Thursday, February 7, 2008

What's in a name?!?!

How do your loved ones call you? Me? I have hundred billions of names with which I am called. Gullu, Gutchu, Kutchu, Chunnu, Chuntu, Gayu, Gaya, Gaay, Lala, Chucki, Tabe, Chakdu, Rotli, Cindrella (because I suffered constantly coz of my wicked sisters) and many more. There are so many different names with which I am called that if you hear any weird sound in our house, it might be one of my names!
But the most interesting of all is a name worth a tale. Apart from the names I mentioned earlier, I am also called as “PUNGI”. Weird, right? Why would anyone call anybody with such a strange name? How did they manage to come up with such an odd name? You would get all the answers if you read on.
There used to be a boy, with oil dripping from every strand of his hair, who lived near our house. He would daily come to my house and ask for my flute in the most irritating tone ever, saying “Gayatri, Pungi dena.” Then he would play the flute in absurd ways with noise screeching right through my ears. It used to annoy me to the core. After tolerating him for a while, I started avoiding him or told him straight on his face that I would not give him my flute, come what may! He would immediately start wailing at the top of his voice, repeating a same line over and over again; “Gayatri mujhe pungi nahi de rahi” till my sisters would force me to give him the flute. Obviously his wails would bug my sisters equally.
Meanwhile, I used to cry a lot, drained by my sisters’ constant vigil over me. And my cries would remind them of the flute-guy who would cry in the same way for the dearest PUNGI. So thus came the name PUNGI, and they started calling me that name ever since, teasing me that cries were similar to the harsh sound of pungi/flute. To make things worse, I would prove myself worthy for that name by crying louder still.
The only ray of hope used to be my mom, who would come running all the way, to comfort me and would say that I am not at all a pungi, but rather a HASMUKH, who smiles all the time.
And hence comes another name, HASMUKH, in the never-ending list of the names I am called by!

1 comment:

Vidya said...

oh my God Pungi....Such a refreshing memory:)..I was laughing aloud as I read ur blog..Well, there is another Pungi in the making...My darling daughter, when she cries non stop reminds me of her Pungi Chitti....