Special Mom’s blog

I was named after my paternal Grandmother. So officially that was my name. But I was given another name too, and I was called using that name too. When my marriage was fixed, my father in law wanted to change my name. Okay, this made my Grandmother so angry. It seems my in law’s place had that tradition of changing names. I too was furious about it.

Mine was an arranged marriage, decided by elders. Yet, there were lot of difference of opinions. I think the name changing idea was an authority exhibited by my father in law and nothing more. My new name did not stick even though my father in law tried to call me many times. I think it didn’t have any significance.

My Dad just said once, while I was struggling with my 5 year old special one, “maybe if you had changed the name when your father in law asked, maybe it would have changed your fate and maybe you would not struggle like this”. I just smiled at him. We were trying every treatment on this planet and my Dad had this thought process. Our human minds think really hard during tough situations.

My Grandmother was a very strong woman. It was her Grandmother’s name and I vaguely remember so many stories she told me that were associated with her name. Some vaguely remembered stories were about one ancestor running away from the house and going to Varanasi and coming back with a vessel of water from River Ganges (whom I am named after), and following that the child born was named Ganga. Then, the baby previously born before my Grandmother who was named Ganga died and only after three years my Grandmother was given this name. On and on I had listened to her.

So to answer WordPress question I am really proud of my name which has passed generations. I had a chance to change it and was even forced to, but it did not happen. So , even if I am given an opportunity I will not change my name.