wiht soft th only. i didnt know the meaning till now -- i digged it myself instead of asking and waiting for ur reply :-). anyways, me have never complained about my name somehow. maybe i should now add it to my list :-)). nalla ideas laam kudikkareenga.

Premalatha said...

ayayayooo. Unga ammavum enna kolla thiriyira list-la addition-aa?

lol.

Premalatha said...

hey sudha, read this blog, http://tatooines.blogspot.com she has a real talent!!

Anonymous said...

:-))
yes me reading her posts now -- simply tooo good.'thanks for the link.

Premalatha said...

I have been reading it too. looks like I should not miss any of her posts. very nice. I will have to come back.

enjoy tatoonis:)

Michelle said...

Oh i relate to this one. I hated my name. I wanted to be Rita.. until I found out my teacher's dog was called Rita. I was named Michelle because my mother's doctor was named Michael. But in my class there were FIVE Michelles! That was because the Beetles brought out their song called "Michelle" and everyone was naming their daughters Michelle. YUCK. :P

Now I've grown to like the name, but some days I'd still like to be a Rita. :)

Premalatha said...

Hi Michelle,

I like the name "michelle". :)

Yeeehh, I got more support in "we hate our names!!" club

I like Rita too. It hassounds indian. (there are indian Ritas).

Premalatha said...

I was named Premalatha by my dad (unofficially),

you are joking!!!

what is it with these dads and Premalathas..

btw, I thought you are a north indian because you use laTa, not laTHa. (also for chithi, "chitti":))

I guess my knowledge-based-guessings do not work anymore!!!

well, yes, it is good that you are not Kalyanam. :)

I know we southies take latha from premalatha, don't we. but everyoneelse, (northies, westerners, etc.) pick that "prema" thing. many call "prem" with short e. it is so not nice.. it sounds "pram".. argh!! but I have made everyone call me Priema, you know gives a "superior/supreme" feeling. someone even commented that my name should mean "supreme" kind of something. I just noded. lol.



Welcome to the club Lata.

Unknown said...

Latha is a nice name, short and sweet. I like angayarkanni too. Apparently the shortlist for me was either Uma or Bharathi, like yourself I always remember the name I could have been known by.

Premalatha said...

Bharathi is nice too. one of my relative-girl, from Madurai (big-town-girl) was Bharathi. She used to be a star too, whenever she came to kombai.

:)

Premalatha said...

Hi Lata,

I used to work in Dehradun. They always wrote my name Premlata. I used to really fight with them that spelling in a name is very very important. I know why you write Lata.

:)

Anonymous said...

latha witha a soft th...
will remember when I call you next time. I like Latha n My sisters name is also Latha but with a strong th :P
Premalatha is quite cool name.

(enga perlam yosichu parunga haha)
hmmm I didn't quite like my offical name untill my teen age and always used my nickname (do you know my nick name is Ramesh)

But I always admire my grandpaa and when I realised that mine is the same as that of him I started using my official name and starting like that. Now I take full pride about my official name and seldom use Ramesh (only my family and frnds who know that call me like that).

My mom was so happy when she learnt I am addressed as "Renga" the same way my grandfather was known.

Premalatha said...

Hi Renga,

Renga is a nice and a very popular name. :)

Premalatha said...


Hi Latha,
Hope I didn't address your name with a wrong spelling/pronounciation in any of my previous comments!...Just a quick question...How would you want to be addressed/called by a newcomer like me? Latha or Prema ...I wouldn't want to assume ... :)


Hi, I am not sensitive about that. Prema or Latha is fine. (prema is better, as it would avoid confusion). (not lata please, for two reasosn, I do hate that spelling for me. secondly we can differentiate us by that one "h" :))

Premalatha said...

Hi Lata,

Do not worry about how you called me before or how you have to call me now. anything is fine. :)

The ramblings of a shoe fiend said...

hello! you have such an interesting (in a good way) style of writing. I had a teacher called Angyarkanni in college btw :)

Premalatha said...

Hi shoefi,

Thanks.:)

Meaning of that name is very lovely too.

am - beauty
kayal + kanni = fish shaped eyed girl.

Thanks for dropping by:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Latha,

The meaning of Angayarkanni reminds me of another name which has a similar meaning ... Kayalvizhi. I only knew the meaning of vizhi...until now :)
All these cool meanings make tamizh sooo beautiful!

Premalatha said...

You didn't know kayal means fish? It was the flag for Pandiyans.

(kaayal means different, backwater or lagoon.)

Kayalvizhi also means same. but, angayarkanni is little more added beauty (am:)) in that.:)

I think it is time I bragged little more (looking for any excuse actually),

http://www.hallofmaat.com/read.php?4,347465,348169#msg-348169


I know, it is over (oooooooover) the top. but, somebodyelse DID say this about me!! I didnot make it up.

Yeahhhhhhh!!!!

Anonymous said...

I know Colloquial Tamil only...not the formal or the written version...but I keep improving. I still get confused between the 'ils', both the 'r' and the 'ins' when I try to write in tamil (I did self study of tamil just for the sake of writing letters to my thatha while growing up).
I agree with you totally! Angayarkanni does carry a certain amount of devine beauty with it! I saw it in your eyes !! :D I also got lost in all those other postings written by you....I need more time to finish up with those now... will get back to you later latha...I got enough fodder for the day :)

Premalatha said...

Thanks for dropping by Kalai. If you could do the full-english version of it, it would be great. Michelle is nonTamil and she is the other contributor of this site and a friend of mine. I am sure she is dieing to know what this is "en peru padum paadu" and why I think it is hilarious and a must read....
thanks.

Michelle said...

Hi Kalai.
yes, prema is right. The curiousity is getting to me! please let me know if you do a translation into English. :)

Premalatha said...

D.raj,

it was just a teasing.:)

Dubukku said...

yekkov...adhan 33 comments ayiruchula...adutha posta podunga...
(illa 50kaga wait pannareengala?) :P

Anonymous said...

Hi Prema,
Many years have passed since your last comment, so I don't know if you'll even see this, but as much as I love my name now, I hated it as a child. I wanted a very feminine flowery name...I would have chose Heather. It wasn't until I researched the meaning of the names that I had a better appreciation for my birth name.
The name Heather in the English language means "an evergreen flowering plant that thrives on peaty barren lands, as in Scotland".
In Hebrew the meaning of the name Ruth is: Companion; friend; vision of beauty.
So although the heather plant is beautiful after it blooms, the meaning of Ruth are attributes that people cherish and value throughout their lives.
I will stick with Ruth.:)
Sincerely, Ruth McElhenny-Rainone (if you read this,find me on FaceBook)