The Namesake

With the passage of time life moves on and one feels elated of the fact of what he/she is compared to what he/she was a few years back. Although he is very much aware that few years down the line the present would be the past and future would be the present. Therefore, I feel it’s the mind which makes all the difference and which sets you on the path of achieving the so called “unachievable”.

The metamorphosis of life is indeed strange and worth contemplating. Life is like a passage through a tunnel, which has different countries, mired by different cultures as its stations. The tunnel is full of colors of rainbow, (vibgyor) which swipes you of your feet and makes you realize what real world you are living in.

For me the true meaning of life, according to my lexicon, would be top move on! I believe it encompasses the true meaning of time. It portrays that time is a great leveler and it moves on. It never waits for those lackadaisical souls who are busy procrastinating and are abashed to take the final plunge. In the end they are left behind and spend their lifetime doing the catching up. Whereas, it awards those who understand the preponderancy of time and believe in moving along while preparing themselves to face the numerous challenges of life.

Another feature of time is that it travels faster than one could imagine. With the blink of an eye it places you on cards, which are not only unfamiliar to you but also out of place. But fortunately the humans have the power to look back and select the right path. “As they say it’s never to late”.

For me time has traveled like a zephyr blowing over the fresh golden daffodils. Strangely enough I am fixated with the word daffodils, for just thinking about it brings an effervescent smile on my face. Perhaps the reason could be that the only poem I still remember is based on the flower Daffodil one of the ingenious work of Mr Wordsworth. But the irony is that I am still to see or smell the flower I am so passionate about.

Coming back to the topic of this article - Well I befittingly selected the name of my blog to focus on myself, although I am not a Narcissist, but I feel one should atleast have a blog on oneself. But then that’s my school of thought and you might differ.

The most interesting part of my life has been the kaleidoscopic experiences I have had. I have donned the role of a protagonist during these years but with a different name – And hence the article is title as NAMESAKE.

Thinking back about my yesteryears, I can proudly and gleefully say that I have loved every single minute of the time spent outside my home and infact I am still relishing it. I mean the kind of contracting personalities a person can experience or develop, is indeed worth noticing. No I am not talking about the Multiple Personality Disorder but the fact that when I was out of home, I flew like a young falcon in search of his destination. On the other hand home albeit had the fun of interacting to my lovely parents but it developed in me in a sense of ignorance towards myself and also I felt some sort of lack of independence at the back of my mind.

As I mentioned time moves on very fast but it gives you an option to look back and retrospect. I have always tried to teach myself to not to ruminate and not curse the God with the clichéd question of Why Me but instead put a challenge to him and say Try Me.

But now when I look back I believe that life has given me lots of opportunities, blessed me with wonderful friends and also made me experience the sphinx like feeling called LOVE.

William Shakespeare has had an everlasting impact on me (Although I have been strictly told to not to twist and turn Mr Shakespeare and let him rest in peace) courtesy the Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet. One of my favorite lines is from R & J when. Juliet, prevented from marrying Romeo by the feud between their families, complains that Romeo’s name is all that keeps him from her. She says I quote “What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet." This one short line encapsulates the central struggle and tragedy of the play. It’s not the name but the person. Hence, later on when I got my first nick name I was not vilified over it, as I felt its just a name and took it in my stride and even today the I take it in my stride.

I don’t know but wherever I go, either to work or study, somehow I have this feeling that people don’t like my name. Or it could be that since my sir name is not only long and labyrinth it is more often then not colloquially misunderstood or mispronounced. Since Indian’s are know for their lackadaisical attitude, no body wants to go through the pain of calling such a long name and since my first name is so common that people provide me with a sobriquet which is easier on their tongue and mind.

It all started in my school - St Stephens. I as a normal student I was keen towards studies but somehow my keenness towards sports weighted more. The year was 1996 and it happened! I got my first ever Sobriquet. But unfortunately I am unable to mention the derogatory name (HAHA) and even till today in am in a quandary as to why my friends used to call me by that name. But then some things are beyond comprehension. But then I recollected Shakes. What’s in the name!!

Well I left the school, and life moved on. I entered another important phase of my career (as mentioned and retold by my parents, I believe all of you would agree, for them starting from 8th board till you complete your post grad everything is important. So the bottom line is, u better study!), Well with a glee on my face and a vision to touch the sky I enrolled myself for the first time in different school. I made new friends (luckily I am good at that) and slowly I was elated to be relieved of the nickname my eardrums dreaded to hear. With the course of time, I was pleased that I was called by the name kept (I think after lot of contemplation and analysis) by my parents. The only sad part of it was that I shared the same name with 5 other classmates of mine. But luckily my surname rescued me and gave me a new identity. Then came the thunder down under. Due to my witty remarks and exuberance of commenting on every or anything my friends gave me, guess what another sobriquet. But thankfully this time it was not sooo derogatory they called me KUKKAD. Later it was modified to Kooks and then Kokkie. (I know u r feeling hungry but hey hold on. (Punjabis would understand fast what i meant).

