The Namesake!!

This novel has a concept which is closely related to situations and consequences which I have faced and keep facing sometimes even now. But the only difference is that, I love my name. Though it is different, though people make fun of it now and then, I just love my name. Unlike the character in the novel named Gogol who always makes a mistake of hating his name(and thus losing his identity and realizes it in the end),sometimes I am just proud of my name. Though it is a little frustrating when my teacher always stops at my name(while taking attendance) with a very helpless look on her face, it is a great feeling when I find that there is only one PURNA KOUMUDI in this world as of now…..

I have learnt to take pleasure in teaching people how to pronounce my name properly every time in a very patient manner and I take great pride in dictating the spelling of my name to all my teachers, especially English teacher…hahahaha….. all of them obediently writing it down as I dictate….

The novel has stirred up some of the memories of the incidents which even I have faced in my life. Definitely you are identified by your name, but your true identity lies in what kind of a person you are and not what kind of a name you have. Depending on your personality, your name which was ridiculed earlier may be loved and appreciated later. In the novel, Gogol never tries to find out why his father had named him so and changes his name to Nikhil. Finally he realizes that he could not do justice to either Gogol or Nikhil. He remains somewhere in the middle totally messing up with himself.

Finally, a great novel which has lots to learn about where your true identity lies.