Surname Bemusements!

I like most things of Mumbai... The "Live and let live" attitude of people, making room for a fourth person in a 3 person seat in trains, neighbours responding positively to difficult situations, celebrating festivals together, work ethics of people, kind of freedom that children enjoy (compared to other places I saw), sense of responsibility showed by many youngsters etc. etc.. One thing that makes me uncomfortable in Mumbai is the lack of "individual" touch while addressing people.  Many people of Mumbai prefer to address others with surnames rather than by names.  When people call me "Mr Kamath" or "Mr Sreenivasa", I feel very odd and uncomfortable.  I am Rajeev, and why don't call me by my name?  Before coming to Mumbai, I worked in Bokaro, Bhilai, Visakhapatnam, and Chennai.  And I was born and brought up in Kerala.  All these years never felt such odd, because of the way people address me.  This socially vibrant Mumbai seems to have lost personal touch in this aspect..  

Picture credits:  Google search

Not many people in South India have surnames in their official records such as School Leaving Certificates, Degree Certificates etc. They face an uphill task when they apply for passports or any such document.  They struggle to discover their surnames / last names, and ultimately ends up with being called as something else.  

Picture credits: Google search

In south, for many, the house name becomes their surname.  Many communities in Kerala uses father's name as surnames.  Many don't have a surname at all; they just use initials, that indicate father's name and/ or house name.  I have seen in one community, they need just two names, to take care of any number of generations.. Mathew George's son becomes George Mathew by default.  Father's surname is George and son's surname is Mathew, and that continues for generations.  Chandy Oommen is the name of the son of former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy!

In my case the expansion of my initials 'S' became my surname ['Sreenivasa'] in all official records, and actual surname [which should have been 'Kamath'] got lost.  I use it unofficially, only to satisfy the surname obsessed people.  To avoid further confusion, I ensured that my children do have the right surname along with their names in official records. So they have no confusion in their official records.  But, the passport office decided to change whatever was given in the application form of my daughter, and replaced it with my official 'surname'.  Have to live with it for now.  

People from south, really struggle to fill a form where they are expected to provide First Name, Middle Name and Last Name.  I know, it's a challenge for many.  In Andhra Pradesh, it's bit more complex.  Cricket legend V V S Laxman [Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman] has fist name, last name and two middle names? I think, Laxman must be his name, and not surname.  Lucky guy; people call him as Mr. Laxman.  Have seen names which has even 5 or 6 parts.  

I know a person as 'Suresh N' for many years.  Got a bit of shock when heard people calling him as Mr. Nikarthil.  Absolutely no connection with his name.  Nikarthil is his house name.  

When I was working in IIT Madras, happened to meet one guy with name Namboodiripad, and this guy was from Andhra Pradesh.  As this was one of the famous surname in Kerala, I became curious.  It was surname of the first communist Chief Minister of the state.  As I was curious, asked him how did he happen to get this surname? His answer gave me a bit of shock. Seems his father was a staunch communist, and chose the surname of that communist leader for his son!  This solved another puzzle of name of a student of mine, which was Kamarajan Nehru. Kamarajan is the name of an ex. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and Nehru is that of our first Prime Minister.  People have freedom to choose names [both first name and last name].  

When I was working in Bokaro, I use to talk to local people in my workplace (Bokaro Steel Plant) on their culture, lifestyle, way of life, social celebrations etc..   I remember, one staff member, whose surname was 'Prasad' telling me that he kept his son's surname as 'Choudhary'.  The reason he gave was, the surname 'Choudhary' has a better chance of getting a government jobs, at that point in time. Things might change when the boy gets to the age of 18 or 20 for him to get a job!

Because of different cultures and ways of life in India, there is no single structure for naming people. We are trying to fit that diversity into a uniform structure [which is not bad], that leads to bemusement.   

Would love to see a system, where people are addressed with their names rather than the so called surnames!