Sunday, August 5, 2012

An analysis of my Personal Names


Title: How does my personal name experience from birth till now reflect wider Assamese society?

Introduction:

It is very universal to have names for a human being. The link between a name and a person or object/thing denominated by it is an association and a bond which unites the two in such a way that we cannot deny the inherent folklore related to it. The naming convention is very much influenced by the culture of the society where different kinds of beliefs, secrets are adjoined to it. In fact, many people regard their name as a vital portion of themselves and take care of it accordingly. Anthroponomy attributes the study of personal name where Given names, Surnames, Clan names, Matronyms, Patronyms, Teknonyms, Nicknames, Ethnonyms are elongated. My personal names never drawn any attention towards my experiences or any other ideal bond related to the culture and society until I was given to manipulate it here as an essay. Being an Assamese in particular and an Indian in general, I was crossed by the traditional naming convention which is much influenced by caste system. In Assamese society, elderly persons including teachers are never called by their name. Here, in this essay it is tried to summarise the naming experiences further added the informal, humorous addressing with variety of phonetic variation.

The Assamese society:
Assam which is also known as Pragjyotisha and Kamarupa in Early period, is an anglicised form of the name of the premier state of North-East India, a region very strategically situated, close to India’s international borders with the four countries- China, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. She can be broadly divided into three distinct physical units, the Brahmaputra Valley in the north, the Barak Valley in the narrow protruding south and the hilly region separating the two valleys. The Term ‘Assam’ or ‘Axom’ is interpreted by some scholar as a formation of Sanskrit derivation which means unequalled; as an undefeated or low country. But the more widely popular and accepted opinion is that the term has come from the word ‘Ahom’, the people who migrated to the Brahmaputra valley in the early 13th century and gave shape to the Assamese society today after ruling about 600 years till the annexation of Assam by British. Assam has had links with Aryan Civilisation and culture since ancient times. This land has been the meeting ground of diverse ethnic groups and cultural streams since time immemorial. Various tribal communities-at different level of acculturation, integration and assimilation vis-à-vis the Assamese Hindu society-live in the hills and plains. Assamese is the most widely spoken language throughout the state. Roughly, from the ten century and onwards the Assamese language both as a medium of literary expression and as a vehicle of diffusing Hindu religion and culture played a vital role in the evolution of Assamese society. In spite of the assimilative power of Hinduism and the increasing influence of Sanskrit and the newly emerging Assamese, the ratio of tribal population speaking their own dialects and observing their traditional customs and rites must have been greater during 13th and 14th centuries. Naturally, therefore tribal dialects exerted some influence in shaping the Assamese language through the unusual process of evolution. While there is a small but significant Assamese Sikh, Christianity has been adopted by a section of local people specially tribal group. Muslim population is also present in sizeable proportion. They together contribute to the scenario of socio cultural Assamese society.
The term Assamese is used to refer to those who are citizens of Assam, indigenous or long settled inhabitants of the state. The language of the native people is called Assamese too. The state has a larger no. of tribes and castes within their variety of tradition and culture. Through the decades of different kingdom like Ahom, Koch, Chutia, Barahi and Kachari, Assamese was remained the language of common people. The bond of unity sponsored by the adoption of Assamese as the common speech contributed, in lesser way, to the emergence of Assamese society with its distinct ethos.

