All about a name. Does it matter?

Shonali was contemplating whether to talk about it or not. She had already been through this earlier and talking about it did not help much. The name ‘Shonali’ was a challenge for her. Challenge because people around her were acquainted with the name ‘Sonali’. So, nobody notices the ‘H’ in her name. Well, when she was born, her grandfather suggested the name ‘Sonali’. Her father was an ardent adherent of numerology. Hence, based on her date of birth, he added the ‘H’ and ‘Sonali’ became ‘Shonali’. On her first day at school, the teacher was confused with the spelling. At the end of the year, instead of ‘Shonali’, she ended up writing ‘Sonali’ on the report card. Shonali’s father used to get upset with the spelling mishap, but then all he could do was request people to write the spelling correctly.

Every time somebody asked her name, Shonali used to say, ‘My name is “Shonali”. There is an “H” after “S”. The replies she used to get from people were not the replies she wanted to hear. One lady once said, ‘Ha ha ha, does the “H” make any difference?’. Another gentleman said, ‘ “Shonali” will always become “Sonali” here. Maybe you can ask your numerologist to change the spelling to an easier one or common one.’ Her graduation marksheet also had the spelling of her name as ‘Sonali’. Her father and she had to spend an entire day at the university running hither thither correcting the spelling. One of the employees out there had said, ‘In the quest of stylish names, many people end up ruining the spelling of their names.’

Today was one more such day in her life when the spelling of her name did not have the ‘H’. Shonali writes articles for newspapers. Today, at the top corner of her article, her name appeared as ‘Sonali’ instead of ‘Shonali’. She was upset. But then, this was something which she has faced earlier as well. Her father, who used to subscribe to the newspaper and read her articles regularly, called her and said, ‘Sweetheart, do you think you should inform the Editor about this?’. Shonali replied, ‘Hmm, Papa, I really don’t know. You know what has been our experience with the spelling of my name so far. We have always been embarrassed. I am not sure whether I should talk to the Editor or not.’ Shonali’s dad replied. ‘Well, yes. I leave that to you. Take care baby.’ Shonali hung up and after ruminating for a while, decided to inform the editor about it. She had interacted with the gentleman once. She has never met him. She was somewhat sceptical as well, because usually newspaper heads tend to be somewhat reticent and stringent. Still, mustering up courage, she texted him. She wrote, ‘ Sir, this is Shonali. We had interacted some time ago. I wanted to bring to your notice a tiny little thing. There was a slight error in the name of my spelling in my last article that you had published. The spelling of my name did not have the ‘h’. My name is spelled ‘Shonali’ and not ‘Sonali’. After sending this text, she waited. She knew he was a busy bee, managing multitudinous stuff. She decided to check her phone after a while. She was worried what he might write. What if he never replied? What if his reply would be similar to the replies she had heard earlier from other people? She tried to calm herself down. She then checked her phone. She could see a message notification from him. The reply he sent was not at all she thought she would receive. He wrote, ‘Good morning. Sorry for the mistake. Will remember to mention your name as “Shonali”. Is that okay?’ Shonali was pleasantly surprised. He was the first person who did not say that the name ‘Sonali’ is so common and hence the spelling. Never for once did he bicker. Shonali replied, ‘Thanks a lot. Please don’t say sorry. The name “Shonali” is usually spelt “Sonali”. It’s the numerological nuance that led to the spelling change.’ The gentleman replied, ‘A mistake is a mistake. Thanks for reminding. Will try to ensure your correct name in future.’ Shonali has barely come across such a courteous human in her life so far. She replied, ‘Thanks a zillion Sir. I appreciate your way of thinking.’ The reply that he gave for this sentence is something Shonali will remember all her life. This very sentence vouched for his intellectual character and his super positive professional demeanour. His reply was, ‘Your name is the first thing you own without much hassles on this earth. So, I completely understand.’ He was so right. Shonali could not take out that sentence from her head. The sentence became an earworm for her, making a permanent presence in the voice of her soul. How true it is! In this world, where getting possession of even a tiny little thing is such a struggle, ‘name’ is the only thing which we can call ours without having to fight, struggle and slog. Names do matter.