Well days and years went by. Soon I joined my college to pursue my B com (Hons). But luckily or I guess thankfully, I had the blessing of having the same bunch of friends in the college and hence, you got it right, I had the same Nick Name.

Well time passed and soon the soooo called college fun was over. I left the college as one of the most brightest students (among guys though, as top ten where girls, but still come on yaar !!) Well, it was now time to get the feel of earning money, I was a Graduate!! Therefore I decided to do some part time job and joined a telecommunication company called SPICE TELECOM. As new engine requires purified fuel to give maximum average, me too needed a common link to bridge the gap between the people to whom I was a stranger. Therefore, I pondered and searched for the link and yes I hit the Eureka J. You must have guessed it right! It’s the game we all Indian’s foolishly admire and even go to the extent of investing 8 hrs a day and 40 hours a week – CRICKET. (And well honestly I have bin the part of it many a times) I had invested zillions of man-days in watching and reading about the Indian Cricket team and hence I was able to built a databank on cricket, which was (and is) above average. Through my insight and knowledge about the game of cricket was able to create and aura and an image which was different and in the league of its own.

It was June 8, 1999 India was playing Pakistan in England in the World Cup. As an avid cricket follower I was keen to watch the epic encounter. I even went to the extent of purchasing an Indian Cricket Team T Shirt. But unfortunately some things don’t go as want to. We had strict instructions that no one way could take an off or to be suddenly sick overnight. Moreover, I had been suddenly sick in the past few days, to watch the other league matches so had no option but to go to the office. But my spirits were high since I knew that our team would do well and also because Indian had never lost in the world cup to Pakistan. For record - They are still to be beaten by Pakistan in the World Cup.

With high spirits I went to the office wearing the flashy Indian Cricket team jersey. Who cared about the dress code, it was India Vs Pakistan. And to top it, I for the first time had kept a French beard, as it had become some sort of fashion those days. But I never knew what was in store for me. As soon I entered the office, the silence was broken and pangs of laughter could he heard from all the corners. Even my team leader was laughing his heart out. It was my attire and indeed my guts to wear it. Instantly the girl sitting at the extreme right corner in her sonorous welcomed me as Mr Tendulkar of Spice. Well I was shocked not because I was surprised but because for me sachin Sachin was (and still is ) a superstar and a genious.

From that day onwards I got another…yup got it right …A Sobriquet..Teundukarrrr

Time passed and soon & I started founding my job not only monotonous but also I realized it was taking me nowhere. (Although it never meant to be in first place). Hence, I felt the need the hour was to take some drastic steps. I decided to resign and soon enrolled my self at a coaching institute to prepare for MBA.

MBA was complete fun. I enrolled in one of the upcoming coaching institutes klad..PT..professional Tutotrial (Bel me they r proffessional..esp thr maths class..right frds!!)...well classes were fun and meeting and making new friends was even funnier...Everyone had sme sort of bravado..as if they r going to be the soo kald cat crackers...bt ironically those who did nt ...whr the one`s who belled the CAT..nevertheless..thankfully the fear of nick names did nt existed in the soo kald place like PT..give me a brkk i thgt..bt i was again wrng..(from past moving to present)...few days back i met a old friend..whoz..smile is well similar too our very own ms world priyanka chopra..i guess PTies might have gt it right..and guess she revealed to me a secret..(no nt again..)..yes u r right..i had been assigned a sobriquet..and all the time..i thgt i was Mr Amit Nanchahal...well they kald me Jimmy..nopeee..nthgn to do with Mr jimmy shergill..bt some how..jimmy to me..well wht to say..a nick name is a name which suits yr tongue..so jimmy it was!! and the list...continues...well time moved on and i decided to join Punjab University..

Punjab University was one place where you could find people from different backgrounds preparing for courses such as IAS, MBA, MBBS, LAW et al. The library had a world-class infrastructure and was an apt place to STUDY (Pun included). Simultaneously I enrolled myself in the University to pursue Masters In Economics since not only I had interest in Economics but also it would provide me an opportunity to study in the library. (fyi our very own PM ..Manmohan Singh is from this Deptt..hurray!)