The naming convention and ritual:
The Assamese synonym word for name is nām. Like all other Assamese family, I have a naming convention of Shri (initial) Purabi (given name) Baruah (sur name).This is given by the family with a no. of rituals and beliefs on the day of initiation rite and soon after my marriage one more sur name and initial has been added into my name. Also the initial has changed. The given name Shri Purabi Baruah is considered as my good and official name. which is not the real name. The real name is considered to be Secret and it is known as Gupta (secret) nām. There may be many good names but real name should be only one.
Birth chart according to Hindu faith. Source:Internet 
The naming tradition and ritual is known as Gananā which means to count. In this ritual, almanac, the birth sheet or Kusthi is made soon after the birth of the child where a mere future life is predicted as-the child’s interest and nature as accordance with the position of the moon and stars, longitivity of life; bad affects in the life period etc. And most importantly calculated Horoscope as well as Zodiac sign; the birth chart-Janma lagna (A floral diagram indicating the positions of planets, stars and moons); Assamese calendric year, time and place of birth. The Hororscopic chart or birth chart (Janma lagna kundali) is a representation of the planets in the sky at the time of birth of a person. It depicts the rising sign (Lagna) and position of planets in different zodiac sign (rāshi) or houses. 
My zodiac sign is virgo which should contain the letters P (Pa) and Th (Tha). My mother used to tell me that they did not find any name starts with ‘Tha’. Therefore, all names were taken by P including the Secret name. The real name and the good names are oriented by zodiac sign.

The Personal name studies and analysis:
     1. Official Good name: As we can see the good name consists of three parts. The first part Shri is a title prefix before a person’s name used in Indian context. Shri is used in most languages of the Indian subcontinent both for male and female gender. The specific initials for Assamese people in its gender perspective are Kumari (unmarried girl), Sriman (male), Srimati (female-married). The term ‘Shri’ is a Sanskrit word which means radiator or diffusing light. Typically, it is a title to give respect, honour and esteem. In very lay terms, it means Mr., sometimes it may mean Sir, and seldom means ‘The Great’. When it is used before the name of a respectable or venerable personage, it is repeated twice, e.g.- Shri Shri Shankardeva who is honoured for his greatness and contribution to Assamese culture. Its usage is also common with Indian classical music (rāgas), either as a prefix or postfix such as Shree, Bageshree, Dhanashree, Malashree, Jayantashree, Rageshree, Shree Ranjani, etc. It is used to address gods in the Hindu pantheon, elders and any individual. Holiness and divinity are attached to the word when written or spoken. But it is not limited in use only for persons and musics but also Gods, scriptures and divine structures (yantrā). The influence of Shri is also seen in the name of town like Srinagar (India), Srirampur (Assam) and south Asian country like Srilanka. For every formal cases, the utterance of Shri before one’s name is profound in Assam may be because of the Sankrit origin and Hinduised culture. Some of the eastern part of Assamese inhabitant specially the Ahom community use ‘Chao’ as initial before individual which has equivalent meaning as Shri. Chao is a word of Tai language (Tai-Kadai), which was spoken by Ahom kingdom.
Accordingly, my full name can be split into three parts-Shri+Purabi+Baruah.  So, Shri may be signify as wealthy or honoured. ‘Purabi’ has no dictionarial meaning. But this word may derive from Purab or Purav, a Hindi word which means the east direction. Also it might get its variation from the Sanskrit word Puravi which refers an Indian classical musical piece (Purvi Rāg/Rāgini). The sur name Baruah is my patronymic association and large in no. in Assamese society which is considered as royal class. Originally the title ‘Baruah’ was conferred for most of class of officers in the Ahom kingdom of medieval Assam and belongs to Ahom noble family. The Ahom appointed officers with various titles and the title ‘Baruah’ means a ‘Leader of 3000 men’.  The Baruas / Baruahs / Barooahs of Assam are Hindus by faith and have been a key contributor to the growth of Assamese community. They are not specific in class and caste system. In fact, there are found different classes among Baruahs.
It can be mentioned here that Family names in North-East and East India are most commonly and originally derived from professions in the caste system. More particularly, other terminology like Gotra (family or clan), Varna (classes) are also associated with Ancient Indian naming tradition. Gotra broadly refers to the people who are descendants in a male line from a common male ancestor. Again, a basic division of Indian society can be observed as a Priesthood (Brahmin), warrior class (Kshatriya), Commoners/Traders (Vaishya), augmented by a class of unfree Serfs (Shudras). This was a socio economic category in ancient India known as Varna based on the responsibilities or duties towards the society and not restricted to Hinduism as well. Known by Khastriya as a class and Koch as a caste (jāti), I can put the observation of my sur name such as there might be a chance of ruling warriors by my forefathers under Ahom kingdom with the grade of Baruah who is the leader of 3000 warrior.

