My life at Belthur school was not a pretty one either. First, let me tell about the evolution of my name.
My parents decided to name me Somashekara. Soma in Sanskrit means moon. Shekara is one who dresses. So, Somashekara means one who dresses moon as his decoration. That is, of course, Lord Shiva. Our family goddess is Lord Shiva, specifically, Nanjundeshwara - the principal god in the town of Nanjanagud. The protocol in our part of India was to have two initials, the first for my village and the second for my father's name. So, my name at birth was M. A. Somashekara, i.e., Munganahalli Aswathanaraya Rao Somashekara.
Munganahalli is my village - that is where I was born (I was born at my home). Aswathanaraya Rao was my father's name. The last part Somashekara was my grand name.
When I was admitted to elementary school in Munganahalli, the headmaster did two critical things that affected me without informing me or my father. First, he changed my date of birth since I was not legally allowed to join school if he used my real date of birth. Second, he changed my name! He decided my own name was kind of dangling. So, he took the liberty of adding another part to make it complete, more respectable. He named me M. A. Somashekara Rao.
When my uncle admitted me at Belthur school, the headmaster over there (I rememer his name was Veeranna) decided that the Rao part in my name was not very appealing and decded to change it to M. A. Somashekara Murthy. Again, without informing me or my uncle. Until I passed my 10th grade which is the final school year before joining pre-university, I did not know my new date of birth or my new name! My date of birth and my name are shown in the 10th grade certificate which is equivalent to the official birth certificate since in those years we never had offcial birth cerificates.
In my Passport from the Government of India, my name was shown as Munganahalli Aswathanaraya Rao Somashekara Murthy! My name ran into several lines overflowing into my father's and mother's name area which created quite a problem when I tried to explain to the US Consular officer to get a visa to come to the US for graduate school.
When I became the US citizen, I had an opportunity to change my name. I did it by stripping my initials. So my name is Somashekara Murthy - no initials. Somashekara is my first name and Murthy my last name to confirm to the naming protocol in the west.
When I joined AT&T after graduate school, I specified my name as Soma Murthy. My official name is still Somashekara Murthy, but I use my shortened version Soma Murthy. Everyone calls me Soma. I like being called Soma, it is easy to pronounce.
ADDED ON Aug. 13, 2006:
After returning from my India trip, I was perusing my horoscope. I found that my birth name was Kiran Kumar! My business name was Somashekara. I called my mom and asked whether they named me Kiran Kumar, she did not know anything about it. I doubt I was given the name Kiran Kumar. It is difficult for me to imagine my parents thought up such a fancy name back then. Mystery deepens!
My parents decided to name me Somashekara. Soma in Sanskrit means moon. Shekara is one who dresses. So, Somashekara means one who dresses moon as his decoration. That is, of course, Lord Shiva. Our family goddess is Lord Shiva, specifically, Nanjundeshwara - the principal god in the town of Nanjanagud. The protocol in our part of India was to have two initials, the first for my village and the second for my father's name. So, my name at birth was M. A. Somashekara, i.e., Munganahalli Aswathanaraya Rao Somashekara.
Munganahalli is my village - that is where I was born (I was born at my home). Aswathanaraya Rao was my father's name. The last part Somashekara was my grand name.
When I was admitted to elementary school in Munganahalli, the headmaster did two critical things that affected me without informing me or my father. First, he changed my date of birth since I was not legally allowed to join school if he used my real date of birth. Second, he changed my name! He decided my own name was kind of dangling. So, he took the liberty of adding another part to make it complete, more respectable. He named me M. A. Somashekara Rao.
When my uncle admitted me at Belthur school, the headmaster over there (I rememer his name was Veeranna) decided that the Rao part in my name was not very appealing and decded to change it to M. A. Somashekara Murthy. Again, without informing me or my uncle. Until I passed my 10th grade which is the final school year before joining pre-university, I did not know my new date of birth or my new name! My date of birth and my name are shown in the 10th grade certificate which is equivalent to the official birth certificate since in those years we never had offcial birth cerificates.
In my Passport from the Government of India, my name was shown as Munganahalli Aswathanaraya Rao Somashekara Murthy! My name ran into several lines overflowing into my father's and mother's name area which created quite a problem when I tried to explain to the US Consular officer to get a visa to come to the US for graduate school.
When I became the US citizen, I had an opportunity to change my name. I did it by stripping my initials. So my name is Somashekara Murthy - no initials. Somashekara is my first name and Murthy my last name to confirm to the naming protocol in the west.
When I joined AT&T after graduate school, I specified my name as Soma Murthy. My official name is still Somashekara Murthy, but I use my shortened version Soma Murthy. Everyone calls me Soma. I like being called Soma, it is easy to pronounce.
ADDED ON Aug. 13, 2006:
After returning from my India trip, I was perusing my horoscope. I found that my birth name was Kiran Kumar! My business name was Somashekara. I called my mom and asked whether they named me Kiran Kumar, she did not know anything about it. I doubt I was given the name Kiran Kumar. It is difficult for me to imagine my parents thought up such a fancy name back then. Mystery deepens!
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