Fancy Naming - Evolving trend in Bhutan

       'Are you a parent, a guardian, brother and sister to any newborn in your family?' Because I have a very interesting thing to talk about the trend that has been sweeping our people in the recent time; giving a fancy name to the new born.

       Even if you are not, it isn't any big matter, but you might have come across this trend of giving a fancy name to our child. It has in a way become a fashion in our place. If the name sounds very much normal, parent become very reluctant to name their child. And some also goes to the extent of taking years to think of a good name. This is fact!

       If we look back to our history, the names of our forefathers sounds rather weird. Some of the names sounds as if they are no names of people and rather of animals, rocks and trees. Tawmo for instance - this is a name of an old woman I know. Banthala is another one and Churpu,  these sounds weird and some names even brings goose bumps. But whatever the names people were called with, they look very common and ordinary.

       But change is the only permanent thing.

       You see, kids today laugh to hear the names of the people in those times. They find it amusing, while it has been a serious matter to those people. And it is just a complete contradiction with the old people who are still alive today.

       'What's the big deal with your name?' This is a common question old people ask their grand children today. They find if amusing too, which is but very much normal to the kids today.

       Kids born today are very lucky. They have all the extravagance of their life; starting from their bountiful names, because they would have lots of names. The fashion in which the names are being named is the most interesting part. As soon as the baby is born, they have a their pet name. Booboo, Bambam, Popo, Koko, these are the common names for a baby boy, the most common being Booboo. And what about the girl? It's more funny - Pooku, Lolo, Tukoo, Mukoo. 

       For god's sake, where do parent get these names form?

       This is stage 1 of naming and this remains their pet name. Parents are always in search of a name for their child. And this is every parent's belief that a child must have a Religious name. 

       Seriously!!! Those people didn't any of this mess and they still did fine. I don't know what this name has to do with our lives. Anyways, parents are always in search of a name - of course a fancy one. Believe me, we are in an era, where plain isn't anybody's choice. As a result, they take their kids to Lamas, for a name. 

       And parents are caught in dilemma and conflict, if they don't get a name up to their expectation. The instances where parents are content with the names are very less because all Lamas aren't fancy enough to think about the fanciest name and they don't have all the time.  Stage 2 is the conflict most parents go through.

       Now, what do they do if they are not contented with the name given by the Lama? Very simple - they coin all the fancy names and name their child. If this is the case, why do parent go to Lamas in the first place?

       'Confusing?' I know. It very much is. But the fact is, name has nothing to do with anything. It is our mentality that is making all this happen; the differences, the good and bad in the appearance of one's name. And who knows, this might lead to the undermining and stigmatizing the ones with not so good names.

An Unknown Woman

I don’t know why it is so hard for us to believe something; Not all, but those small fragments in the eyes and the words of the one we trust. Or better, the one we love. This place we live in has become so fragile. More than the word itself can explain and define. But our heart, the human’s, it’s more fragile than it appears to be.

Yes, that’s right. I see it in the eyes of all, and more precisely, in the eyes of one I love. The sense of trust and belief was far beyond the reach of her eyes. She believed the person she never once in her life met, and refused to accept the one she has loved for decades. Accepting me was like accepting a cold stab in her heart.

It breached the trust in between us. The bond we have built up with so much pain and vulnerability, it is no where. And our relation has become more vulnerable and it’s so much in stake. I still can’t explain how it happened in a glint of time. Just a call from an unknown person has ruined us both, and each day, we are going apart. I don’t know when we will be completely shut from each others sight. 

Oh! That must be fear, for a good description, for precise reasoning. But why from the one we consider everything? This is pretty not understandable. I can't really get this. 

So, she never believed what I said. She didn't see those truth in my eyes. It was all veiled by her guts to believe some other soul; she never knew.And I laid down, shivering my nerves out, not able to find a good way to make her believe that everything I was saying was truth. Surely, I felt those hard drops through my face. Frustration can sometimes kill people and it nearly killed me. I wanted to dig the truth  and show it on my hand, like a mold of damp cake. But that was completely impossible and I went blank.

Honestly, the way she behaved deserved a couple times of good slap on her face. She nearly deserved to be shot - right between her eyebrows. And the soul- a cruel and cunning one, who stroked her with cold stab in her heart truly deserved to be hanged. I was already seeing her head dumped in a pit fed by worms - UN-noticed, even by dogs. That was the extent of my anger and frustration. But that is not what a real man does. And I couldn't keep away that manly consciousness from me, just because I was ridden by frustration and her unwillingness to accept the truth. Eventually, I had to console myself, because no one did.

I never acted hard on my woman. So, she turned out to be a lucky girl that day and I had to believe in myself. Anyways, I didn't really care what she thought, because I knew the truth and the truth was clear and white. 

I wanted to walk out to unknown, to a far away place where no body bothered me. Where no body cared for me. That would have been like entering into the realm of peace -away from the bothering world of humans, and away from the jealous souls.  But as a man, I didn't dare to walk out, keeping a crying and pain stricken woman behind. I didn't dare to fight a war by myself, because I was UN-armed without her, I was incomplete without her, and because, whatsoever, after all, she was my woman. Somebody I chose to be with. 

And I waited for her favour - to understand the truth and to be the girl she is. Yet, the pain she hid in my heart was undeserved one, atleast by a faithful man like me