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Whats in a Name

My work here in the US allows me to meet people from all walks of life - different economic status, cultures, religions, countries.

I have at last count met people from more that 28 countries around the world who are immigrants here - to help and create their respective "American Dreams" - apartment, bungalow, home whatever you call it.

Also at the same time I have met Indians from almost all states in India - except for 3 northeast states. I like this experience which would not have been possible living a sheltered life at home.

Now what has happened is that my name CHINTAN DESAI has unknowingly attained many variations - some of which that I remember I will jot down here.

- South Indians : They add the "a" at the end. Like it is RAMA and LAXMANA for them instead of RAM and LAXMAN - I am Chintanaaaaa

- Chinese or Korean or any orientals : It is difficult for them to comprehend the full name - for them CHIN TAN is the full name - They ask politely why is DESAI added to your name.

- Latinos, Spanish or Mexicans : For them it is Shintan or Chitan or Chinton....and last name is D'sai like D'souza

- Europeans : They cant pronounce the soft TAN (तन) they make it TAAAN (तान)

Well I do spell names all wrong or hear them wrong - one such funny incident.

Client (on the phone) : Hi my name is Kiran (now thats what I heard and spelt)

Me: Hi, this is Chintan and after the regular conversation and taking down information we setup a meeting to meet at a parking lot from where we had to walk to his house.

At the lot - I am waiting in the car for 15 mins. Nobody showed up. So I call Kiran.
A guy standing at near the parking lot edge lifts the phone. He is Kiran.

So we both go and shake hands - the the confusion was :
He had seen me waiting but was expecting a chinese guy named : Chun Tan
and he was an Irish guy named CIARAN (pronounced you guessed it right Kiran)

Lastly - naming this blog CEEDY also has a small interesting tale. Around last year this time had called Pizza Hut for delivery. The guy at the other end asked me my name and could not get it.
So I said just jot down CD.
When it was delivered the bill said "SEEDY" - which has a shady meaning - but it stuck in my mind and when I started to blog I changed SEEDY to CEEDY - works well numerologically too :P. So thank you Pizza Hut dude.

Well some people get offended and start correcting people to pronounce their name correctly, I was taught very early in school - proper nouns do not have an exact pronunciation - I just like collecting my variations. Can one call it a hobby - I dunno.

Also still am a PC orphan - so will visit everyone in due time - just posting this from a friends laptop.

58 comments:

Deepali said...

Haha I always wondered where ceedy comes from. I did think seedy once and was wondering lol. Anyway I dont know why I always start thinking creedy and then realize I am adding an r by mistake.

The whole Kiran Chin Tan incident was too funny.

My dad and uncles lived abroad for a good part of their early life so all of them have 'english' names. It's pretty cool.

Preethi said...

ha haaa.... eventhough i knew ur real name b4, cudn't get the CD connection! I've wondered about it too... another interesting one there....,..mmmm..... as for ur chinese pronunciation... Chin Tan ....was too funny....

Pavi!!!! said...

ahh..the way ceedy came abt is cool!

n can we contact u for architcure tips when we build our dream home in Blr? It'll be a cpl of years..n u can work on enhancing ur skills until then ;-)...n i can't imagine calling u Chintan..just doesn't come naturally!so pls may i call u Ceedy?

Anonymous said...

Now Ceedy is simple name ain't it! And your real name reminds me of a really nice neighbor we once had, her name was Chintan Chawla, and i and all the kids called her ..chintan aunty..


well luckily for me.. i have a simple name..and well they kinda prounounce it ok..

it is here that i have a prob...
sme northies -vee-n-a-
southies vee-nn-a..

u knw which "nn" :))

i dnt care...though... coz to tell u the truth... i like variety in the prounciation of my name also :))

heheh!

have a great week ahead.. Mr Laptop Orphan hhehehhe!

Anonymous said...

and as usual i forgot to add..

Chintanaa ..it wasaa shuperbbaa postaa!

Prats said...

Chin Thaanaaaa....it actually sounds like one radio program that we would have long long ago....

But you said it right...it doesn't matter how proper names are pronounced as long as the person turns around on hearing a sound.. :D
I've had variations to my name too...so I understand your dilemna, fun and confusion

m.flowerr said...

And now Chin Tan and Kiran incidents are really funny....btw Chintanaaa isn't that bad.... ;)

kyamaloom said...

Zimbly Zuperb postaa!!
And I'm glad to know the secret behind "CEEDY". And apne liye toh Ceedy hi puurrfect hai Bhaaiii!!
The problem with me is that ppl hardly pronounce my name, its just "DoooD". grrr!! :)

Sexy song btw. :)

Romila said...

Hee, hee...Chun Tan
and CIARAN bit was too funny.

Planning to ask u about the "Ceedy origin" one fine day... Ahem! so inspired by Pizza hut dudes...

