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11/24/2014

Why do Indians ask your "good self" for your "good name"?

 -       I asked Sujatha's cousin from the U.S what his good name was and he burst out laughing. Sujatha said that his good name was Rahul and his bad name was Bala. 

-       That must have made you mad. 

 

-       It certainly did. Anyway, what was wrong with the question I had asked? 

 

-       You see, native speakers of English don't say, “What's your good name?”. They ask you for your ‘name’, not your ‘good name’. By the way, do you have a ‘bad name’? 

 

-       No, I don't! You mean it's wrong to say, “What's your good name?”. 

 

-       It's quite common within India. But native speakers of English don't use it. 

 

-       Then why do we say it? 

 

-       I think it's the mother tongue influence. I have a feeling that “What's your good name?” is actually a translation of how the question is asked in Hindi. Of course, there may be other Indian languages which ask you for your ‘good name’ as well.* 

 

-       That's interesting. But do you mean to say that native speakers of English never use the expression ‘good name’? 

 

-       Of course, they do. But they don't use it when they want to know your name. The expression ‘good name’ is used to refer to one's ‘reputation’. For example, if someone says “You have ruined the good name of the family”, it means... 

 

-       ...it means you have ruined the family's reputation. 

 

-       Yes, you have brought shame on the family, and what not! 

 

-       Tell me, while we are on the subject of ‘good name’, is it wrong to say ‘good self'’? 

 

-       Good self! I thought there was only one ‘Self’ for everyone to try to realise! I didn't know there was a good self and a bad self! 

 

-       What are you talking about? 

 

-       Just a little philosophy. But never mind. Native speakers of English seldom use ‘good self’. It is considered rather old fashioned. If at all used, it is used in highly formal contexts. Usually in writing. 

 

-       I see. When writing to my uncle or my cousin, I shouldn't use ‘good self’? 

 

-       I wouldn't. Why use good self at all? Just say ‘you’. 

 

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/2000/02/29/stories/13290675.htm

* “When meeting someone Indian for the first time, it is customary for them to ask you what your "good" name is. It could be our way of making a first interaction seem more polite and formal, or could have been a literal translation from the Hindi phrase "Aapka shubh naam kya hai?" (‘shubh’ meaning good, auspicious) Alternatively, it may be a derivation from the Bengali custom of giving everyone a "shubh naam" (a good, or given, name) and a "daak naam" (a petname or nickname).” Source: http://www.samosapedia.com/e/good_name

11/22/2014

Mickey in India!

11/20/2014

The rock 'n roll crib - Part 3

BUT NO!!! Once your dear husband has found the crib of his dreams, he is not going to compromise for second-class options: “don’t you think this crib is gliding a little too fast? and it’s annoying, you can’t dismantle it easily no? and it will not even last for a year!”. Back to square one...

It briefly crosses our minds to get the mini-crib done locally. Indians are masters of it. But for questions of security and patience, we quickly drop the idea. On top of that our recent experiences in this field have not been conclusive, to say the least (cf his tailor-made wedding suit and alliance he never wore (not even on the wedding day)).

This is when your dear husband finds the website that specializes in getting stuff from the US (transportation and customs). Cost: at least the price of what you are buying. But anyway we were ready to spend that much from the beginning – and when you buy from Mother Care in India, it is much more expensive than in England. Since he is at it he buys a mattress on this site, because who says unique crib says unique size of mattress (not found in India nor in France). And there, incredible but true, in one week the crib was in our living room! And assembled in less than ten minutes! And meeting the expectations of the dear husband! (this was far from given) And he got to try the do-it-yourself American-style (he could build his baby’s bed!!) Pfffiou... India,baby,craddle,crib,mini-crib

Let’s see now what use we will make of our beautiful cradle and how we will manage sleep with Junior! Because it is very easy to talk, we don’t know what we will really do!! So we will just do our best… And hope that the baby will not suffer from a “lack of love”, or “sense of insecurity” if he/she does not sleep with the mother for at least twelve months (after all I and my brothers are quite balanced despite sleeping methods judged barbaric)! 

The full story here: PDF