What’s in a name?

I have never really appreciated my name. My sister and I, and in fact, almost all of my cousins were named by my grandmother. When we were born, my grandmother would consult with the temple priest on our dates and times of birth, and after studying the positions of the stars and planets, the priest would then provide the tone in which our names should sound. For example, my tones were “Du”, “Da”, or “De”. And so, I was given the name Devi Shakunthala. However, my mother did not like ‘Devi’ to be pronounced first, and so she switched my second name to the front, making it Shakunthala Devi. My spelling differs slightly from the usual as I have the ‘H’ in my ‘thala’ and I don’t know if there is a significance or not.

My sister’s tones were “Vu”, “Va”, or “Vay”; and she was named Vayshnavee, much to my mother’s chagrin, because pronouncing it was and still is a mouthful. For the first days of my sister’s life, I think she was called dictionary. And till today, I sometimes call her that just to irritate her. J

Shakunthala Devi and Vayshnavee are long names and so our names were shortened to Shakun and Vayshna respectively. Just so that people could call our names without fumbling. Of course, we did and still do have our fair share of nicknames/pet names – like Kun for close family members on my mum’s side, while some on my dad’s side call me Girl. I’ve also been called “Jakun” which is not flattering at all. Jakuns are aboriginal people of the southern part of the Malay peninsula, and in no way am I disrespectful to them. It’s just that when people call me “Jakun”, it’s more of a teasing (insult?) to mean that I am backward, from the jungle etc.

Anyway, I’ve always wondered what the meaning of my name was as people constantly asked. When I asked my grandmother, she once told me that I was named after one of God’s favourite dancers. That left me perplexed, and I never asked her again. I did know however that there was an Indian lady who shared the same name as me: Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian writer and mental calculator, popularly known as the "human computer". A child prodigy, her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records. And people just assumed that I was named after her.

I also knew that Shakuntala was the main character in Kalidasa’s plays. The name Shakuntaladevi generally means Wife of Dushyant or Brought up by birds, and is of Sanskrit, Indian origin. Meaning of Shakuntala: Derived from Sanskrit (shakunta) meaning “bird”. This is the name of the main character in the 5th-century play ‘Abhijnanashakuntalam’ by Kalidasa. It tells how Shakuntala, who was raised in the forest by birds, meets and marries the king Dushyanta. After a curse is laid upon them Dushyanta loses his memory and they are separated, but eventually the curse is broken after Shakuntala shows the king the ring he gave her.

My sister’s name, though harder to pronounce, has a more straightforward meaning. Vaishnavi (Vaishnodevi) is also a Matrika goddess, considered as the shakti of Vishnu/worshipper of Vishnu. Vaishnavi (or Vyshnavi) is also a given name, in the Hindu tradition of naming children after spiritual personalities.

I have for so long under appreciated the unique-ness (though I don’t know why people say it’s unique because I know at least two other people with the same name) and traditional value of my name. But I have now come to embrace it. I had once thought of giving myself an English name – Natasha; I have even asked my mother why she never included her surname as part of my name. Yes I know, how childish. But thank God, I have grown up enough to appreciate the beautiful gift that was given to me. Not forgetting the countless times where people from all walks of life have commented on my (and my sister’s) “beautiful, exotic, and completely traditional” name. (You can call me vain now). 

I guess our names do not really reflect how we look physically. My sister doesn’t look Indian at all and so, when she introduces herself, people are often surprised that not only is she Indian, but she has a unique, traditional (and tough to pronounce) name. I look Indian (hands down) but people still don’t expect me to have a name such as Shakunthala Devi. I guess it’s a really traditional name that in this day and age, is losing ground to names such as Sneha or Shreya.

From now on, I am going to proudly embrace and appreciate the gift that was given to me so lovingly all those years ago…