Not the title for the next Karan Johar movie. This is my announcement or plea to the people around me.
Never before have I felt the need to accentuate my name or gender. In Kerala, where I was brought up, my name was normal (if not a very common one) for a female and I never bothered to give it a second thought. In fact there were some other girls with the same name in my school and college. Even then, I had known that 'Surya' is a name for the male species in Tamilnadu and some other parts of the country (outside the country, of course all Indian names are unisexual unless one fills the F/M column). This gave me a feeling of being special, but this special feeling cannot hold a candle to the rather special experiences that I had later on.
I was told that my name was a cause of anxiety (or was it excitement?) for those girls with whom I was supposed to share a hostel room in Mumbai as they were expecting "Mr. Surya". That explained their mixed feelings on finally seeing me. But it is my Punjabi friend Sandeep who takes the cake. She too had inadvertently raised the same kind of emotional concoction among those girls, but to a much greater extent as they had known that Sandeep was a student and hence, unlike me, closer to their age.
The stories of Mumbai end here. Much more was awaiting me here in Manipal, starting from the appointment letter addressed to Mr. Surya Harikrishnan (I somehow got that matter settled).
After joining here, I had to take a tour of various sections for all the formalities and verifications. Wherever I went, be it the HR section, salary section or the bank, I was looked upon as a strange creature. I, unintentionally but very successfully, invited second glances, amused looks , smiles or even stares from almost everyone. Even my students told me that when they were told of the new faculty, 'Surya Ma'm', they had thought that the HOD was either wrong or misinformed ( about either my name or gender).
One cannot blame any of them for their confusion. If Sooraj, Aditya, Bhaskar, Prabhakar, Divakar, Helios and Apollo are men, then so should be Surya, especially since there are so many "Mr. Surya"s around.
The problem reached the heights when one mid-morning I discovered that my mobile phone connection has been severed by the phone company, barring all the incoming and outgoing calls and message services. On contacting the customer care, I was asked to give my name which I did. The operator then said: " But Surya is the name of gents, and your form says you are a female ,that is why we have barred your calls...... and your voice is also like a woman".
I said: " That is because I am one"
They had earlier taken me for a "bad man Surya" who planned to abuse their phone service under the false identity of a woman. On talking to me the idea just got modified a bit. I was now the "wicked woman" planning some bad deed and putting an innocent man 'Surya' in trouble.
I tried to explain the situation to him, but he was not one to relent easily. Finally at the end of 10-minute-long arguments (with different people)and the verification of my d-o-b and other personal details that they made me quote, I somehow succeeded in proving that my name is Surya and I am not a male. Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!......
So much for the Shakespearean thought. Something is indeed "in a name"-at least mobile phone connections. But the bard must never have even imagined of such a situation. As cellphones, netbanking, PAN cards, driving license, and electoral identity cards were unheard of in the 16th century, one may as well excuse the great man for saying" What's in a name...."
Never before have I felt the need to accentuate my name or gender. In Kerala, where I was brought up, my name was normal (if not a very common one) for a female and I never bothered to give it a second thought. In fact there were some other girls with the same name in my school and college. Even then, I had known that 'Surya' is a name for the male species in Tamilnadu and some other parts of the country (outside the country, of course all Indian names are unisexual unless one fills the F/M column). This gave me a feeling of being special, but this special feeling cannot hold a candle to the rather special experiences that I had later on.
I was told that my name was a cause of anxiety (or was it excitement?) for those girls with whom I was supposed to share a hostel room in Mumbai as they were expecting "Mr. Surya". That explained their mixed feelings on finally seeing me. But it is my Punjabi friend Sandeep who takes the cake. She too had inadvertently raised the same kind of emotional concoction among those girls, but to a much greater extent as they had known that Sandeep was a student and hence, unlike me, closer to their age.
The stories of Mumbai end here. Much more was awaiting me here in Manipal, starting from the appointment letter addressed to Mr. Surya Harikrishnan (I somehow got that matter settled).
After joining here, I had to take a tour of various sections for all the formalities and verifications. Wherever I went, be it the HR section, salary section or the bank, I was looked upon as a strange creature. I, unintentionally but very successfully, invited second glances, amused looks , smiles or even stares from almost everyone. Even my students told me that when they were told of the new faculty, 'Surya Ma'm', they had thought that the HOD was either wrong or misinformed ( about either my name or gender).
One cannot blame any of them for their confusion. If Sooraj, Aditya, Bhaskar, Prabhakar, Divakar, Helios and Apollo are men, then so should be Surya, especially since there are so many "Mr. Surya"s around.
The problem reached the heights when one mid-morning I discovered that my mobile phone connection has been severed by the phone company, barring all the incoming and outgoing calls and message services. On contacting the customer care, I was asked to give my name which I did. The operator then said: " But Surya is the name of gents, and your form says you are a female ,that is why we have barred your calls...... and your voice is also like a woman".
I said: " That is because I am one"
They had earlier taken me for a "bad man Surya" who planned to abuse their phone service under the false identity of a woman. On talking to me the idea just got modified a bit. I was now the "wicked woman" planning some bad deed and putting an innocent man 'Surya' in trouble.
I tried to explain the situation to him, but he was not one to relent easily. Finally at the end of 10-minute-long arguments (with different people)and the verification of my d-o-b and other personal details that they made me quote, I somehow succeeded in proving that my name is Surya and I am not a male. Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!......
So much for the Shakespearean thought. Something is indeed "in a name"-at least mobile phone connections. But the bard must never have even imagined of such a situation. As cellphones, netbanking, PAN cards, driving license, and electoral identity cards were unheard of in the 16th century, one may as well excuse the great man for saying" What's in a name...."
