Sharqiya Letter

- by Madhu Nambiar (contributing editor -KM)

Indian School Sur won inter school quiz competition

Sur, Oman: November 20: Indian School Sur won in inter-school quiz
competition conducted at the school premises on November 20.

Indian School Jalan and Indian School Ibra were the other two
participants in the quiz competition.

Indian School Sur won the competition with 159 points and Indian School
Ibra reached in the second place with 80 points and Indian School Jalan
stood at third place with 24 points.

4 students from each school participated in the inter school quiz
competition. The participants were given gifts.

Boat accident victim?s sent home

Sur, Oman: November 9: Body of Keralite youth who killed in a boat
accident at Al Ashkhara near Sur has transported home.

Manuel Jose alias Joy (26 years) of Kollam was working in a fishing
boat that met with an accident on November 02. While spreading fishing net, accidentally he trapped in the net. His elder brother Micheal alias
Jose who was also working in the same boat immediately jumped to the water to rescue him but in vein. Body of Manuel Jose was taken to Muscat and later sent home. He is survived with father Antony, Mother Mary and Sister Jolly.

K.I.A. hosts Ifthar

Sur, Oman: November 08: Kerala Islamic Association, Sur Unit, hosted
Ifthar at Aal Hareeb premises on 7th November 2003, Friday.

Expatriates from different walks of life participated in the Ifthar.
Aal Hareeb General Manager Shajahan played the lead role in conducting the Ifthar.?These types of social gathering will enhance amity, brother-hood and communal harmony among different communities?, commented few who attended in the Ifthar.

Informative books written by renowned authors highlighting among others
the importance of fasting in Ramadan and religious tolerance of Islam, and
Islamic periodicals were on display at the avenue.

(4) OLNG Indian Community celebrated cultural evening

Sur Oman: October 24: Indian community at Oman LNG celebrated
cultural evening with a variety of cultural programmes at Oman LNG complex on 23rd October 2003, Thursday, on the eve of Indian festival of lights - Diwali.

The variety of cultural programmes included dances, songs, skit and
others performed by elders and children. Gifts were presented to the
participants.

A TALE OF A TAIL

by Madhu Nambiar

His full name with prefix and suffix was almost taller than him. The
advantage was that it could easily be broken in to pieces or folded
like a transistor aerial.

Among the pieces of his name, the two that he regularly used was stuck
on him well before he made his own address.

Youth of his age those days were not using the caste name which was
often sarcastically called ?tail?. His tail remained stuck on him because he
was with his maternal grandfather, who was respected by the villagers,
until the grandfather?s demise.

In the second half of the seventies when he reached a north Indian
city, he was almost tail-less. He was employed in a reputed manufacturing
company. His present prefix was mentioned in his certificates as abbreviated
suffix, under the cover of the term ?initial after name?.

This initial is used after or before name, according to convenience,
without change in name, without change in meaning, without change in identity.

Peons in the office used his name with reverence and he felt proud.
Soon he realized that they were not referring to him. A few days later a peon
told him that the saab was calling him.

The saab was the sales and development manager, a key figure in the
organizational set-up. The saab?s name was his name. His name was the
saab?s name. Their names were pronounced almost in the same way, but
there were slight changes in the spellings. While he was from Kerala, the
saab was from Karnataka. When he entered the saab?s cabin, the saab was
holding an inland letter. It was for him, sent by one of his friends in
Madras, written in ?Manglish? but received and opened by the saab!

Neither the peons nor any staff in the general office heard of him, the
new recruit in the Plant Office where the timing was different from that of
the general office. Those who heard of his appointment did not know the
intricacies of the initials.

At the end of the meeting, the saab advised him to use some specific
mention in his address so that there were no confusion. Accordingly, he
shifted the abbreviated initial from after name to before name and hoisted his
folded tail at the end of his name and also added ?Plant Office? in his
address. Even after the saab was transferred, his name remained the same,
although there were pressure on him from his well-wishers and friends to cut off
the tail of conservatism.

He was confused. For a moment he thought of renaming him. The he
feared that would ultimately lengthen his name by using alias, alias. For
him, name in full or part, including the tail, was innocent. They were no
decorations. They were almost lifeless. He got all these without his
knowledge. He felt it was his identity and didn?t like to hide his
identity by suppressing the facts.

When he shifted to another city, he once again abandoned his tail. In
the new office there were some female staff for whom his short name was
funny and feminine. Besides, the manager lengthened his name further by
adding vowels in his name.

His present prefix and suffix formally stuck with his name when he
applied for the passport. His prefix was of his mother?s surname and his
suffix was of his father?s caste name, both his parents belonged to the same caste
though. ?If you want to get a visa to any Middle East country, you
need three names in your passport?, his friends told him. So, he formally
fixed the prefix and suffix with his name.After all, Shakespeare is right: ?what is in a name??.(keralamonitor.com)