Hazards of having UNCOMMON LETTERS in your Name

When I was born, my Parents came up with a very unique and beautiful name by which I would be known ever after. I was named “Girija”. I guess, they never thought how exceptionally unique it would be at the global level :-).

Literally translated, 'Girija' means Mountain Born. 'Girija’ is a name of one form of the feminine aspect of God as understood by the Hindu religion, namely the goddess Parvati, the wife of Lord Siva. She is also referred to (in Sanskrit) as 'parvatha raja tanaya', meaning the daughter of the King of the Mountains, as she was born to King Himalaya. (Btw , I'm the daughter of King Vishnu and Queen Vijaya (my parents :-) )
Also, in Hindi, the national language of my country India “Girija Ghar” means “A Church”.

Now coming back to the actual topic, the hazardous letters in my name happens to be “J”. Or rather it’s the combination or G, R & J .
I can understand if a non-Indian finds it difficult to pronounce my name, but most of my fellow countrymen also end up pronouncing it incorrectly :-( .
It’s so simple “GI - RI - JA”
So here I am quoting all possible ways that people pronounce (rather manipulate) my name “GIRIJA” and at times even give up the effort of pronouncing it.

Girja : This happens to be people’s favourite. None of the letters in my name are silent ,still everyone ends up eating "A" .
(In Hindi language Girja means “Fall down”:-( )

One of my school teachers used to almost hizzzz while calling me: “Girzza” .She ate up the “I” and then messed up “J” with “ZZ”. And trust me; I despised her every time she called my name.

My two cute little nieces have their own style of calling me .The elder one used to call me “Girisha” when she was 2-3 years old. The younger one who is 2.5 years old calls me “Gija”
:-) .(And I luv their style.)

However, one of colleagues also calls me “Gija”. Actually, he says "Girija" so fast that it sounds like “Gija”.

Malaysian and Singaporean Colleagues from my ex-company Soundbuzz used to call me “Geeeja”.
May be that’s the Asia pacific style of pronouncing my name :).

Here’s one incident, when I was in London at the clients office. On the eve of Christmas, our client had organized “Secret Santa”. Secret Santa is basically a fun game wherein you pick up a cheet with someone’s name & get a gift for that person. There was this babe from the client side who was giving away the gifts. (Though it was Secret Santa, I knew which gift belonged to me, and who had got it for me). She picked up the gift that belonged to me, made an attempt to read out my name, made a weird face (as if that was the toughest tongue twister that she had ever encountered) and kept it back. She gave away some more of the gifts, then again picked up the one that belonged to me and tried again to read out my name, and again kept it back. Finally, there were just 3-4 gifts left. She again picked up my gift , called one of her colleague’s and asked him to read it out .He almost put up a point blank expression on his face , as if that was the most toughest word that he had ever encountered in his whole life . For no reason, I was feeling embarrassed and frustrated. However, just to make their task easier, I walked up to them & told “That’s me.”

There’s this very recent incident wherein one of our European clientele spelt my name as “Ginija”.And, I wonder if she has been referring to me as “Gini pig” :-( (guinea pig).

However, Now I have become resilient to the way people call me :-).Thankfully, my colleagues have cut short my name to “Giri” and made it easier for them.

I love myself ,
I love the hands that work,
I love the brains that think ,
I love the hearts that love ..
Sir. Richard Branson
(Beutiful words by the great man ... I love you Sir :-))

After seeing the picture of the frog over here, thoughts that might have shot across your minds could be something like, say,

Is this the frog that Girija is going to kiss & who is going to turn into her charming beloved?

Has she been to some wild life expedition wherein she has explored the lifestyle of species of frogs, which she intends to write about?

Now before you start getting more inquisitive, let me tell you, the diving posture of the frog exactly resembles my first dive. (to be more precise that’s how my coach plunged me into the pool)

My swimming mania started when I was in the 3rd Grade & I got myself enrolled for that year’s summer camp. On the very 1st day of the camp as I stood by the poolside I could feel my excitement being pulled down by the volcanic goose bumps that were making their presence felt within me. I thought I could see and hear the diving board (which stood some 12-15th feet tall) and the deeper side of the pool making fun of me and challenging me … “wanna try me …. Baby come closer... See I how I’m gonna throw you high and my friend below is going to gulp u downL”.

I decided, come what may I’m going to learn to swim “BUT only in SHALLOW water” where my legs touched the floor.

By the 11th day of the camp, I had become the “Princess of Shallow water”, with all credits to the expert guidance of my coach. However, the time had come & I guess our coach had very smartly
Chalked out the “Killer Plan”. “The Killer Plan” was to kill the phobia of altitude and depth from within our innocent minds.
Everyday a few would fall prey to the “Killer Plan” and come out “Victorious” :-) . I thought, I was smart enough to dodge the preying eyes of my coach.

But, alas, the day came when my Coach just dragged the skinny me to the midst of the pool and told me to find my way back to safety. I tried my best to cling on to Him, but he just disappeared into the water … I thought,may be my legs would hit the floor but the only thing that hit me was water …water … water …everywhere ….here and there .Then the only thing that I remember is vibrantly rowing the water with both my hands and legs till I finally reached the edge of the pool. And when I finally stabilized myself and opened my eyes, I saw my coach right beside me smiling and showing me the V-sign.
I realized he had successfully killed the depth phobia from within me. That day I learnt, “To swim one doesn’t have to measure the depth of the water.”

However, the altitude phobia was still residing within me. I told my coach,”I just wan’t to swim, I don’t want to dive and all.”
“It’s your wish, but at least come up over to the diving board and see your friends take the dive.” Was all that my coach said .
That was so kind of him ,I thought. I climbed up to the diving board and saw my friends bravely plunge into the pool one after the other. When everyone had finished taking their dives, I turned to climb down ,& I heard my coach say “Your turn child”. I was dumbstruck. To one end was the diving board and on the other end was my coach standing like my opponent on a boxing ring, all ready to attack me …. I was howling at the top of my voice, pleading to be spared . And then all I could remember is being thrown into the air & just like the frog in the picture …my legs were dangling in the air , my hands were wide apart (trying to catch hold of the winds I guess) and “SPLASH” I go down deep into pool and like a spring action I just swam up (but this time I had gulped up enough water) to safety ….. “Thereby killing my fear of altitudes.. :-) ”

And, yes from the next day onwards I swam less and dived more J …
All thanks to my coach “Mr.Anand Patil” .

Movies that touch the deepest nerve in your Heart ....

to be blogged .....

Distant Love

I would love U Forever,
May be our paths might meet Never;
U would hold a special place in my heart,be U Wherever;
U made d poetess in me Uncover;
Thats what happens, When U are bit by the Bug 'Lover';
to be continued ...... :-)

Girija : Wrote those lines while reading "P.S I Love You.".