  Like everybody else I was born with a name. my father had given it to me. Amritarupa Banerjee. In an age where Adnan becomes Ady, Sandeep becomes sandy, Tejaswy becomes Teju or Pooja becomes Poo.
I had never ever hoped that ppl would address me by my first name. Amritarupa. it was shortened to Amrita. Well i really like the name Amrita. It sounded simple, nice n I was pretty happy about the fact that now people would spell and pronounce it right.
Just Amrita. Well it was not to be. When i was in kolkata. I was addressed with that typical Bangla accent which made it sound more like Amrito. So much for being a bengali. After migrating to Pune (
well literally coz i had to have my migaration cert.  done)  the real woes Begun. Earlier the pronunciation was a problem. here my name itself changed. Amruta Banerjee.
So that was my first rechristening ( 1996) When i had shifted bag n baggage to hyderabad for my grads. i was rechristened for the second time. Amritha Banerjee. Amrutha Banerjee.
this generous dosage of " h" does happen down south. Swati becomes swathi, Jyoti becomes Jyothi, Even Natasha (
which incidentally is a russian name)  is turned into Nathasha.  Now when i stare at the letter that i have received from Bangalore this morning. I feel sorry. feel sorry for my father who had so lovingly given me a name. it proudly said .
Ms Amrutha Roopa Banerjee.  And they say " Whats in a Name?  I say. A hell lot.
