It's All in My Name...Or Is it?

Over the last few weeks, we have been talking in marketing classes about how names have a huge influence in determining the personality of a brand. This brand may also refer to celebrities. Perhaps, we cannot identify with Inquilaab Srivastava as being a big Bollywood celebrity. In fact, it sounds more like the name of a freedom fighter. However, a strong name like Amitabh Bachchan does sound like something that would appeal to the masses much more. This gets me thinking about how names can by themselves determine so much. Vogue screams fashion. Levi’s sounds young and cool. Coca Cola could not seem any more perfect for a cold drink brand. Maybe a lot of this is because we are already conditioned to not identify the brand with any other name. But, there is still a certain attraction in it as well which makes us wonder just how powerful names can be in dictating personality. Thus, this post is mostly my attempt to explain why or why not my name aligns with who I am.  

Disha- meaning ‘direction’- is the name that was given to me by my father. In Hindu tradition, we have a ‘namkaran’ or a naming ceremony. The pandit comes and after studying the birth chart of the new born baby, he gives a few letters with which the baby is to be named. In my case, D was the main alphabet proposed. While my parents claim that there was nothing sentimental behind why I was named Disha, they do admit that they hoped the meaning would permeate my being and dictate how I was to lead my life- in a specific direction. So, when I called them up this morning to ask why I was named Disha they explained that it was not a huge task for them to name me. They liked the name and the meaning behind it. In fact, upon seeing the alphabet proposed, it was also the first name that came to their minds.Their reason was simple- they hoped that their daughter would grow up and always live with a direction in mind. They also wanted me to show direction to other people as I grew up. 

Personally speaking, I am not really fond of my name. I do not hate it either but it’s quite dull in my opinion. I don’t even know how true to my name my life has been. In fact, given the way everything has panned out till now, there have been more times I have felt directionless than I have not. From being confused about choices that I had to making with regards to my education, my career or even what to order from Swiggy, I have always been a little indecisive which could also mean having lack of direction. So, maybe that part of my name has not really stuck with me.
However, it hasn’t always been like this either. While I know how indecisive and devoid of direction I could be sometimes, to others I always seem to come off as a focused and driven individual who knows where she is headed. While that is true, it is still not the whole story.

Alternately, as my parents had hoped, I do think I have always been the one to show direction to people, especially within my friend circle. I am a great listener and I am known to give good advice. Incidentally, I was almost about to pursue a career in Psychology after 12th grade.
My cousins have always come to me for guidance, especially the little ones. They’ve always found a sense of direction after talking to me. So, in that aspect I do think my name is reflective of my personality. I do, at times, seem to have it all mapped out and the vibe I give off conveys that this girl knows what she is about. This is often unconscious as I never make conscious efforts to make it known that I have my stuff together. Because, well, I don’t. But, if that’s what others think about me, then that’s cool too!

So, in conclusion, I think my name is quite reflective of the ‘brand’ that I am. The mismatch that does exist is not something that can be aligned forever. There always comes a time when one, especially in their teens and early twenties feels directionless and devoid of hope. It is normal to feel lost and it's just in this respect that my name fails to match my personality.
However, I do feel like I’ve come a long way from where I was a year ago. I feel like I am moving in a certain direction now. So, just maybe, the gap between who I am and what my name means is lessening each day. But, I also hope that I never settle on one direction because then life would not be as exciting to me. I want there to be many directions worth exploring and perhaps, the uncertainty and hoping for the better itself can become the ultimate ‘Disha’ of my life.

Let me know what your name means and if you relate to it! I can’t wait to read your comments below.