Name Calling : One man – Many Names

            A Rose by any name……………..

Does not smell as sweet.

Obviously Shakespeare was not smelling the coffee when he famously asked what’s in a name?  Or was he?

Consider this :

                                                  The world addresses me as Mr. Bidkar.

But since my grandfather was still alive when I was born my grandmother couldn’t address me as such so she named me Vasant since I was born on the first day of Spring. In the family and the neighbourhood where I grew up, I am known as Vasant Bidkar.

I am my mother’s darling first born child, her golden one, so she calls me Sonu. My younger siblings call me Sonu Dada and their family call me Sonu Kaka or Sonu Mama.

My mother’s mother calls me Sonya as does my mother’s father, brother and sisters and the entire Gore clan that my mother hails from.

My school friends call me Vasu.

My college friends call me Stinker ( logic being Vasu = Smelly = Stinker) or Stinkey.

My colleagues at work call me Vasant Seth or Sethji since I am working in the family firm.

My younger colleagues call me Vasant Sir ( This uniquely Indian way of addressing senior colleagues at the workplace these days)

My wife calls me Poochie ( Oh you’re my Stinky Poo she called me one day , feeling particularly stricken by passion and was since then was inspired to call me her cutie little Poochie)

My in-laws call me Vasant Rao.( By this time no one even knew I had a name like Ghanshyam)

My children call me Baba.

My children’s in-laws call me Baba Saheb

My grandchildren call me Mottha Baba. ( They call their own children Baba)

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Incidentally no one has ever called my father Pandurang .( He was also named after his grandfather and was addressed all his life as Ramesh).

Everyone knew my grandfather as Appasaheb. ( By the time I really got to know him all those who had known him by any other name were either dead or dying)

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But my name is still

Ghanshyam Pandurang Bidkar

And occasionally my mother calls me Dingly, Kookie or Bandya

The guys on the Squash court call me Lalloo

My grand daughter from America calls me Baba Ganoush ( who was so excited that I had a name like Ghanshyam and decided to shorten it to Ghanou or Ganoush)

And my name is still

Ghanshyam Pandurang Bidkar.