     2. Other good names: There were granted other good names by the elderly people of my family as they have their own point of view of naming the child. Among those names some are-Poly, Plawan, Padmalaksmi, Purvasri etc. It can be noticed that all names start from the letter P which signifies they are under same zodiac sign. Among these names, Poly has no significant meaning; Plawan means to float, and Padmalakshmi is a name of goddess Lakshmi which means goddess of wealth sitting in a lotus. It is believed that by keeping the name of a god and goddess the child is protected by him/her and able to captivate the moral value. It is also believed that by uttering the name of such person considered as equivalent as to take the name of that god and hence free from miseries. By the name of goddess, I, therefore, as Padmalakshmi, am always ensured to be protected and wealthy by Goddess Lakshmi in my thoughts and beliefs.

     3. The Secret Name: In Assamese society every man, woman, child has, besides a personal name which is in common use or official use, a secret or sacred name which is bestowed by the older men or priest upon him or her soon after birth, and which is known to none but family members. This secret name is never mentioned except upon the most solemn occasion such as marriage. But this name is never used in daily social life. Thereby I got also my secret name ‘Pramila’ which is not known by anyone except my parents and now the reader of this paper. Being an offspring of a lineage (Gotra) of Kashyap, the analysis of my secret name can be illustrated as follows–

Pramila, a prominent female character from Indian Classical epic Rāmayanā, is the wife of Meghnad who is not human but demon-like (Asur) and daughter of Shesha who is the king of Serpent (Nāga raj). She was very bold and regarded as Sati. Meghnad is the son of king Ravan who had his kingdom in Singhal (present day Srilanka). Now giving the secret name as Pramila is significantly related to unmarried daughter of Shesha who is a son of sage (ṛsi) Kashyap and Kadru. So, undoubtedly she is the descendants of Kashyap. It can be noted that traditionally carrying the information as the descendent of Kasyap Gotra in the birth sheet of my forebear helped the Ganak to place the proper secret name. This way of naming might help the child to grow up with prosperity, protection and characteristics of its forebear. It is so strange to know about this naming that unconsciously I was intended to select my research topic which is related to Serpent goddess Manasa that bounds me to believe today on the secret name has been protecting me as well as intended to understand about her (Manasa’s) descendent, her role and powers.

It has been also noticed that nonetheless the tradition Ganana is executed by ‘Ganak’, a class (kula) of Brahmin, the highest hierarchical caste. Because, he is the real educated and knowledgeable one, who has depth insight into the human ancestral chronology. But, the source of giving the secret name relevant to the ancestral is not definite as the source of justification is self-limited because of its name belief.

An Assamese society influenced by Hindu religion believes in naming magic and witch craft. Assam is very much influenced by tantra practise which is practised in Kamakhya temple in Guwahati and some of the villages. Mayang village of Nagaon district is still practising some of the white magic for well-being of local people. The tradition of gupta nām or secret name might be going forward of this reason. The native thinks that a stranger knowing the real name would have the special power to work him/her ill by means of magic. Though this name tradition is very common in Assamese Hindu, there also may be observed that folks believe on the Brahmin or Ganak-the priest such as the latter never harms and performs magic upon other and always ensures the public come to him in distress. There might be a scope of belief that they are of high caste and do not pertain the kind of magic and mischief which is considered as low.

      4.Nick names: I must say about the nick names which are very dearer, humorous and sometimes meaningless too. Precisely, very much related to the psychology of religious beliefs. From the very childhood, I was taught to stand and pronounce properly and loudly my good name as ‘Sri Purabi Baruah’. I repeatedly practised. Instead of this name, my parents used to call me as Mājani which means ‘my dear little daughter’ from where the sounds of endearment of affection can be felt. I am still called as Dāngār Āi by my other relatives because of the eldest amongst all other first cousins in the joint family.It has been illustrated the meaning of Mājani in two different way-

First of all, Mājani may be parted as Mā+jani where Mā means mother who gives birth and jani is the post suffix uses for female. Mā is the word originated from the Sanskrit word Mātri. So, the word may represents the mother or from the mother.

