#nonsensical names

[sweetsop]

I have to :

- read 4 courses’ worth of Law manual, and complete my nites with a couple more books… 🥲

- write down my presentation date and theme and start research on it

- rewatch my Tuesday’s class video recordings + start research on my memoir

- read the mandatory readings for my Monday class and clean up the slides

- clean up my Friday class notes

- read and summarise an article on language politics

- buy a finance manual

[ijaytrin]

My name

How strange that the name with which we are branded is not even of our own choosing. If I were given the choice now, would I choose a different name? Or did my very name nudge me to become the person who I am today? Does my name represent me better than any other name could?

My name, like that of many others, is a very strange name for me. Even though neither of my parents are Indian, they named me "Ijay," which is associated with Lord Vishnu. As far as names go, it could be much worse. Mine's short, simple, and easy to... Oh, here we run into problems.

You see, I have a slight confession to make here. I don't actually know how to pronounce my name... I know that seems terrible. It's an even greater crime than being unable to spell it, but give me a break here. I'm not Indian, and almost nobody around me is Indian.

So here's how it goes down: Whenever I meet someone new, I let them decide how to pronounce it. I tell them my name in a very soft voice, so that they just catch it, and then they make their own judgement. I tell them whatever they say is right. Most people pronounce it the same way, I guess the English way, but it is pretty funny when two people get into a conversation with me and call me something different.

Perhaps you've already made a judgment here and cannot see how else to pronounce my name. There are four different ways. The English way, the most common, is ih-jay (as in in + emphasised jay). The overly-conscious English call me eye-jay (emphasis on the eye). My parents insist that it's actually ee-jay (big emphasis on the ee). Finally, if you want to go fully correct, you would use the Indian pronunciation which I don't even know. The point is: what do I do? What is right?

In the case where I have to make a firm decision, I go with my parents. After all, they were the ones who named me. You would think they would know, wouldn't you? Then again, my mum does have a little bit of a Spanish accent which would explain turning an I into an ee. But more than that, I think Ee-jay has the best properties. It's delicate but strong, and more importantly, friends can say things like "Hey Ee-jay!" And you know, having a multi-sounding name is pretty advantageous in the poetry world. If I ever get stuck, I can just change my name sounds!

Today's song of the day is brought to you by Schobert (Show-bert). I feel bad for him, getting deferred by Schubert all the time. It doesn't help that he was born to the Baroque period where only Bach and Vivaldi reach the general audience. Here is his Concerto for Pianoforte.