Ronabir Addy. Its a tongue twister in this myriad of equally difficult-to-pronounce Indian names. That’s why i have had enough ‘Falooda’ made out of it while people pronounce it. Its difficult to get your point across if people don’t address you right.
It’s not their fault entirely, since i move from region to region based on my career prospects but then my parents didn’t decide to be conventional. It is a Bengali pronunciation to the common Hindi name ‘Ranbir’ – meaning – warrior in the field. However, my parents (who didn’t know too much Bengali) decided i needed an identity (who doesn’t) and gave a twist to the original Bengali version – Ranabir ( the a is pronounced as O in Bengali typically) and came up with Ronabir.
So its an equally uphill task explaining the pronunciation to a Punjabi as it is to a South Indian as it is to an actual native Bengali. I am Ranbir putar in Punjabi, Runbir in South India and Ranabir (Ronobir) in Bengali. It is not uncommon to have folks grappling with pronouncing my name correctly. What would i have given to have a common Indian name like Aman, Kamal, Amir, Anand etc. – no, nothing. I would have given nothing to have a common name like that cause in India’s swirling mass of 1 billion+ individuals, you need a small if any differentiator and what better than a tongue twister for a first name. LOL
The extent to which my first name is murdered on the alter of pronunciation is unimaginable to most except those who have equally typical names. I remember one class teacher who could not remember my name correctly and referred to me as Rodrigues and when my Mum came around for the monthly PTA meeting, she would be promptly be labeled as Rodrigues’ Mummy. All because, the Army Chief at the time was Gen. Rodrigues and I was of course studying in an Army School.
I remember in-numerable polite inquiries as to my name when young. ‘What’s your name beta?’ Me: Ronabir. ‘What?’ Me: Ronabir….. ‘Say again?’ Kya? What?’ ‘Ranbir, Aunty. Ranbir’. ‘Oye kake, Ki chaanga naam haiga’. So yes, I had to assume a more understandable version of the name. The worst culprits are the Railways. They take your name and come up with even more bizarre spellings that you would have ever imagined. On various reservation and seat charts, my name has given me many a smile at the level of confusion. Roanbir. Ronbeer, Ranobir, Runnybir, Runabeer etc etc.
The absolute upside is that due to the uniqueness of my name, i get email addresses like ronabir@yahoo.com or ronabir@gmail.com etc with relative ease, while my colleagues are using all sorts of versions of their names to get a unique email id/usernames.
However, this is where my last name comes in handy. Its Addy. Of course; this came with its own share of troubles. I have been often referred to as Reddy, making my one of the elite landowning class in AP. But usually its much less a tongue twister, so i insist that people refer to me as Addy. The misfortune is that it rhymes with Paddy, Baddy and Daddy, but most people still manage to get it right with the least no. of tries. I didn’t know that it was the short form for Aditya, a common Indian name, till i got to class 12. I walked into the class after a transfer from a small town to the big metroplis of Delhi and during break was horrified to note that all knew my name, since a number of people started screaming…’Addy’ ‘Addy’ during recess. I was amazed that people knew me without an introduction but that amazement did not last long as i discovered that one of the popular students was their actual target and his name was Aditya, or in short. ADDY. 
Of course this causes a bit of friction between father and son. For in the Army all my Dad’s colleagues knew him by his surname (common practice in the forces) and now when my friends call on the house phone and ask for me (Addy) and he happens to answer the phone, he gets confused and gives me a holler as to why my friends call me that when i have a perfectly good first name. I have even been referred to as Ronabir – Wannabir – Addy and Addeshwar !
And yes, its an anglicized version of the original Bengali version, which is ‘Auddy’. I didn’t belive it till i saw a shop in Kolkata called ‘Auddy & Sons – Jewelers’. Yes, we were perhaps jewelers at one point of time as per the caste system. Now the only jewel left is the unique name.
So when Shakespeare said, ‘What’s in a name?’, I will most definitely say, a lot.
—-Roger, Oscar, November, Alpha, Beta, India, Roger. Alpha, Delta, Delta, Yankee.—
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I suppose its nice to have a unique name. I don’t think Ronabir is hard to pronounce…. and it has an easy short form: “Ron” which would sell very well in english society. ‘Gaurav’ doesn’t have any short form…. although I am sometimes called Gori by my close family, and I don’t particularly like it, but it’s ok., nothing great. I was called “Go-go” by my baby brother when he was growing up…that was amusing, lol
It was wonderful to read your writing Ronabir…thankz.
Comment by Gaurav June 28, 2009 @ 11:46 am