Monday, December 24, 2007

WHAT'S IN A NAME????

In Romeo & Juliet- an ode to love , our beautiful heroine declaims the famous lines “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose/by any other would smell as sweet”(Those who have read,would never forget these lines). By the end of the play we know that Juliet was wrong: the fact that her name is Capulet and Romeo’s is Montague has an enormous effect on the action of the tragedy and leads to the deaths of two star-crossed lovers.

What’s in a name? A great deal, as anyone who has ever been stuck with an odd name or cruel nick name will tell you. A number of reputable studies have shown that psychosis and criminal behaviour are common among people with “peculiar names” and that people with last names beginning with the letters S through z die sooner than others-perhaps they spend most of their lives tensely waiting in lines.

People react emotionally to names, consider the world of filmdom for instance, a star’s name must have “Box-office Appeal”, it must project the kind of image that the star is supposed to radiate. Would super star Rajinikanth be as popular if he had retained his original name-Sivaji Rao Gaekwad? Would Vivekanand have been as funny if he weren’t baptised to Vivek .Didn’t Kenny become more Macho and happening when the studio changed his name to Vikram.

It’s natural to ask “What’s your name?”, but never be provoked to question “What’s in a Name?”

Apt name will lead us to the road of the fame!!