Secondly, Mājani can be parted as Māj+ani where Māj means central/insight/middle  leading into the meaning of very personal and therefore assumes as very dear to heart. Ani again is the Assamese suffix for female.

Almost all the new born baby girl is called as Mājani specially in the eastern part of Assam. But conversing as Mā to a girl by their parents is common almost everywhere in Assam.

On the other hand, Āi signifies a motherly lady. Sometimes it is also used in addressing the wife of a Guru (god father) or teacher, mother-in law to daughter in law or vice versa. It is an affectionate term used in calling one’s daughter. The name Dāngār Āi means elder daughter which is more than a name and address a polite relational being. It’s also presumed an identity and position in the family. If my grandmother noises this name in front of the other, it’s quite obvious to understand them to know that I am the eldest of this family. But my grandmother herself never introduces me to other by this name too. And the nick name remains in its own boundaries of affection. Even the grandmother is called as Āita which has the noun Āi too. In the reign of Ahom kingdom, there were many terms for girl, wife, daughter, queen as well as princess like Āijani, Āiti, Āi deuta, Āideo, Āikan, Āi kuwari  etc. for which it can be said that the usage of the Āi  affects and contribute the Assamese society.

It is very significant to understand the importance of Mā or Āi in Assamese context. From the view point of ritual practice and other beliefs, it can be mentioned that female are honoured in the society in the form of goddess. Also they have the right to choose their groom and can live with him. Marriage however is performed and dominated as Social marriage (Prajapatayah) in the society. On the other hand, the term Āi or Mā is used to address the goddess/local deities for their power and pride performing many rituals, worships in temples. There are very many sanctums or shrines found in ancient Assam where traditionally rituals had been fulfilling, for e.g. the Kāmākhyā Temple of Kamrup. Traditionally the śākta cult is considered to have its centre in Kāmarupā with its chief temple at Kāmākhyā. It is the most holy and famous shrine of the sect, and with its worship was associated the various rites, mantras, mudras and sacrifices. There is a myth behind this shrine-

The name of the hillock where the shrine stands is Nilācala (Blue Mountain). According to the Kālikā Purāna, a religious text of 10th century, the genital organ of Sati (the first consort of Lord Shiva) fell here when her dead body was carried hither and thither in frantic sorrow by her husband Shiva. When Sati’s genital organ fell on the mountain, it turned blue. The goddess herself is called Kāmākhyā, because she came here secretly to satisfy her amour (Kāma) with Shiva. When Narakāsur (a demon who likes powerful seeking deities) founded a kingdom in early Assam established himself  as the custodian of this Goddess and made her the presiding deity of the state. Later religious history also centres on her and other goddesses recognised as her varied manifestations. The Shrines of different goddess are initiated in Assam indicates the religious faith of the people. The worship of śakti goddess is completed to the sacrifices of animals and by divine possession Deodhani till today. They pronounce every goddess as ‘Mā’ or ‘Āi Gukhāni’. Now, ‘Gukhāni’ is a primitive Assamese term used to indicate goddess prior to Vedic cult. So, it might have a possibility of adding Āi before the term Gukhāni in the reign of Ahom Kingdom.

The philosophy behind the worship of goddess in the form of woman is that she is the base of all power through which the earth is balanced. The nature or world (Prakriti) and man (Purush) are consumed by the power of śhiva and śhakti and unite such a way that they forget about time and gender differences.

