Monikers

The habit some people have of giving funny names to passers by.

 There were two cousins, Sanjay and Mahesh, who stood at the window of their house and called passers-by all sorts of strange names in Konkani. Something about their appearance made them come out with the most ridiculous names. A short, roundish man waking with a limp would be, for instance, "polio-pedha". 😄Sanjay was the one who shouted out aloud so that people would actually hear. At times he would address the person. The best part is, some of the passers smiled at Sanjay's mischief but most just ignored him. Mahesh, his cousin would usually simply laugh, holding his palms across his mouth in order to suppress his own laughter. Sometimes he would improve on his cousin's suggestive name. I used to watch them doing it.  The trait developed in me with good fertilizer of idleness & productive alluvium of boredom. 

I have christened many school mates in this fashion. A classmate of mine, Vallabh (we did KG to secondary schooling together), was "Vakl " meaning spectacles. He wasn't bespectacled; there simply was something about his frame and character which was very 'Vaklesque'. He came to mind early this morning. 

Devendra, another classmate, was "Amo". Those names stuck and those two, I remember, were called by those names just short of being official! When Devendra was to be included in the basketball team for instance, the coach would say, " OK, here's the first five: Nemi, Reza, Edwin, Amo & Shiva."

After decades, the other day my friend Mahendra gave me a call out of the blue from a bar in Panjim. After the initial huuhu-haaha, he said, hang on speak to your friend and gave Devendra his phone to talk to me. "Hallo",  I heard Devendra's distinct voice & I literally shouted with a pleasant surprise, for he was the last person I expected. "AVVOISSSS, "AMO" mare!!!”. 

He seemed surprised that I had remembered him after all those years. I had names for my women friends as well. One fish seller was named 'Kharén', (dried fish). Another one was RravLuk, a small hopper, believed to eat human hair, etc. 

It is not unique. I have heard many do it but not openly. Some of my friends have the habit and I have heard some of them whisper under their breath monikers given by them to others.

I myself was called by many names, right from Maruti, Mungerilal and what not. Some stuck, others didn't. My friends often made me believe that I was better then what I was. I played along. I made people laugh; if there wasn't that, life might have been not worth living considering my personal history. 

Not that it matters but someday I must pen an autobiographical. May be my nonchalance was a bluff!