And it happened again. I am not sure if people realize how rude it is!
Okay, let me start over. As I have told earlier (here and here), I have only one name: Richa. I don’t have a last name. Period. And YES that’s how it appears on my passport too as well as in all my legal documents. Indian government doesn’t have a problem with that (Did I tell you that I love India? Well I do, sometimes.). But obviously US system doesn’t accept that so everywhere I go they ask for my last name and when I tell them I don’t have one, they repeat my name twice. And I wouldn’t have problem with that, as long as it remains on paper. But no! People usually insist on calling me Richa Richa. It’s very amusing for them. The secretaries like to print my name on official badges as Richa Richa even though I would have requested them not to do so the evening before. They find it 
highly amusing as they point it out to others and tell them that I don’t have a last name. I DON’T FIND IT AMUSING.
I don’t get it! They are okay with people shortening the names or someone insisting on being called by their nick names then why, in heavens name, do they have problem with me insisting to be known as Richa and not Richa Richa? Gerald can become Gary, Richard can become Rich but I can’t be Richa when it’s actually my name. Why? Just tell me, why?
P.S.: Don’t try to call me Richa Richa for your amusement or as a joke . You might get an earful or a very cold treatment. I mean it.
A name so nice, you say it twice! :)
ReplyDeleteOh...didn't know you didn't have a last name. And I thought I had problems! :P I don't have a surname because my last name is my dad's first name (it's a tamilian thing) and so my surname/family name section is generally blank even on my passport. Most people find it hard to understand why I don't have a family name but that happened even in India. When I got my license here at one centre they wouldn't accept it but at another they were nice enough to put my last name on the family name section because there was no other way. So now I just fill it out as a surname. So I can kinda imagine how shitty it must be for you!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found annoying through college back in India was how every year they would call out my dad's name during the roll call thinking that was the first name. Sigh.
Interesting. One solution I can think of is to have your name written as Richa R on paper. Insist that you don't have a last name, and if they want to write, let them write only the initial. This is acceptable in most places, and no one would call you Ms. R (hopefully).
ReplyDeleteI had a friend who did this to make sure that people don't mispronounce his last name.
Oh! That's bad! I can empathize!
ReplyDeleteAnd we have a issue of different kind!!
My husband's name is Kshitij...K is silent in the pronunciation.
And he has different people calling him different names viz K-Shitij, Chhitij, Kishitij and some even Satish!!!!
And more variants especially from the Customer care call centre guys!!
It irks you!!
@ Sudipta: I have heard that one before and don't find it amusing. It doesn't feel like my name when someone says it that way :)
ReplyDelete@ PB: Oh I know that one. I lived in Chennai for 2.5 years after all. The trouble is, according to Tamil customs, the name of father or family name is written before your name. I found it a bit confusing first time I heard it but then got used to it.
I understand your pain. I have quite a few Tamil friends who suffer with the same problem.
Once a friend of mine was called as Ms. C while waiting for her turn in Australian embassy in Chennai (her name being C. Anupama). It took around half an hour before she realized that they are calling her! You know it takes few minutes to learn about someone's culture (the embassy was in Chennai). Why do people insist on imposing their culture on others?
@ Pradeep: Its an interesting solution however American government has it's own particular solution for "this problem". While applying for Visa, the embassy insisted on writing my first name as FNU (First Name Unknown). So wherever I need to give an official name, usually I also need to present my SSN or visa documents and then again starts the whole procedure of explaining the process.
I don't have that much problem explaining it but I get irked when these people start making fun of it or find it very amusing on my expense. It's more about respecting someone's culture and name than anything else. They are being very rude and I resent that.
@ Shilpa: Oh I can empathize on that one. For some unknown reason, people here like to call me "Rika" and not "Richa". I don't know in which language "ch" is pronounced as "ka" but it's highly irritating. If you are not sure about how to pronounce someone's name then please ask and learn the correct pronunciation. It takes few seconds and it is a customer service etiquette if they ever bothered to learn it..