Today, i was having an interesting discussion. A discussion which delved into the very core of our existence.... our name! Now, if you are wondering what made me and my friend ponder over such a topic, blame Jhumpa Lahiri for that or rather her book the namesake. Still confused?? Well, if you are I’m afraid I have to let you go this very minute and ask you to read something else...... anything but this particular web page!!
What surprised me more than the importance of our names as such was the way our thoughts might actually flow from one topic to another, even now as I type my thoughts are racing ahead of my fingers. Result?? Something that might actually end up being an incoherent rambling of a mind, which was too active for it own good!!
Act8ually, we were talking about how much importance is attached to a person's name...... I mean for all that we know, change your name and you end up in a web of legal work, because so many documents then would require to be updated..... file affidavits, bring out notifications. Oh god!! Now, this fellow in namesake Gogol, was named so by his father in remembrance of the Russian Nicholai Gogol. The story to influence him was "the overcoat". The reason was something beyond literature. However, being brought up in an American society, the name started to hang heavy on Gogol. He felt ridiculed……. the odd man out!! He chose to disregard whatever emotions that might have induced his parents to go for such a name, and he changed his name to Nikhil - Nick!! And so nick starts leading the American life... never for once does he have to lok back and think about Gogol. Gogol was left in the suburbs of Boston. he never left Boston. it was nick who left Boston, settled down in New York and fell in love.... broke up after his father's death. And Nick marries Moushumi, a family friend's daughter. Life was smooth till the covered up cracks started showing up........... and like all relationships condemned with infidelity and dissatisfaction this one too got doomed. And so Nick continued in his life........ and he continued hating his name - "Gogol"... till the day he learned the truth about his name........ I could have given you the entire story here, not the patchy stuff that I've written, but then I believe one really should read the book.... So, go ahead grab a copy today if you haven't got one. My friend is doing that right now.
Now, observe this carefully, here is where the topic started going on a different track. The writing style!! After all one really cannot take it away from Jhumpa Lahiri the fact, that she can actually write in a simple manner and yet convey a lot of depth to whatever she is talking about. Isn't that wonderful?? In came a discussion on Chetan Bhagat... which meant a fond walk down memory lane thanks to "Five point someone" and then a discussion on the spiritual side of life with "One night at the call center". Interesting book......... So many things happening simultaneously in each one of the character's lives..... and how in a very lucid manner the author manages to weave it all together through one single call. Now, I shall dig into this one later, and save it for some later post.
Till then, I do hope you too haven't started thinking about these three books now......... for i have just presented to you how the thought flies and how far it does!!
Cheerio
Confused Sam
What surprised me more than the importance of our names as such was the way our thoughts might actually flow from one topic to another, even now as I type my thoughts are racing ahead of my fingers. Result?? Something that might actually end up being an incoherent rambling of a mind, which was too active for it own good!!
Act8ually, we were talking about how much importance is attached to a person's name...... I mean for all that we know, change your name and you end up in a web of legal work, because so many documents then would require to be updated..... file affidavits, bring out notifications. Oh god!! Now, this fellow in namesake Gogol, was named so by his father in remembrance of the Russian Nicholai Gogol. The story to influence him was "the overcoat". The reason was something beyond literature. However, being brought up in an American society, the name started to hang heavy on Gogol. He felt ridiculed……. the odd man out!! He chose to disregard whatever emotions that might have induced his parents to go for such a name, and he changed his name to Nikhil - Nick!! And so nick starts leading the American life... never for once does he have to lok back and think about Gogol. Gogol was left in the suburbs of Boston. he never left Boston. it was nick who left Boston, settled down in New York and fell in love.... broke up after his father's death. And Nick marries Moushumi, a family friend's daughter. Life was smooth till the covered up cracks started showing up........... and like all relationships condemned with infidelity and dissatisfaction this one too got doomed. And so Nick continued in his life........ and he continued hating his name - "Gogol"... till the day he learned the truth about his name........ I could have given you the entire story here, not the patchy stuff that I've written, but then I believe one really should read the book.... So, go ahead grab a copy today if you haven't got one. My friend is doing that right now.
Now, observe this carefully, here is where the topic started going on a different track. The writing style!! After all one really cannot take it away from Jhumpa Lahiri the fact, that she can actually write in a simple manner and yet convey a lot of depth to whatever she is talking about. Isn't that wonderful?? In came a discussion on Chetan Bhagat... which meant a fond walk down memory lane thanks to "Five point someone" and then a discussion on the spiritual side of life with "One night at the call center". Interesting book......... So many things happening simultaneously in each one of the character's lives..... and how in a very lucid manner the author manages to weave it all together through one single call. Now, I shall dig into this one later, and save it for some later post.
Till then, I do hope you too haven't started thinking about these three books now......... for i have just presented to you how the thought flies and how far it does!!
Cheerio
Confused Sam
4 comments:
O boy!!hats off to u..u really have proved ur point with sheer dint of determination,,Isha is looking forward to read more of ur wrk!!
i simply loved the book! n hmmm... its not jus the name that gogol was confused about, the bigger question being whtr he was as american as others or simply a brownie trapped in some foreign land! changin his name was just a tiny speck!
but yeah...funny know how earlier when he was a kid he himself had insisted that he be referred to as gogol n not nikhil since nikhil was a stranger!! ;-)
never knew you write so amazingly sumit!! :-) (i mean apart frm the poetry that u posted in the comm ofcrs man! :D)
lookin forward to read more f yr work!
ps...whats yr nick name considerin its more f a bengali tradition..!
gogo...its awesome..loved it man..its so true..d flow of emotions..d river of thoughts...so wll managed..tu hai kamina..par bat pate ki karta hai..he he..
haila!!
kamina kyu re???
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