The story behind my beautiful name

I am from a middle class Telugu brahmin family from Hyderabad.
As we Indians have this tradition, a kid is named usually on the 21st day of birth or thereafter and the entire family, friends and community gathers for this auspicious ocassion.
South Indians are infamously known for prefixing many names of their favorite gods, godesses, ancestors, or even someone they admire. The list sometimes is so long that the poor kid might have a dozen names before his/her actual first name begins.

And so, as they fondly joke, you might find some people with 5 to 6 initials in their name.....and immediately it comes to mind how many names he would have been named after...
For instance, P.S.V.N.K.L.M.R. Sarma would have been P. Sri Venkata Naga Krishna Lakshmi Murari Ratnakara Sarma........... :-).....ohhh this is just the beginning...

Fortunately, i didnt have to go through so much gruelling on my 21st day.... famously known as "namakaranam" which means naming ceremony.

My name is Aparna and there is a beautiful story behind that name, which I would love to share with you all. My dad said the name 'Aparna' in those days struck little modern plus it was a name that his favourite actress had - Aparna Sen. He thought if he had a baby girl he would name her 'Aparna' which he apparently did. But there is another story about the name.
Reborn again to the mountain king Himavanth as Uma, Parvati always wanted to have Lord Shiva as her husband. She used to go to the icy caves where he lived and meditated and brought him food and served him. But Shiva was so preoccupied in himself that he never noticed her at all. Parvati did not know how to win his heart so she called upon the God of Love, Manmadha and his consort Rati. They transformed his cave into a pleasure garden and the God of Lust fired his arrows of desire into Shiva's heart.

Shiva was furious than lovesick and in his anger opened his third eye and burned Manmadha to ashes. Rati seeing her husband die in that manner, pleaded Parvati to bring him back. Parvati assured her that when she would marry Shiva, Manmadha would come alive. She now knew that it was more important than ever to become Shiva's wife because, without the God of Love, there would be no creation, no man no women and the world would cease to exist.Parvati now sorted for a more stern way to win Shiva's heart. She thought doing severe penance to prove that her love for him was true might melt his stonecold heart and then he might marry her. Very determined, she went to the forest and did rigorous Tapas. She put her mind to Shiva and chanted his name. She wore nothing to protect her tender body and she never moved. Insects and creatures crawled over her skin thinking her to be a rock. She did severe fasting, eating nothing, not even a single leaf, hence the name. A - without and Parna - leaf. Aparna the leafless one.

Impressed by her determination, Lord Shiva accepts her and they both are united in one. God of Love Manmadha becomes alive and there is harmony in the world. Thus, Aparna brings back the balance to the world. Lord Shiva and Godess Parvati are perfect for each other because she calmes him down and he attains the balance of Yoga and Bhoga with her.

Another fact that perhaps only my close family knows is that my name is not just Aparna.....it is Aparna Swathi Suhasini....
I was born on 1st July in Swathi Nakshatram (ruling star at time of birth) and hence my maternal grandparents decided to suffix the star name Swathi (which is also a very famous name in India) to my first name. Now it was time for my paternal grandpa also to show his naming skills............ He was a great fan of the then bengali theatre actress Suhasini (i honestly dont know who she is ) and also a devotee of Durga Ma. And so he named me Suhasini...

My parents, not to let anyone down, hence put 2 more names to my first name. Thus was born my 3-names saga...

I always love to be called Aparna.........but for some reasons, i also love my other 2 names. Unfortunately, no one wishes to call me so, though i have on many occassions requested them to do so..... My hubby dear thinks Suhasini is too "oh-my-god-what-a-name" and Swathi sounds like he is calling some other lady. Valid excuse but poor me :(

On my paternal front, all my first cousins have been named on the alphabet A as a sentiment. The second name has been framed as per their star or time of birth.

And hence, calling each of my cousins would fill an entire name column for the alphabet A......

Neverthless, I always feel Aparna is a great name - then, now and forever !

Aparna
9/7/2007