Sunday 8 March 2015

Mallu Names

Mallu Names


        In spite of being one of the most educated classes of people, we mallus do not put the effort it deserves in finding a name for our kids. It is almost as if we do not want to waste time in something like a name. I guess we took Shakespeare a bit too seriously when he said “What is in a name?”

        Once you are in kerala, watch the rear windshield of a car. If you see Aji on one end and Jiji on the other end of the glass, that is a typical mallu family who doesn’t believe in wasting time naming people. When I was in school, I had friends with names like Pinto, Tinto and Minto. The other class had a guy called Linto too! And I am not even beginning to exaggerate.

        Another great idea we use is to take syllables of father’s and mother’s names and come up with out of the world names. For instance, if father’s name is Babu and mother’s name is Treesa, then their son will be Sabu and daughter will be Treeba!


Next time you hear a person with a typical mallu name, do not judge the person. He/She just had parents who were busy reading up international affairs or politics that they didn’t want to waste time by just naming their kid even if he/she will be stuck with it for a lifetime J

Keywords : Malayali blog, Malayalee blog, Kerala blog, Mallu blog, Kerala, Malayalee, Namaskaram, Malayalam, Onam, God's own country, Back waters, Coconut, Coconut oil, Coconut trees

2 comments:

  1. Very nice. Chinchu and Pinchu are my niece and nephew in Kerala :)

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  2. Haha, I once had an entire blog post on exactly this subject. And what struck me as I wrote was how we mallus are actually quite progressive in our thinking, without even realizing it :-D

    https://rigmaroled.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/portmanteau-ed-with-love-from-gods-own-country/

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