I shocked myself yesterday.
At the children’s soft-play venue:
She: Hi! What’s your son’s name?
Me: Its ‘Rishi’
She: Oh, I know the name. Are you Indian?
Me: Yes (pleased)
She (to her son, the birthday boy): Give Rasheed a slice of cake
Me: (horrified) Its not Rasheed. Its Rishi.
She: Yeah, I got it. Rasheed, would you like some cake?
Me: Its R-I-S-H-I
She: Still gives a piece of cake.
Me: Rishi, say ‘Thank you’.
And then we part ways. I am still flustered about my son being called ‘Rasheed’. For all my thoughts of being tolerant and broad-minded, I still hated being thought of as a Muslim.
And realised that as long as we have this divide ingrained in us, ‘world peace’ can remain only a fancy term and nothing more.
Writer-z-block 
18 replies on “Shock”
Well, I don’t see as a Hindu Muslim thing. I would be annoyed if someone ignored when I corrected a name and kept repeating their version!! Actually I have seen quite a few in my life time. My son’s name is Vishakh, the Vi, pronounced just as in ‘Vi’vek, but even when corrected they pronounce it as ‘Vai’ as in Vaibhav. WTH!!! As if if they call him that long enough it would automatically become his name!! Lol.
I kind of feel a little differently here…maybe ‘coz some of our best buddies are Muslims…that goes for both D and me 🙂
Well, it need not be viewd that way.. anybody gets annoyed if our name is spelt or pronounced wrongly
Need not worry abt it! quite normal.
A rose is a rose is a rose, It would smell sweet, call it whatever!!!!
Thanks, Shail, Ganga and Barath. I have enjoyed the best of college times with my friends (of all religions) and it was never a problem. Or maybe, I just didn’t want to be confused with being someone from our neighbouring country!
Hmm I thot Shail ws rt too .. but u do hv a point here 🙂
I’d be annoyed too, if someone mispronounced my son’s name 😀 although to the other woman, it’s just another Asian name, Rishi ho ya Rasheed…
well, I have to agree that I do share the same sentiments. And what`s worst, I`m not even ashamed of it. As in, I seriously dont believe there`s anything wrong. And therein lies the problem I guess. The G, on the other hand, is much more tolerant. Infact, these things arent ever an issue with him.
Hmmm…
Not quite sure what to say,
but your annoyance at your son being called a different name and being ignored when the right name is told is justified…
How insensitive of the other woman – despite being told the correct name, she stuck to her own assumptions. Now that is rude. \
You could probably try teaching Rishi to go tell her his name everytime she calls him wrongly or just not respond to rasheed
You get more irritated at the indifference of people in not caring enough to get at least the name right.
As an aside, I actually like many Arabic names :). Saanya is downright Arabic. Rasheed is again Arabic and it means “rightly guided.” Actually, a pretty beautiful name :).
Urmi- Right..to her , its just another Asian name!
Piper- Hee hee.. thanks buddy, I feel better already..not really but yes, atleast for the moment 🙂
Pix- Thanks, that is a little consolation.
Supriya- LOL! We met her just once and will probably not meet her again 🙂 But this problem is going to continue.. people are going to mispronounce the name all the time!
Roopa- I love Arabic names too. Its just that I didn’t want us to confused with Pakistanis!! Though I knew she knew we were Indian, I still didn’t want to risk it! But thanks for sharing the meaning of the name(s), they are beautiful indeed. Quite unlike the meaningless English names!
I would be annoyed too if someone mispronounced the name even after correction.
It is not a Hindu-Muslim thing for me, Pal.
Your honesty impresses me Pal. You know best what you were reacting to and I admire you for spelling it out as it is. It is not often that people are willing to express such sentiments in a public domain, which is what makes you a cut above many other writers.
Cheers
Rekz
Thanks, Sol for sharing your views.
Rekz, thanks, I was initally a little afraid of putting this into words, but its off my chest now 🙂
well..dont judge yourself small.. you would have reacted the same even if she called him– robert or rahul…
LOL, Yuva! Robert or Rahul. Actually I like ‘Rahul’ ;-))
i was actually shocked too … glad it sorted itself out though.
I have been thorough it all my life. Anybody who meets me first thinks I am a muslim. i no longer explain.