Kamakhya temple, source: internet

The festival Ambubāchi, the menstruation of Mother Earth is celebrated in Kāmākhyā temple where huge no. of devotee gathers. The Sanskrit term Ambuvāci, from which the local Assamese word Ambubāchi or Ambubasi is derieved, literally means ‘the issuing forth of water’, referring to the swelling of the Earth’s waters from the beginning of monsoon. People also believe that this festival is a celebration of Kāmākhyā’s menstruation, but in fact, it is the menstruation of the entire Mother Earth, and Kāmākhyā is the seat of her yoni becomes the focal point for related festivities. The goddess here being intimately connected to the matriarchal tribes of the hills for thousands of years, it’s no wonder that this powerful and uniquely female cycle would be celebrated and venerated here. For devotee, specially amongst Tantrics at the temple, Ambubāchi is a time of tremendous power and celebration. People believe that Mother Earth cannot be impure, and that this is a time of potency and reflection. It is a time to celebrate the gifts that Mother Earth gives to earth-food, shelter, the very foundation of life striving towards oneness with Mā. Devotee wait for hours to receive a small piece of the red-silk ‘blood- cloth’ upon which Devi (goddess) sits during her menses. This piece of cloth is said to be very auspicious and powerfully beneficial if tied onto the body.
The Assamese people also symbolize the disease Small pox as Āi which they mean the form of goddess Śītalā. She is the goddess of wounds, boils and diseases in Assamese Hindu mythology. Śītalā is represented as a young maiden crowned with a winnowing-fan, riding an ass, holding a short broom (either to spread or dust off germs) and a pot full of pulses (the viruses) or cold water (a healing tool). Among low-caste Hindus and tribal communities, she is an iconically represented with slab-stones or carved heads. Sometimes, she is said to be carrying a bunch of neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves, an ancient herb that is very much an effective remedy to most skin diseases even today. Even today the Assamese folk rarely use medicines curing small pox. The women folk perform ritual Āi xabhā, a meeting for the goddess Śītalā where they sing Āi nām for praise of her.
Also for interjection of pity, exclamation of terror, wonder or pain in a sudden state the words āi-ou!, āi-oii!, ohh mā! are come out automatically.
Hence, the child daughter is resembled to Mā or Āi which has an inherent meaning may be related to woman dignity and power. This words are considered to be very religious, sacred, pure, powerful and central and so significantly important.
Another interesting name Indumati or Inda by my sister is very much famous among her friends and colleagues. Indu and Indumati have dictionarial meaning in Assamese i.e., Moon and a mythological female character respectively whreas Inda has no meaning. Generally mati is a suffix used in terms of female in Assamese literature, for instance Srimati. I have asked few years back about this name and its context. But she was completely unaware of these meaning said above. But, she has mentioned a context saying that she tried to repeat my nick name Mājani along with bā (bā or bāidauo is a word used for elderly sister in Assamese society) i.e., Mājani bā as shorter as she could and finally it produced the sounds like Inda and hence the name ‘Inda-Indua-Indu-….Indumati’ was arrived. And co-incidently the name is a mythological character. I have tried to do many times like she did. But this pronunciation inda/indumati could not come.

    5.Playful Names: Later on, in school, colleges and university life had adjoined different and playful names which are related to my look, my nature, my physics, my hobbies etc. For my look all my school and college friends use to call me as Xukāni, Ketengi which means pencil-thin and hence ugly. The other name in Hindi is Hasina 2-foot ki means beautiful lady of 2 feet. This is quite similar to the Escape mechanism where people evade unpleasant realities and present it in an attractive way. All other names, for e.g. Kanduri for crying and emotional girl, Polā for running away as because I was talkative and people used to get bored, Nāsoni for dancing girl etc. 
       And then when the University life had begun folks started calling me as Puu , the short form of Purabi and they stress on the letter u, and it sounds like ‘uuuuu’ and variant or vibrant. I got in my year the best dancer award and university folks started calling- Dhintāk, Satriā, Amrapāli and so on. Now Dhintāk is a rhythmic syllable, Satriā is a traditional performing art form of (15th century) Assam whreas Amrapāli is a historical female courtesan who was a spiritual practitioner. All these are connected and specify to my particular performing form of practice with attainments. 
     During the higher study level, in its urban context, scholars used to call me as the name Deodhani my research title ‘Deodhani’. Deodhani is a devine lady who can possess power during the time of Shakti ritual which is supernatural. People believe her sacredness and responsibilities but deny her existence. They never allow their children to become a Deodhani possession. In a rural Assamese society, Deodhani is not considered as a good term to be used for good lady. However, Purabi becomes my identification and during all of my travel and research period till today in the Tartu University has been continuing where sound variation is observed.

