193. Naming Names (Short Story No.7 in Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam

BOOK REVIEW: Naming Names (Short Story No.7 in Marriage and Mutton Curry) by M. Shanmughalingam

Hi Ali, can u please tell Mr. Ali that Ali came to see him? Hello Tan, how's your Uncle Tan now? I heard Tan tell me that he was not well. Did Siva tell you that his Uncle Siva met with an accident with Mrs Siva's husband, Mr Siva? STOOOOPPPPP!!! Now which Tan is it and which Siva were you referring to?

This blathering confusion used to exist quite some time back when surnames and names were similar to one another. It also happened in the Tamil Jaffna community with the numerous Kandiahs, Kanagasabais and Kanagaratnams. Yikes! So how was this muddle-up solved? The author, the affable, Dato' Dr. M. Shanmughalingam, has narrated in a funny short story the creative ways used to identify one name from the other.

Creativity was pretty rampant in the olden days as people had less to do and more to think about. So funny and witty ways of naming people came up. In this story, the name of Kandiah, a famous name in the Tamil Jaffna society, is put into focus for explanation.

For example, there was a Kandiah who walked with his eyes always focused on his stomach. The nickname was then given as Vaithu Valli Kandiah (Stomach Ache Kandiah). Another Kandiah likes to give people free rides, but right at the very end he asks for fares. Due to his behavior, he is nicknamed Taxi Kandiah. The list goes on and on in this story and it gets even funnier to see how the nicknames correspond with the Kandiah's behavior, appearance or certain movements.

This naming of names still exists today. There are some grannies who talk too much and are given names like Nyanya Munya meaning mumbling, and some grannies who are nicknamed after the place where they stay like Mersing Patty (Mersing Granny - Mersing being a town in Johor). With ease of identification comes humor to enlighten your day.

To me this story was really humorous and portrays the way we give nicknames to people even today. For  more humorous and self-explanatory stories on the Tamil Jaffna community and also Malaysia's rich history, do pick up a copy of Marriage and Mutton Curry to read up on.