08-04-2006, 04:44 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What do forum members think about Surnames?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Surnames are important, so that future generations remember their ancestors. It's a sense of identity and a connection with the past. Imagine if your name was Reddy - why in the world would you want to give it up? They were kshatriyas who fought the Islamic tyrants!
Or Vivekandanda's and Aurobindo's surnames, if they had any. Or Valmiki, imagine being a descendant of the Rishi who gave us the Ramayanam. Or Shahi(ya) - kshatriyas again. I want to read history books about all these names and I want to be able to meet someone who has that surname and then look at their faces to trace the heroism or capabilities that still lie there. History books should make people feel inspired and proud of who they are.
Not everyone is deserving of their Hindu surname, of course: Y Samuel Reddy is a disgrace to his, and so is Laloo Prasad Yadav.
To know the greatness behind one's name will make one want to emulate that. Look at how Sikhs have the surname Singh, which makes them feel brave and bold like the Simha (which was, after all, the intended effect of making that a Sikh surname). And if one doesn't know of any heroic ancestors with the same surname, then become one yourself. It will bring fame and just pride to one's descendants, to one's community and to Bharatavarsha. There are no lowly Hindu surnames. There might be ones that aren't famous yet.
The important thing is not to let others take your name away. I don't like how the government forces some people to change their surnames, whilst others sign in under a different community name. Their hands are being forced. To sign one's name away is to lose a bit of one's own identity, because it divorces us from our past.
Having said all that, I have no idea what my real surname is <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo--> In Tamil Nadu one's surname is often the father's first name, so that lasts all about one generation. But then there's the community name as well, though not everyone uses that as their surname, and there's also the family name. It's all rather confusing.
Or Vivekandanda's and Aurobindo's surnames, if they had any. Or Valmiki, imagine being a descendant of the Rishi who gave us the Ramayanam. Or Shahi(ya) - kshatriyas again. I want to read history books about all these names and I want to be able to meet someone who has that surname and then look at their faces to trace the heroism or capabilities that still lie there. History books should make people feel inspired and proud of who they are.
Not everyone is deserving of their Hindu surname, of course: Y Samuel Reddy is a disgrace to his, and so is Laloo Prasad Yadav.
To know the greatness behind one's name will make one want to emulate that. Look at how Sikhs have the surname Singh, which makes them feel brave and bold like the Simha (which was, after all, the intended effect of making that a Sikh surname). And if one doesn't know of any heroic ancestors with the same surname, then become one yourself. It will bring fame and just pride to one's descendants, to one's community and to Bharatavarsha. There are no lowly Hindu surnames. There might be ones that aren't famous yet.
The important thing is not to let others take your name away. I don't like how the government forces some people to change their surnames, whilst others sign in under a different community name. Their hands are being forced. To sign one's name away is to lose a bit of one's own identity, because it divorces us from our past.
Having said all that, I have no idea what my real surname is <!--emo&:unsure:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='unsure.gif' /><!--endemo--> In Tamil Nadu one's surname is often the father's first name, so that lasts all about one generation. But then there's the community name as well, though not everyone uses that as their surname, and there's also the family name. It's all rather confusing.