      6.Name, being a Married woman: Marriage which brought a big change into my life from the name to the life style, has also significantly influenced by the culture in which I have grown up. From the journey of my name Sri Purabi Baruah to Srimati Purabi Baruah Talukdar, it was acquired the way to find out flexibility about the terminology Gotra,  Jati, Varna within the culture. To become Mrs. Talukdar or Talukdārani leads me to know about what Talukdar signify in the history of wider Assamese society. In the society, the wives once married have no longer use their name informally and call as surname title of their husband like other society has, for e.g- Baruahni, Dasani, Nathani, Kalitani etc. where Baruah, Das, Nath, Kalita are the sur names of their respective husbands and ni is the Assamese suffux for female. Thereby I also began to address as Talukdarani in an informal way. The more formal way to call me is ‘Srimati Talukdar’.

Conclusion:
In Assamese society various names are found as Devine and Non-devine. Among the divine names the names of omnipotent gods and goddess –Brhma, Vishnu and Maheswar who are the main gods and their consort as main goddesses. But they have various manifestation of identifying themselves according to their incarnation to the earth to fulfil proclaimed purposes. So, naming tradition accrues by events and deeds that these divinities perform. There is a plethora of lesser gods also in the form of rain, fire, water and they may have wives, son, daughters and their creation. Thereby, the name related to nature or beauty of nature, name of rivers, trees, intangible divine creation like light, shadow, dawn/morning are counted which touches aesthetic pleasure of sounds and mind. Naming a mythological character from ancient past is also seen in a large no. The significant purpose is to get power and protection from the particular name. Among the non-divine names animals name like Mayur (peacock), plants like Dubari (a kind of grass use in local ritual), Lata (orchid), ornaments like Hira(diamond), Mukta (pearl) etc. can be observed which are gender specific. There may unlimited names in one’s life which have some significant meaning, sometimes adjacent to ancestors, society and culture. Sometimes meaningless and often has nothing to do with surrounds but related to emotions. In Assamese society most of the personal names are related towards magic: it is a name of preventing a black magic either god or goddess name or name of some sages, some ornaments, gems etc. The personal naming tradition is helpful to understand the religious text and context in Assamese society. Through this Anthronomy, it is found names and phrases addressing my cultural identity, it also helps to understand the relational being. Personal names may be varying; it may be one or many. I have a collection of 20 opersonal names of my own most of which are phrases to address. Though all are not related to wider Assamese society but have essence of Sanskritised and Indianness. The experiences are indeed counted a deep philosophical insight.

Bibliography:
Barua, B.K. 2003. A Cultural History Of Assam. Bina publication: Guwahati, India.
Baruah, Hemchandra. 2007. Hemkosha: Etymological Assamese words and Idiomatical phrases done into English. Hemkosh Prakashan: Guwahati-03, India .
Baruah, Purabi. (unknown). Personal Diary. Unpublished.
Bordoloi, Nirmalprabha. 1989. Devi. Sahitya Prakash: Guwahati-03, India.
Frazer, Sir James. 1996. The Golden Bough. Wordsworth Reference: Great Britain.
Leeuw, G. Van. 1963. Religion in Essence and Manefestation (vol-I &I). Harper & Row Publishers: New York.
Paul, Amar Krishna. 2005. North –East Encyclopedia. General Publication: Guwahati-03, India.
Sarma, Satyendranath. 2001. A Socio-Economic and Cultural History of Medieval Assam. Bina publication: Guwahati, India.

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