An Editor's Notebook - What's in a name? : Sree Gururaja

Sree and granddaughter Mala

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Really? I am not so sure with my name. I have a rather long first name Sree-lak-shmi consisting of three syllables and a shorter surname (my husband’s) Gu-ru-ra-ja of four syllables. Except for my mother and close relatives, others have used Sree or Lakshmi, which is a common name in South India. In my school days, it was Lakshmi. Later, after marriage my husband preferred Sree and when we moved to Canada as students, Sree was the preferred moniker - easy to remember and pronounce, so I have been called that since 1966.

For one thing, both Sree and Lakshmi are names for the Goddess denoting prosperity and wealth, so together it's a double affirmation. Coming to Gururaja, Guru is teacher and Raja is king, so is it King of Teachers? Or Teacher of Kings? It is the latter, as it is the name of a revered Hindu saint, who did win over a Muslim king. I recollect vividly, when I was introduced to the knowledgeable wife of a very senior UNICEF colleague, she asked me how I lived up to my name? Her comment was that she was yet to meet a prosperous spouse of a Guru (teacher)!!

While working in UNICEF, I can remember just a few occasions when I was addressed by my full name without a stop or a hum, waiting for my intervention. I would wonder, Slavic /East European names are complicated with many consonants joined together perhaps with a vowel at the end, and yet few stumble. I’ve been told that it is the differentiation of the syllables in my name.

Ah then, there is the spelling of the name if it is “Shree/Sri”, which denotes the male prefix (title). Many a time I have walked into a room or someone entered my office and I got a surprised grimace and ”Oh, I thought it was a man”! I recollect vividly, when in 2000, I was invited to speak on gender issues at a meeting of senior officers of the Department of Peace Keeping Operations (DPKO) at 866 First Avenue. As I walked in, a tall Scandinavian in military uniform followed me and asked whether I was lost. Kind of surprised, I told him that I was there to make a presentation. He was not convinced and asked to see the invitation and blurted out that they were not expecting a lady in a saree, as it said Sree Gururaja. Leaving that aside, we had a great discussion on gender issues in armed conflict situations followed by curious enquiries on how I managed inter-personal interactions in my work as an Indian woman. While expressing their thanks, as with the initial ‘mistaken identity’, there was another moment of shuffling and silence. Finally, one of the officers, smiled and apologized that as a gesture of appreciation, they had a ‘masculine’ gift of a bar set. Had they known, maybe a bouquet of flowers or box of chocolates would have been presented instead. Each time, I use the ‘made in Sweden ‘ shiny stainless steel set, I can’t resist a chuckle remembering the conflation of name and gender.

The boo-boos I save for the end. Selaks is kind of okay as sounds like a shorter nickname but others are not.

I was shaken when I received a memo from the 13th Floor of UNICEF House* addressed to “Sree Guguraja”, for “Gugu” in colloquial Kannada (my mother tongue) means the village idiot, and much to the embarrassment of the writer of the memo, I went personally to explain and get it corrected.

Another funny incident happened when. as Representative in Guyana attending the Independence Day of India celebration, the caption below the group photograph in the local newspaper had me as Mrs. Ambassador, as I was the only woman there. My secretary called them and the next day’s corrigendum item said Mrs Guharaja, which is ‘cave king” as Guha means ‘caves! We should just moved on, but being persistent, another call was made. That same evening I was interviewed by the local television channel on the findings from our study on violence against children. Not too sure if the typesetter got fed up or what, it was the third time or was it “the recency effect”? He closed the snafu about the name with Mrs GUNRAJA, UNICEF Representative!!

(* The 13th floor of UNICEF House accommodates the offices of the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Directors)

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