Surekha Kulkarni

Suri

What’s the story behind your nickname?

Let me start with a disclaimer. I am not a great fan of my name Surekha, it is so old fashioned, there is not a tinge of exoticism in the name . When I was in 7th std, I remember, my drawing teacher coming to me and asking me, ‘do you know the meaning of your name’ , and I dumbly nodded , Sir do you or not , I again nodding, Sir exasperatedly , okay telling you, ‘ Surekha ‘ means surekh rekha ( Beautiful lines) . Your artistic skills are nowhere even close to what your name means . That day and today, my life line , standing in line, ( queue) , my eyebrows line, the thread line for sewing , is always entangled and never in sync with my name . And now though, my crease lines,my wrinkle line, my crow feet lines, my hair thinning line on my crowning glory all are perfectly lined with precision.Guess this is life, straight lines being crooked like my marks in geometry. 😁😁 Wondering whether can draw straight lines or good in drawing, then , like my teacher said an era ago and today it’s the same . No improvements 😁😁

Don’t know about rekha, but surekh , I definitely am 😁😁

Coming to nicknames. I have had loads of them . Like everything in my life, my nicknames are overabundant, abounding ,extravagant. My Aai would call me avi ( which means beloved one in kannada. Practically every elder daughter in heydays would have this adornment) . My colony friends and neighbours with whom I grew up, would call me surkhi. Don’t ask why 😐. Well when you surrounded by pappu, pinto , bandya, sonu, tai , chabadi, pun intended what else 😉😉. Guess surkhi was better than being called sangi ( my sister Sangeeta was called this 😄😄). By the time , I turned 14, my friends renamed me as suri ( knife in Marathi). Guess this nickname was exceedingly apt 🤣

Koi gayal huva toh batao 😂😂

My Aai though endearingly would call me Surya , this is the only nickname which makes very emotional 😭 as this nickname for me is the bond between my mother and me that can never be broken or forgotten. This nickname is proof of my Aai unconditional and everlasting love.

Aai , the more the days pass, the more I miss you and grieve for you

We feel nicknames are closely associated with childhood memories. But they follow us as we grow up, they change for sure. My husband will call me ( lovingly on rare occasions 😉) , ‘Rani’ ( Queen in Marathi) . My very close friends call me TG ( Tawa garam 😂😂) . As I have aged the knife is not only sharpened but is too hot to handle, I guess . The best one is though from my son, Hitler 😁

From which angle, am I a Hitler 😭

A nickname reflects how others view the person named and comes to mirror how that person sees himself or herself.

28 comments

  1. Hey SURU… After reading your blog I remember how my grandfather used to call me CHINU..how my granny calls me DIDU.. # Tune toh senty kr diya oyye.. love you dear.. keep it up ❤️❤️

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  6. Quite an interesting story. The positive connotation of your pet name ‘Suri’ makes a melodious sense too, which can be logically affiliated to Sur or Surili. Just think about it… 😊

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    • Sanjay, but I am so besura re . Love listening to music but sur and surekha poles apart. My parents would have thought I will have creative juices flowing 😉. And I turned out to be the most banal, musty, hackneyed , tedious, dull , worn-out 😄😄

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      • If I am correct, our names are like door bells, which are least used by us and mostly used by others. The person calling you should feel good, no matter how good it matches with your attributes.
        😁

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  10. To have so many nicknames is interesting. It’s as if you have many natures, and facets. It’s a wonderful thing because you can not be easily described, unlike the ordinary – you are therefore extraordinary.

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