"That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
These are the words of Juliet, in Shakespeare's drama "Romeo and Juliet". I'm no huge fan of the Bard (the "thees" and the "thous" are huge put offs for "mees"), but relish the depth in some of his messages which strike a chord and makes you think about life on an elevated level. Anyways, this quote means we should not be bothered about how people address or call us because no one can change who we are internally. Names are mere ornaments to our existence (if you have the time to think metaphors) or plainly, like name tags in an office meeting (if you would rather sky-dive off a steep cliff than think about such wordy stuff)
To interpret this more in present day terms - Juliet says (be very clear, it's not me) that you shouldn't take things seriously, when someone verbally assaults you. Be a Rock of Gibraltar or a stand like a statue of Buddha, till the person runs out of their expletive vocabulary or you get tired of your stoic pose and chase them around with a stick, either of which is fine with me. Juliet is the one who'll probably get offended, but who cares, really? Trust me, she has plenty of problems on her hand already, dealing with the silly Capulets and the sillier Montagues.
Back to my topic.
We're not going to have a literary discussion here (i take those collective lots of relieved sighs as a huge hint), but going to talk about Names. You know - our sole identity as a "homo sapiens" in the human race, the thoughtful bunch of words that parents or families or extended families are forced to come up with when we start our evolution in this world, those clever, catchy, religious or new-age ones that people have brainwaves of, and the frustrating ones that doesn't matter how much time or effort you put in, you always end up with your children hating their names and wish they could change them or ask you in a sarcastic voice, "Is this the best you could do?" Yeah, the same thing.
And, not kidding but you can try stretching, shortening, cleverly disguising or anything else you want - it's hard to get rid of your name. I know I have tried it many times, no luck whatsoever. It just manages to follow me everywhere. Worse scum comes off much easily than my name. Really.
On a serious note, it's fascinating how much we take our names for granted, but it's not that simple. Our names conveys nationality, religion and in India caste too, how old we are (popular ones spread like wildfire) etc. There are some famous, powerful names that are etched in history books - Einstein, Newton, Gandhi etc. To add to the list, there are aliases, screen names and pet names too.
So, Mr. Shakespeare, there's a lot to a name - A rose may not care much and throw a rosy smile at you even if you call it a common "dandelion" or a stinky "corpse flower", but it's serious business for our species and that includes you, Mister.
By any other name would smell as sweet."
These are the words of Juliet, in Shakespeare's drama "Romeo and Juliet". I'm no huge fan of the Bard (the "thees" and the "thous" are huge put offs for "mees"), but relish the depth in some of his messages which strike a chord and makes you think about life on an elevated level. Anyways, this quote means we should not be bothered about how people address or call us because no one can change who we are internally. Names are mere ornaments to our existence (if you have the time to think metaphors) or plainly, like name tags in an office meeting (if you would rather sky-dive off a steep cliff than think about such wordy stuff)
To interpret this more in present day terms - Juliet says (be very clear, it's not me) that you shouldn't take things seriously, when someone verbally assaults you. Be a Rock of Gibraltar or a stand like a statue of Buddha, till the person runs out of their expletive vocabulary or you get tired of your stoic pose and chase them around with a stick, either of which is fine with me. Juliet is the one who'll probably get offended, but who cares, really? Trust me, she has plenty of problems on her hand already, dealing with the silly Capulets and the sillier Montagues.
Back to my topic.
We're not going to have a literary discussion here (i take those collective lots of relieved sighs as a huge hint), but going to talk about Names. You know - our sole identity as a "homo sapiens" in the human race, the thoughtful bunch of words that parents or families or extended families are forced to come up with when we start our evolution in this world, those clever, catchy, religious or new-age ones that people have brainwaves of, and the frustrating ones that doesn't matter how much time or effort you put in, you always end up with your children hating their names and wish they could change them or ask you in a sarcastic voice, "Is this the best you could do?" Yeah, the same thing.
And, not kidding but you can try stretching, shortening, cleverly disguising or anything else you want - it's hard to get rid of your name. I know I have tried it many times, no luck whatsoever. It just manages to follow me everywhere. Worse scum comes off much easily than my name. Really.
On a serious note, it's fascinating how much we take our names for granted, but it's not that simple. Our names conveys nationality, religion and in India caste too, how old we are (popular ones spread like wildfire) etc. There are some famous, powerful names that are etched in history books - Einstein, Newton, Gandhi etc. To add to the list, there are aliases, screen names and pet names too.
So, Mr. Shakespeare, there's a lot to a name - A rose may not care much and throw a rosy smile at you even if you call it a common "dandelion" or a stinky "corpse flower", but it's serious business for our species and that includes you, Mister.