One year passed and soon the results were out. Unfortunately, my hard work did not pay and I wasn’t able to crack or as they say Bell the Cat. But, I never gave up and decided to take my Economic Exams, albeit I had not attended any of the classes and did not had much idea as to what was going on. The best part of my first year Eco was that, I used to hardly attend any classes, but the day I decided to go and attend ironically the professors never turned up. It happened not once but many a times and some days when I used to turn up, my class mates wittingly used to remark, hey Amit is here, so lets all go back, the professor ain`t coming.J

Well, I as mentioned, I took the exams and as they say miracles do happen, it was some sort of miracle that I was able to clear my first term and must add the hard work put in during my MBA preparation did help me to some extent. From next session onwards I decided to be a regular as the subjects were not only difficult but also my attendance had become some sort of an issue.

Change is the only constant thing, taking that into mind I decided to give myself a new look.. I changed my wardrobe and although had the effervescent French Beard but decided to done a new Hair Style, oblivious of the fact that it resembled to some singer and that a new nick was on the anvil.

Some people are lucky and some are very lucky. I am referring in the pretext to the so-called equation of gender equality, which the department of Economics was renowned for breaching and ironically no one complained. There were in all 120 students out of which 80 % were females and the rest 20 % males...I hope u got the point…So much gender inequality.

So on my first day in University (as regular), I was full of exuberance and enthusiasm oblivious of what was awaiting me. As soon as I entered the class, I saw a bevy of girls chatting, laughing and smiling (which, as we all know they are best at doing.) I was not only confused but also was feeling panicky. Like novice rugby player I was running for cover to avoid the avalanche (referred to the opponent team), which was looking for an opportunity to convert me into mince meat. I wanted to run away but somehow could not. My eyes became alert and were on the look to find specie, with whom I shared the same sex. But unfortunately I could not and was felling embarrassed as if I had been clean bowled by a lady in a cricket match (well I guess some people must be laughing their hearts out on me using this example!! right? huh).

But soon the sweat from my bro disappeared and I could relax as I saw few guys walking towards me and luckily I knew one of them. Never before in my life I SOOO relieved to see MEN! Huh

Days past by very quickly and as the Mac Di adds says – I was loving it. Not only I was enjoying the studies and the atmosphere but also for the first time I had an opportunity to interact with people from different parts of India, esp Delhi, as I had heard a lot about Delhi girls and the kind of attitude they have.

Studying in the classroom was complete fun and all together a new experience. Imagine u r sitting in the centre of the room surrounded by group of good-looking girls (and the best part was that, the classroom resembled to a the flower auction market, as in the fragrance which emitted from the nnnn number of perfumes used by the ladies infiltrated the room with a aroma and redolence which is beyond explanation.) No wonder our department was know as the Gheri Route, as students from other departments used to meander outside our class room to just have a glance at the beautiful damsels.

Time passed by and soon I was a part of group G – 8, no I am not talking about the world’s eight exclusive countries but what I meant was that group of eight (6 F & 2 M = due to the demand supply gap ;-). University days were fun, wo Rajma Chawal, Wo nibu Pani, Wo library mein padana , wo sham ko pani puri khana. .

Coming back to sobriquets, one fine day after just finishing my GDP class I was meandering towards the library when suddenly I heard a voice. It was some sort of a name and I was wondering, huh what a funny name to have. Without paying heed, I moved on but as I did I heard the name again. I turned around and saw one of my friend (G8 member) looking at me. Well I looked here and there and asked her whom she was calling. Well, she replied you off course you, didn’t anybody told you the name we all address you by, she answered. !!

I was stunned, my worst nightmare had returned and I could not believe that I had been awarded yes…another sobriquet, which ironically I was unaware off. In the evening G 8 members were meeting in the caffee coffee day (hang out place best in chandigarh – those days). As we all met, I popped up the question, who was the one and what was the reason?? The culprit was one of the G 8 Member and the reason was my beard and hairstyle resembled to a famous Punjabi singer – JAZZY B.

So I was given a new, I mean a brand new sobriquet– Jazzy.

Strangely enough even today when I call my friends (Univ) and tell them its Amit here…I get an instant remark – Amit Who???

From Kukkad to kooks to Tendulkar to Mr Nanchahal to Jazzy and now ya I even got a nick name in CII …Amy, Amils and the latest one Nachos, life has moved on .The best part of having soooo many nick names is that it adds excitement, vivacity and liveliness to everywhere you go as you are called by different name. All for the NAMESAKE!

But then “ As Shakespeare said…………..Whats … in the name………………………”!!