It's All In The Name

It's All In The Name

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It may have worked for Ramya Krishnan in Padayappa, Sivakarthikeyan in Ethir Neechal, Deepika Padukone in Chennai Express and Ranbir Kapoor in Rocket Singh, but can you really imagine being a Neelambari or a Kunjidhapadam or a Meenalochani Azhagusundaram or a Rocket Singh, respectively, in real life? The thought in itself is suicidal. Countless taunts starting in kindergarten (Loosy Lucy), endless mispronouncements (Easter - Esther), genuine (albeit juvenile) confusions (“Is your name really Smily?”) and mindless spelling mistakes (Rustle Gorge - Russell George) flash before your eyes. Your crush knows you for the wrong reasons. Your boarding pass ALWAYS is in your dad’s name. Oh, and don’t get me started on nick names. My point being, it’s all in the name.

When I decided to start a blog to ramble about myself and a variety of other things, which to a normal, sane person would be precious time wasted, the biggest challenge was to decide a name. I took days to decide one, during which process I realized how nerve-racking it would be to name a child. Jhumpa Lahiri mentions in Namesake through the infamous character, Gogol that every child should be allowed to change his or her name once they attain majority. I.e. if they detest their name. This idea seemed to make more sense to me now. Eventually in the book, Gogol changes his name to Nikhil Gogol Ganguli. I mean, why would you make an already complicated name longer in a foreign country? I would have gone with Nick-G. Like Jay-Z. Get it? Get it?! You didn’t see that coming did you? Never mind.

Yes, I get side-tracked. A lot. I ramble, remember? So where were we? Ah yes. The name dilemma. I needed a perfect name for my blog. A name that defines me, a name that speaks for itself and a name that is creative. After 6 days and countless hours spent on the internet reading up articles on Blog Names (yes I have had way too much free time), I finally appreciated one thing. There is no perfect name.

Once I grasped that, it took me two minutes to come up with Baked Bananas. Many people have asked me the same question you too probably had when you unfortunately came across this blog. Why did I come up with that name? To be honest, I have no idea.

Everything in my life has made perfect sense so far (apart from the very debatable question of the reason for my birth of course). Everything was planned and everyone was happy that everything was planned. Naturally, it begins to get monotonous. It’s like how in the F.R.I.E.N.D.S episode, The One With The Videotape, Ross mentions that he is appreciating the smaller things in life, such as the sound of a bird and the color of the sky because of a rough spell, and Joey exasperatedly exclaims, “The sky’s blue Ross and I had sex yesterday.” Sometimes it’s simple - Don’t over think, just have sex. 

No, not exactly that. What I am trying to say is that this was an opportunity for me to do something that needed no logic, rationale or brilliance. And the result is the name of a rarely heard of delicacy that sounds quite unappealing. No one said I was creative. But I did manage to get you to waste five minutes on this article, so even if it’s not a win-win situation, it is an accomplishment as far as I am concerned.

So the next time you are faced with naming a blog or your own child, remember me and remember reading this article. You will be grateful. Or not. Anyway. Just remember - It’s all in the name.