A said...

to ye hai Ceedy ki kahani.. :-)

Satish Bolla said...

a nice take on the names, buddy. am working in bahrain(an arab country) for around 2 yrs. as u know, my complete name is "satish bolla". they try to call me "bolla" instead of my first name "satish" and finally end up calling me as "mulla"(priest in arabic).

Cinderella said...

My my..I know where this came from SEEDY !!

Only you could come up with something like this...

*rolls eyes*

Cinderella said...

I'm gonna call you RB from now on...hope you know why too...

Impressionist said...

LOL!
thank god i havent come across any foreigners yet! :D
im sure they will ruin my name too! :P hehe

-I

--xh-- said...

mna.. lot of variations of ur name :-D yeah..sum ppl r very particular abt how ther name is pronounced... this chin tan phenomenon i hv seen @ some Adult movies - where the driectors use creative alterarations of their names like this :-D
(no offence ment.. :) )

KP said...

heheheh...oh man....thats was fun stuff...:).
there is so much in the name...:).

now i know why u r CEEDY...I always thought why cant it be just "CD"...:).

one thing i am glad about my name....no issues so far...:)

Cosmic Joy said...

Chin tan was hilarious!

KP said...

heheheh...oh man....thats was fun stuff...:).
there is so much in the name...:).

now i know why u r CEEDY...I always thought why cant it be just "CD"...:).

one thing i am glad about my name....no issues so far...:)

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

lol!
dat was really funny!
strange hw ppl can cme up with such variations of 1 single name!
i have seen ppl come up with weird pronounciations for my surname n it kinda sucks :P

aneri_masi said...

I can totally relate :)
My name's Kashmira, and mostly, I give up trying to explain/spell my name. And very often I am "oh, Cashmere, like the sweater". Yeah, exactly, like the sweater!

I like Chin Tan :) I can even hear the Chinese pronunciation of it in my head :)

Solitaire said...

I realized why you were CEEDY when I got to know your full name. But that SEEDY bit is funny.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Ceedy,
That was a very funny anecdote about names and how people from different countries react to the sound of our names. I was tempted to call you seedy, he, he, he, lolz. But I changed my mind because you might demand a pizza pie from me. Lolz. I have the same problem with my family name. People just had a hard time saying Alarilla. They just can't spell it right every time. Oh well, you can not have everything in life! Thanks for the amusing post. God bless.

aMus said...

:)
this was very interesting and funny too...

so u have a global name, that's not what most can boast of :)

Jaggu said...

Dude. No offense, let me clarify the south indian thing for you as I got a chance here. See, that "aaa" is not added all times( for every crap I mean to say ). Its in the usage and in the sentence formation.

For example: (the conversation which we used to have when we are driving). Lets say, you asked me to take a right turn, then I ask "right aa". It means "Do you want me to take right?". To simplify, "aaa(add any number a's you want) means "Is it?". So you are still CHINTAN. "a" cant be added to every crap. It cant be generalized. South Indians call Shah Rukh as Shah Rukh only, not SHAH RUKHAAA. Hope this clarifies you ( infact all ).

Last but not the least, 'Chintan aaa" means "Is that Chintan?".:))

Jaggu said...

And regarding Rama and Krishna, its with the language. Telugu language is like that, in which we will write the complete name fully, like RAMA, KRISHNA, MAHABHARATHAM, RAMAYANAM. "A" here is added to only some terms. We dont call MAHABHARATHAM as MAHABHARATHA. If you still have any doubts call me 1-800-JAGGU...ha ha...:))

Anonymous said...

The story behind ceedy was interesting.. mera samby to is just taken from sambyal my surname.. staying all obver the country owing to dads posting.. i too hear many vaiations... sambeeel.. sambayal.. n stuff... but as u say... whts in the name.. :-)

Anonymous said...

hey chintanaaa
:) couldn't help writing that.
having an extremely sleepy time at work - but the 'chintanaaa' was funny, and I've just made fun of a few of my south indian colleagues. No offence to anybody! I'm not evil- just sleepy =D

broca's area said...

haha..that was really funny!:))

Noushy Syah said...

All the while I tot your name is Ceedy something...surely you have to be grateful for the Pizza hut's man:)

Like my full name,Maliha Anoushka,mostly no problem for most people to say Anoushka correctly but not for Maliha...some will say it Malia,Maiha,Malie,Maihah:)

Though I'm not storing them but it's gr8 to know from one single name ends up with many pronunciations..

Jaya said...

Hilarious. When I saw your name as Ceedy. I somehow guessed your initials to be CD. That's pretty good that you are at comfort with what you are being called. If you hear what people call me, you would be laughing...

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

ha ha....gud one. I guess the opening song sound something like "mera naam CHIN CHIN TAAN..." :)

ceedy said...

@deepali
Have been ignoring the "r" :)
Yeah I am tempted to have a "foreign name" but then all the fun will be gone

@preethi
Jut some old tricks in my bad - cool you liked it

ceedy said...

