What's in a name?

How many times has it happened to you that someone forgets your name and calls you something else? Or when you are given nicknames that you just don't approve of or that make no sense to you? I can't speak for others but in the recent past, it has happened one too many a times for me:

1. A certain teacher of mine looks at me wanting to discuss an assignment. She calls me 'KISHORI'. (laughter in class). This is followed by something possibly worse-'MOHINI'. Why??????
2. In radio class, we were discussing possible names for us when we are going live on our campus radio. My name is probably weird, because I was given options li8ke 'CJ(Campus Jockey) K**l, up against the wall', 'CJ Rohini, aapki man-mohini', 'CJ K**l, wrapped in a towel', and so on. What I had to settle for was just lame-'CJ Rohini K to make your day'. Ugh!Probably better than 'Shishir Rao, here to wow' though. Or 'Sayonee Saloni'. Ha! Suffer!
3. The college nickname used to be just a simple 'RO'. That is bearable. Then, people decided to take it one step forward and it became 'RO-RO'. Still bearable. But then they start singing the damn nursery rhyme to piss you off and go 'Ro-Ro, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream'. Murder on my mind.
4. Rajiv makes it worse:  'Ro-Ro, row your boat, gently down the stream. If you see a Rohini, don't forget to scream'. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
5. The names that made sense to me in school were 'FOOD', 'KAJUWALI', 'FATTY'(not THAT fat though). Those I will respond to. And actually liked surprisingly. Weird.

Well, the point I'm making is that my name is ROHINI K**L(can't put up full name on the web). OK?

I shall

Today, I shall move on.
I shall no longer allow myself to conform to norms and rules that don't make sense to me.
I shall no longer suppress my feelings or tears.
I shall not take the mental torture any longer.
I shall find a release through writing and listening to music.
I shall find the purpose of my existence.
I shall not allow myself to feel inferior under any circumstance.
I shall get over the wounds, physical or emotional.
I shall no longer wait, holding on to false hope.
I shall no longer shut out the screams in my mind.
I shall no longer be afraid of loss/life/death.
I shall voice out my opinion, however silly it may be.
I shall unveil my mask.
I shall not live my life in fear.
I shall find the strength.
I shall fight back.
I shall.

Transition complete

Being a girl isn't as bad as I used to think it was. The photograph was taken on our college's Ethnic Day. It's actually quite fun wearing a saree despite the initial discomfort. Heels, I still hate. But the rest has now been declared 'OK' by me. Good thing is, I could eat what I wanted without caring about the stomach popping out because it was all well concealed :) Even the compliments weren't so bad!!! 

 

I feel
confused
scared
excited
nervous
annoyed
unhappy
dazed.
Why?

Calcutta: A view finder's perspective

The photographs below depict Calcutta. 

The city of joy.

Victoria Memorial

A Tonga near the Maidan 

 Howrah Bridge on the Hooghly River

 Public Transport-taxis & rikshaws

 TMC

 And last but definitely not the least,Calcutta's famous street food

Puchkas

You can call it Golgappa or Panipuri or Batasha if you wish to. But to every person from Calcutta, these will always be 'puchkas'. The alu-chana filling with the teekha pani or meetha pani or both that goes into your mouth at one go and costs just one rupee a piece. You can see little portable stalls like this one on every street in Calcutta-Russel Street, Lakes(Opposite VP), Outside Forum. Everywhere! Just find the one that you enjoy from. I'm a puchka addict. In Pune, I've found one puchka-wala whose puchkas don't spoil my stomach and they're delicious. Still, it doesn't even compare to the Calcutta ones. You can't try and imitate the pioneers, after all :)

What goes around comes around. Didn't think it holds true but now I do. When you've had a crappy day for no fault of yours and thought that your day just couldn't get worse, you get a visitor at the door who has come to cheer you up and brighten up your 'day', even if it is at 10.30 p.m. Makes the whole day seem worthwhile, doesn't it? :)