Socialism marries Mamata Banerjee: How politics freed up Tamil names

In Tamil Nadu, Socialism could wed Mamata Banerjee just as easily as De Gaulle could chit-chat with Annadurai. Recently, in the news was the story of how a CPI leader and a Congress family had named their children after political leaders and ideologies.Salem’s Mamata Banerjee was likely named when her namesake was a brave Congress activist in West Bengal staring down the ruling CPM — a long time ago when she was barely a leader in her own right.boxcontent medium nocaption83601933The power of a nameWhen Socialism tied the knot with Mamata Banerjee this month, that too in the presence of Communism, Leninism and Marxism, the two brothers and nephew of the groom, it's no surprise that it made headlines. While the wedding itself was a low-key affair, thanks to their unique names, the marriage soon went viral on social media. The couple isn't complaining :)Tamils name their children after gods and goddesses, fathers and mothers, or their forefathers. They also name them after their heroes, well known personalities from across the world, or whoever is trending. There is a certain freedom that Tamils exercise in naming their children.Though government mandated identity cards and certificates demand a first and last name, Tamil names are yet to conform to the norm. Most Tamils have an initial denoting their father’s name, the expansion of which is used as the last name to satisfy requirements in passports and other documents. medium nocaption83600817Even as rest of Indians acquired first and last names, falling back on caste, ‘gothra’, place or lineage identifiers, Tamils stopped short. And the reason is probably political.Just as Iyer, Iyengar and Thevar started appearing as last names, the Dravidian movement campaigned against using caste to identify oneself. The main focus though was to go back to the Sangam era when identifiers carried no religious reference.Dravidian romanticism believed Tamils had no caste, no religion in the past and lived carefree, happy lives before Aryans/Brahmins/Sanskrit intruded. A Narayanaswamy, therefore. became Nedunchezhiyan, and he later took potshots at M Karunanidhi for not renaming himself Arutchelvan. Karunanidhi, for his part, changed his son’s name from Ayyadurai to Stalin, the Soviet leader who died soon after Ayyadurai was born.The state has seen several renaming campaigns. In the late 19th-early 20th century there was a Saivaite resurgence. Tamil scholars campaigned for Tamil names in their drive to get rid of Sanskrit influence. Vedachalam became Maraimalai Adigal.While that renaming was restricted to the elite and the well-read, it was the nascent Dravidian movement’s alignment with the Saivites to launch the anti-Hindi agitation that led to a surge in the popularity of the Dravidianists. Caste names and similar identifiers became passé in Dravidian TN and Tamils have remained largely eponymous. medium nocaption83600809R Azhagarsan, professor of English at Madras University, says in the 1990s and 2000s, dalit leaders led by Thol Thirumavalavan proposed another renaming campaign. The intent of the ‘Tamil Mozhi Erpom’ (Let’s accept Tamil language) was to use Tamil names, not to return to a glorious Dravidian past, but more to assert self-respect and emphasise the Tamilness of dalits. The first edition of the Tamil lexicon excluded dalits from the category "Tamilan" he points out.Symbolism, identity and theatrics dominate TN politics, critics say, adding they should not overshadow material aspects. But symbolism has a practical value, too. It can act on the mental makeup leading to positive changes in attitude and approach to life.By not following the typical naming conventions based on caste and lineage, Tamil parents freely express their ideals and wishes through their children. But, time often moves the sons and daughters to another plane and their ideals turn out to be different. An Einstein in Tirunelveli may be more interested in finding an equivalent for his TikTok app rather than probing high physics.Catch glimpses of the wedding in the video below. medium nocaption83486450(The author is a marine engineer who dabbles in journalism)