@pavi!!!! (see did not forget the exclamations)
Yeah sure - whenever you are ready - I can assist you design. No problem. And does not matter what you prefer calling me - important part is being called :P

@veens
Yeah its cool to have different names sounds and i know which "nn" ;)...still am waiting for someone to adopt me tho

ceedy said...

@prats
Its all about the fun...find that clip online if you can

@m. flowerr
Who said its bad...I really dont mind - its just that when you do the same thing with others people get all finicky...

ceedy said...

@rohit
call me watever you want..and carry some nipples around in your pocket - next time someone calls you DOOOD hand him or ner one :)

@romila
Ok so you found out the lill secret

ceedy said...

@anjuli
Ha aur uskiki zabani

@Maula - oops Bolla
So you also have a song after you - you should be happy - Maula mere Maula from Anwar

ceedy said...

@cinderella
Hahah - yeah you can call me RB...

@impressionist
Yeah just was wondering what if my name was Dhrandharekar Phatawdekar :)

ceedy said...

@-xh-
Yup man no offense - I know what you are talking about ;P

@kp
yeah man now you know the secret - you foi was a genious dude

ceedy said...

@gunj
Chill - think of it as a creative pursuit :P

@cashmere -oops kashmira a.k.a. aneri
hahah - yeah so you can relate to it right...and it sounds funny - have to tell them sometimes to visualize the "chin" and a person in a tanning booth getting a "tan"

ceedy said...

@solitaire
Cool

@Mel
So you can understand the fun or the pain....ok I wont demand a pizza pie - as long as you had fun

ceedy said...

@cosmic

Thank you

@thinking aloud
Yeah a different way to look at it :)

ceedy said...

@samby
Yeah it sounds cool and feels good to have its root in your own name
thanks

@abreysham aaaaa
hahah - cool did they get mad!!!

ceedy said...

@brocasarea
Thanks

@noushy
Cool to know you name - Anoushka is a reall sweet name...yeah its fun

ceedy said...

@joy
Thanks - tell me whats your pseudonyms...

@nalin
Yeah man bahut bola director ko par kya kare...

ceedy said...

@jaggu
I actually will not argue with you - as you need to ask yourself this quesstion - what made you so upset with a post that was supposed to be funny - and you could only see South Indians there.

Also you are not the only South Indian I know - and how does calling me on a phone and saying Chintanaa mean Is that Chintan - when I have not even opened my mouth - so stop removing meaning where they dont exist.

Regarding the language - that is another myopia you have in the south - where you consider Telegu or the other three jalebi langages your first language resp.

The words for all our epics and my name are derived from Sanskrit - so there is no variations in them - they have to be pronounced pure - so before you teach me crap I think you should respect the language of the nation and come out of your southern well

Pavi!!!! said...

OMG..LOL @ Nalin's response....I hv been singing the song all day "chin chin tan" n m lovin itttttt!

Jaggu said...

Dude, why did you assume that I took it serious? Can't you see the emoticons which I added at the end of sentence. They mean different if we append such icons..:-P ( like this ). And I respect all languages, I listen to every music. I sing songs from all languages. :))

Sukanya said...

hey :)
really funny..
i've such experiences too!!! from Bagur i've gone on to b Tagore and even 'burger'!!! in one of my summer camp certificates!!!

Anonymous said...

nah- they're pretty much used to it by now- and tey've been through worse- like when I compliment them by callnig them 'inndlligund'(intelligent)- or when I ask them 'WHAER' (where) with the customary popping of eyes-
and I'm told I've incorporated the head-nodding pretty well to actually not be offensive anymore :-D

whoops- baat kahan sey nikli thi aur kahan khatam hui :S

ceedy said...

@ Knatchbulley Hughzscene
Hehe...welcome here.

Yes its funny

ceedy said...

@abreysham
cool - just to see how they get affected read my dialogues with Jaggu above....;)

ruSh.Me said...

LOL.....TOO GOOD..!!!
:D

now i know...how would rashmi would sound broken up as rush-me...!!! :(

Anonymous said...

what da ? u almost trashed every body aaa ? why da ? loved it, ximbly zuperb!!!!

ceedy said...

@rush.me

welcome to the space - yeah rush me would be funny

ceedy said...

@ashu

welcome back - glad you enjoyed it

Mysterious Mia said...

tat was a nice post, it was funny, chintanaaaaa. hehe.

I have a similar story, I was living in Sydney for 2 yrs n people would pronounce my name as 'An Vita' / 'Vita' and then the OZs thought ita very long name so I had to derive a short one to Anu as in the OZ singer Christina Anu. Then I has the Scots called me 'Aneeeew'. But yeah I sure do remember all the names I have been called by. ehhe

ceedy said...

@anvita

heheh - glad you liked the post and can identify with it....