It's not just a name

Today I was in the canteen (cafeteria) throwing food in my mouth with my right hand (thats how we do). I was sitting with a guy I never met before and he asked my name. I told him robby. He looked at me totally confused and said "are you from a Hindu family?" I wasn't at all sure how that was relevant to the conversation but simply said "No, Christian." Then he said "Oh, ok your name sounds like Ravi, which is a Hindu name." Then it all made sense.

A week or so ago I posted about a little confusion I had as to what to call myself here. I thought about foreigners that came to the sates and often I met people that adopted american names. Although we knew the Chinese guy was not originally named Tom, we would have no problem with that. The difference is that in the states your name has very little meaning to it. For example if I tell you my name is Robby, you don't know anything more about me than how to get my attention. In the states you give meaning to your name, the name doesn't give meaning to you.

However here it is different. Your name immediately tells other people what state you are from, what social class you belong to, and what religion you family ascribes to. So if I was to say that my name was Ravi it would be making statements about myself, my family and our background that are clearly not true.

It almost reminded me of the kid trying to be someone he is not. The kid that bought a Tony Hawk skate board but really has no idea how to skate. Or the person that has taken one philosophy class but tries to talk like he is well versed in philosophy. Or the first year bible student debating Calvinism at Starbucks. The slang term is "poser." Someone that poses to be something/someone they aren't.

Here there is a lot in a name. A lot of trust, value, and identity in a name and I have no right to coin a new nickname for myself. Lesson learned!


R