Nisha Punjabi - Why I hate it, Why I love it!

If you have reached this link looking for my biography for 'The Race', please email me on nisha(dot)punjabi(at)gmail(dot)com and I would revert ASAP.

Soumya of Life of Leo asked us the story of our name. While commenting I remembered that my name has an interesting angle to it which I have never mentioned here. Since this is the story of my life, Teeth that Sparkle should have a copy of it!

So I was born on 17th November 19something! The pandit ji made my janam kundali and took out the alphabet 'N'. I think he was the one who named me 'Neeta Devi'. Of course my folks didn't use the devi bit, but well, the story would have been funnier then!

Our landlady who lived upstairs had a daughter called Neetu. Somehow it confused the families when they called out our names. I was subsequently named Nisha for convenience! I have a second cousin by the same name who was born one month before me; I figure my unimaginative parents just stole that name!

Anyway, Nisha Punjabi stuck with me. It was one of a kind. In school, my second cousin was a teacher. Her sister was a headgirl one of the years. So I was famous belonging to a renowned clan. I was famous for other reasons as well, but that's not important.

When we were in class IX, Sunny Deol decided to do a lot of songs with the word 'Punjabi' in it. To my amusement, that year we had our classroom right above a dhobi's house. Now this dhobi needed entertainment while washing clothes. He played all Sunny Deol's numbers while the first period was on. I am sure I don't need to tell you the trauma I went through in a co-ed school while this happened!

So much so, the boys even wrote 'Punjab ka Tempo' behind my tempo. The driver was, guess what, a Sardar!

Oh yes, my life was amusing. While I was getting married, I was in a dilemma whether I should change my name or not. Since I had written quite a few poems and was also published in the local newspaper a number of times, I couldn't bear the thought of changing my name. So it just remained what it was. I wasn't a feminist then, I am not an extremist even now. This was just because I wanted my name to remain unchanged.

More than 'Punjabi', 'Nisha' has a more interesting story. I always hated my first name. I don't know why, it just didn't sound right. I even hate it when the Boy calls out my name. Yes, I am weird!

But do you know the best part about my name? I met the Boy 12.5 years ago on the Internet. Do you know how? Well, the Boy randomly messaged all the Nishas who were online on ICQ. He said he liked this name! I was the one who was most vela that night and responded to his 'friend request'. The rest, as they say, is a happily ever after tale.

What if I didn't have a landlady? What if they never changed it from Neeta? Imagine, they even moved abroad after a year. What if that cousin wasn't named Nisha? They say what's in a name? - apparently my life wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for my name!