I must share how my name is being mutilated by people across the world:
Misspelled on my Airtel bill: Niril Pinil
Misspelled on my airtel landline receipt: Merril Dim
Misspelled on my ID card at a chorale music conference in France: Memil Diveez
Misspelled on a kathi roll dhaba located just a stone’s throw from my office: The delivery fella’ was looking for a ‘dinish’ (in these parts, I ONLY share my surname as they can’t get beyond mmmm if I tell them my first name).
Mispronounced by Malayalees: Mer-rul
Mispronounced byGujaratis: May-rul
Mispronounced by Maharashtrians: Marol
Mispronounced by my dear departed grandma Avo: May-reel
Mispronounced by close friends with great affection: Merly
Mispronounced by a Brit RJ on a Dubai FM channel: Me-ri-yal
Lame attempts by several yuppies to show that they can indeed pronounce such a name: Streep or Lynch?
And this one takes the cake! Mispronounced by a stupid needlework teacher at Indian School, Muscat (duh!) while addressing me in her first ever roll call in class: May-li (looking up in wonder at the existence of such a name).
In Konkani, May-li means ‘dead’ .
Tags: airtel, gujaratis, kathi roll, konkani, maharashtrians, malayalees
written with alot of passion