"Pervy Panda". "Uhh..um..here." That was my constant battle on the first day of school every year for 12 years. It all started in Kindergarten. My teacher, Mrs. Cutter, was calling my classmates names out and when she came to me, it took her an unusual 13 seconds to figure out my name. "Pervy Panda?" My mom was quick to correct her, "It is pronounced POOrvi PUndYa" (uppercase letters for emphasis). My teacher had such a problem with it that she basically just changed my name to "Pervy". Every year since then, that became my name. Now, as a junior, I am finally realizing how stupid is really sounds. I am basically an open book of sexual thinking. Might as well just call me Perverted Panda (but please don't).
"Purvi" comes from the Sanskrit word, purva, which means "the East". Hence, "Purvi" means "girl from the East" (not because I live in Northeastern America but because I'm from the eastern part of the world, India). Whenever I explain what my name means to friends or teachers, they seem to always be disappointed, expecting something like "strength" or "God's gift". Sorry to upset you, take it up with my parents.
Also, in Indian culture, the child always take their father's name as their middle name. Since my brother, Ruchir, already had my dad's name as his middle name, my mother decided to put her name as my middle name, Kalindi. She chose Purvi because it had almost all the letters of my dad's name, Pravir (minus the "a") and wanted to make sure that I have a little of my mom and dad in my name.
In addition, in Indian classical music, we have 108 ragas, or melodic modes or tunes. Two specific ragas relate to my name, Purvi raga and Purvi Kalyan raga. My mom's side of the family were huge music fans and ended up wanting to name me something musical. Since we believe that ragas are a gift from God, my mom thought it would be like a blessing from God, whoever that may be.
I'm glad that they gave me the name Purvi comparing to the alternate choice, Panchali. It just sounds so, uncanny.
My middle name, as I mentioned before, is my mother's. "Kalindi" is the name of a holy river in India. Most people usually seem to like that part of my name the most.
My last name, however, is a doozy. The Pandyan dynasty was an Ancient Tamil dynasty in Pandya Nadu (now called Tamil Nadu in South India) around 600 BCE. However, I am not Tamil. I am from Gujarat and I'm assuming that generations after, they must have immigrated to Gujarat for business or better living.
Nowadays, however, whenever someone sees my last name, they instinctively ignore the "y" to make the name easier to say. I don't see why, though. When spelling my name to others, I usually just say "Panda with a y between d and a".
My grandfather, Dr. S. P. Pandya, linked our last name with science. In 1956, he published his work on calculating how to extend nucleus shell models (how many protons and neutrons go into the nucleus). It is called the Pandya Theorem or Pandya Transformation.
I don't hate my name. I appreciate that it isn't something generic like Betty or Emily (not to say they are bad names). Having an authentic Indian name brings me closer to my culture and religion.
Every name is going to have their pros and cons. There is no perfect name so might as well be happy with what you have.
I Loved it Purvi! Your intro was amazing and made mine seem very generic and boring in comparison. Everything is good except two things. The parts about your middle name could have been cut out. When it is first mentioned it is fine however that small paragraph you dedicated to it was unnecessary and could have been cut out. The only other problem I had is that your ending seemed a little abrupt. Nice, but abrupt. Ask me tomorrow if I'm not being clear. Overall- AMAZING
ReplyDeleteSuperb Purvy! I loved every bit of it. You've mangae to culturate Humor as well as facts into your blog. it kept my attention the whole entire time. Your name is really fascinating as a matter of fact. I don't really know what constructive criticizm to give you. While I was reading I didn't feel as if you were jumping all over the place; you weren't boring or non intersting. Your blog just seemed right. I know we're are suppose to give criticize things on each others blogs but I really have nothing to say for this one. Just keep doing what your doing.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Purvi, I loved your blog! I think you did a fantastic job showing your personality, and you really made me very intrigued as I read your blog. I thought it was very interesting how your name means "from the east." You really persuaded me to feel the same about names, and how even though all of our names have pros and cons, they are what makes you unique, and individual. I personally love your name, and the fact that it is strongly rooted in Indian culture. The fact that you described the history of your name in relation to the history of India and the Pandyan dynasty that was in BC times. I would never have known that your name was actually used in a scientific theory, so that is really awesome, and quite ironic because I know that you have an interest in majoring in the Sciences. I can relate to the fact that people tend to pronounce your name wrong because that usually happens with my last name. I just think next time, that you should explain more about how you're idea of people pronouncing your name wrong changed, to you caring more about people pronouncing your name properly. Overall though you're blog was fantastic.
ReplyDelete