Names and the Self Respect Movement | Indian Spy | Bird wings
@theonlyseersapphire said:
Happy Halloween, I hope all of you are doing well!! So, I'm writing an Indian character, who was born in 1950, however, he's from Tamil Nadu (and british immigrant), and just yesterday I learned about the self respect movement. Would it be more accurate if he had an original surname or his father's name? And his mother, born in 1919-1920? Also, is it okay to make him a spy? (From a fantasy war) Last question I promise : is there anything wrong with giving him wings? Like bird wings?
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Thank you for your support! Please review our policy on multi-part questions on the pinned main post. We will accept 2 part questions, but not 3. I’m answering this one just to let all of you know.
Note: Some of our followers have already mentioned the Self-Respect Movement indirectly. This anti-caste movement from the mid 1900s is a large part of why certain Tamilians will take on their father’s given name as their last name, rejecting caste identifiers.
Number 1: You don’t mention religion, but I’m going to answer assuming he’s Hindu based on the information provided. Please research names and caste accordingly. It depends on how “deep” into the movement he is, and whether or not he views the name as instrumental to perpetrating caste oppression or not. Some people did, some didn’t. As a Brahmin, I would never give up my name even though it obviously shows my caste status. This has nothing to do with me thinking caste is anything special. Quite to the contrary. However, there are two issues:
I know that demanding other Brahmins not see me as a Brahmin lowers my social capital with them. To me, this diminishes my social utility.
On a certain level, I am genuinely proud to be a Brahmin. It’s a part of me in the same way I’ve heard Jewish people describe their relationship with their identity. A Brahmin like me isn’t a good fit for the Self Respect Movement. I don’t know the caste of your character, but how they view Brahmins and Brahmanism would play a role for them as it would for me.
In other words, this depends on your character, how they view themselves, caste, Hinduism, equality, social norms, all of that stuff. Your character may very well even choose to cease to be Hindu and convert to another religion, but I think you should ask a former Hindu how to proceed with that storyline appropriately if you go that route.
Number 2: For a mother born in 1919, having a son at 31 is a bit old for the standards of the time. My grandmother was considered a late marriage at the age of 24. That said, there were lots of miscarriages and stillbirths in my family as there would be in any Indian family starting out in the 1940s-1950s while the British Empire drew to a close. You’d need to have a sense of birth trends, infant mortality rates, health infrastructure, etc. With regards to the spying...who is he spying for and for what? As always, research!
Number 3: No issue with giving him wings...but why??? Seems not super helpful if he’s a spy.
- Marika.
I can only answer the part about the wings. Bird wings would be hard to hide, as Marika points out, unless they can appear or vanish at will. He would need really bulky jackets to cover them. Perhaps it’s best to skip the wings on this one.
- Jaya