Self Pity : Part II

Ok. A bit more self-pity. And this time, too, it is my name.

No, this time it isn't my name, technically. It is my surname, or family-name, or what is sometimes, mistakenly called, "title".

If my name is short, a surname cannot get any smaller. Really. How many one letter surnames have you heard of ? I haven't. (If you have, please leave a comment.) Is it too difficut to envisage a two-letter surname ? God, it is !!

So much so, that PVRCinemas.com do not even allow new registrations with surnames less than three-letters !!?? Ergo, I had to add an extra letter to register !! I felt like I was losing my identity, literally :(

Compared to the promiscuity dissembled after my arrival in that part of India where even Bond suffered a heart-attack (or was it a failure ? ), it (the PVR Cinemas issue) is like - George Bush compared to Osama bin Laden.

My little two-letter name suffered, what I call, a cultural-massacre. And an unsuccessful one at that. So "De" becomes "D E" (the space in between is of utmost importance - interchangble with a period, sometimes). It is isn't mine. It cannot be mine. After all, I did not choose my name !!

In college I was often addressed as "Suman D E" (pronounced "Sue-maan Dee E") !! Gawd !! Identity crisis. That's what it is. I did not complain. I thought it will be over after I left college. How wrong was I !!!

So my official identity at my office is, not "Suman De" but, "DE, Suman". It doesn't seem to bad at first. But when the Rohit Kapoor's are known as "Kapoor, Rohit" and the Subramanyam Swami's are known as "Subhramanyam, S", you get the drift, don't you?

If you still have any doubts, this should clear it all.

Adieu. I promise, no, I hope, I do not chance any reason to write a Part III. Till then I'll try to exorcise the ghosts of my identity-crisis.