Come September!

Come September!

Yesterday was 5^th September 2015 celebrated as Janmashtami and Teacher’s day in India and as Kwita Izina -  the naming ceremony of 24 baby monkey gorillas that is a big draw as it attracts a lot of tourists to Rwanda. As a coincidence I was watching the film ‘3 idiots’ in which 5^th September had its unique relevance. September also evokes nostalgia of the super movie of yesteryears - Come September. So many ways in which one can refer to September, I thought.

As I sat listening to the bhajans at the Janmashtami celebrations at Hindu Mandal in Kigali, I realized that Lord Krishna is also addressed in so many different names. While one knows that these avtars being super human their qualities and their achievements are described through these names -  Like the Vishnu Sahastranam that describes Lord Vishnu in a thousand names or even the stotras that describe a deity in several names and forms – yet the question remains as to why is it that one needs to describe something in so many different ways.

Even a mother and child bond, the children address their mother as Ma, or Mum or amma, awwa , aai and the mother too calls out to the child with so many lovable names. As I kept pondering , I thought of another possibility. The vividness in names is not just to describe qualities but perhaps has a much expansive scope. It is a result of the expression of ever flowing love. As the human intellect blossoms it is able to capture the subtler meanings or emotions that need to be encapsulated in words. That gives rise to rich vocabulary. A mere action of tears flowing from eyes can be described in several ways: cry, sob, weep, wail, moan, bawl so on and so forth.

In contrast there are some words that have no synonym so to say. Words like infinity, cloud, are not called by any other name. William Shakespeare had said that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. What is in a name? Yet each name evokes a different feeling and as human sensitivities become subtler the language oozes in a free flowing prose or verse with figures of speech, vocabulary, rhythm that makes the heart beat and life joyful. After all variety is the spice of life, isn’t it? 

Anagha Hunnurkar

September 6, 2015