SURTI NAMESAKES; THE STORIES WITHIN…………..
‘Whats in a name?’ asked Shakespeare’s Juliet,’ That which we call a rose, by any other would smell as sweet.’ Who better than us Surtis would understand these lines? After all, our Gulab ben from down the lane goes to America and literally turns into Ms Rose [though am not too sure about the fragrance bit]. While the country’s hottie, miss .Shetty considered it infra dig to be called out by an ill pronounced name and made big bucks on’ Big brother’ in the bargain; most Surti NRI’S are ever ready to turn their names around. So, Rambhai becomes Raymon, Tarun turns to Tom and Sulbha is Sue making it all the more smoother for business, communication and dreams in uncle Sam’s land come true. Inspite of not being as tongue twisting as Czechoslovakian names, surnames too, get baptized from,’ thakker to tucker ‘,’bharucha to brooch’ so on.

These days, its not just email that requires this task of converting your name into a fancy i.d; in fact if you have noticed, a lot of our local crowd has started naming their kiddos with phoren names which are called out with desi surnames. Other than being inspired from English serials and movies, Greek dictionaries and Italian recepies to name the apples of their eye, some Surtis also name their off springs with ‘exclusive ‘names so that they are unique like ,’zill’,’fenil’,chiluka’,’kauli’etc.Of course, since commoners do not dare to use the same, its mission accomplished for the innovative familial trait. The Ghachi community in Surat was long ago nicknamed German because more often than not, they would call their children by German names.

Getting back to name changing, in the days of yore, while most of their friends were named after gods, precious metals and nature, a lot of Surti babies were unfortunately named ‘kachra’aur ‘bhikno’ due to superstitions, if they kept falling ill.Then, if some misfortune were to befall the family or some action out of the ordinary was followed, it would turn into a surname changing event! The entire clan would carry funny and unattractive surnames [read profane and poppycock] to ward off the evil eye. One such example is the surname ‘G…ghavalia’ that once existed in Surat, which, interpreted to the politest form in English reads…… Err,’ rear back scratchers!’ Fortunately for the grandchildren, better sense prevailed in the previous generation who opted for a more decent switch rather than using the one with an itch, after having gone through the grind of announcing the same with a hitch. Jherpidhara, Bhenchoi#a, Pavli, Tikko too, have been understandably discarded. Whilst Motidoomwala, Bhesnapadiyawala still survive.

As is the case and culture with most generations of Indians, we Surtis too, carry the surnames that were passed down by our ancestors. So named due to the business they were in, to culturally express and define who they were rather than stating religion or caste unlike other Indians- Jariwala, Doodhwala, Darji, Gajjar, Vakharia, Kadiwala, Reshamwala, Kapadia, Kaanchwala, Daruwala; the list is endless. The Parsis on the other hand, preferred to be known by the hometowns and villages they had settled in hence the surnames Dumasia, Balsara, Billimoria, Anklesaria, Pardiwala, Amroliwala, Udvadia...

During the 16th and 17th century in Surat, most neighborhoods within the inner city and outer city were named after the individuals or clans that then resided there. Gopipura, Haripura, Rustompura, Sonifalia, Nanavat, Golwaad, Timalyawad are some such areas that thus came into being. Our city also has some uniquely named areas like, ‘paani ni bheet’,’rani talav’,’machhlipit’ ’ruwala no tekro’ -meaning cotton mountain where mattresses were once traded,’chakkapir’,’hodi bunglow’,’ravan no taad’ -named after a monstrous tree’,’makkai pul’ -which actually was the bridge from which the Hajjis going to Mecca would board their ships and many more such, which do not make sense now but have a story behind their existence.

Forget just the denizens and destinations; in fact, Tapi town itself has had numerous names down the ages. From Suryapuri [since the Tapti is Suryaputri, the Sun god’s daughter] to Suraj, to Surata to Surat, we have come a long way. So, watch out world, before you ask us,’tera naam kyaa hai, Surti?’You never know what we may have in store because in lalaland [or is it ‘walaland’?] we have namesakes galore!