WHATS IN A NAME !

      KAASINATH   was born  as the youngest son  of  MUKUL PANDEY  in a middle class family

in BOMBAY.   He got the name because his parents made a pilgrimage  to Ganga river   and

BENARES ,for  wanting a son  after three daughters;.   Infant Kaasinath  initially studied  in

a Corporation  school . He was  a  meek and tender child; and accepted all the pranks played on him

by the children in his class.  There was a naughty bully in the class named Kedarnath and he would

swap his name   with Kaasinath  when the teacher called the roll call every morning, so much so that

Kaasinath  was known as Kedarnath in the school!  Kaasinath did not give much importance to the

 exchange, as he thought what's there in a name !


Years later, his parents  had a torrid time in getting his real name back, in the school leaving

certificate as the school head was adamant that the boy was known as Kedaarnath!

Later,  Kaasinath  joined a  convent school;  The head master  a  Parish  father, asked

his father the boy's  complete  name at the time of admission. beginning  with his caste name;

;thus his name got changed to   PANDEY  MUKUL   KAASINATH!

During his education, it was smooth sailing for the boy and his parents, as far as his name was

concerned.


It was after his education,  that  troubles began for Kaasinath  as far as his name was concerned.

While looking out for a job,  he had troubles when mentioning his name.  Prospective

employers gave importance to his caste name, while others to his name or his father's name.

Finally in the job he landed, .he managed to get his name first, so that in the organisation, he was

called  Kaasinath.  Kaasinath was a sincere  worker, his work was appreciated, and he grew up  in the

organisation.


With promotions and money,  came the bees,  ;  there were insurance  , bank  and other  broker

agents , who wanted  Kaasinath to invest  his money in their attractive schemes.  .

Kaasinath  willingly obliged,  and he was the owner of  several accounts.   however

he was careless in seeing how  his name  was spelt out in the accounts.  there were some with Pandey, ,

others with Kaasinathand a few too with Mukul as the main  name. Kaasinaath did not spend

sleepless nights  as he again  thought , whats there in a name! .


Then the Govt.  stepped in on the names .  The first shot was a Ruling  that  all income owners

must have  a " PAN CARD "  .  Here  came the first jolt,  to Kaasinath;  All applicants  if available

must produce a true copy of   their  school leaving  certificates  and the name mentioned there in

 will be taken as  a proof of their  names .  ; and so his name was taken as  Pandey  Mukul  Kaasinath

Then came the " Country  wide General ELECTIONS "  It  was ruled that " to vote one should  avail

of  an identity card " ;  Kaasinaath rushed to his nearest enrolling centre. .  The latter was manned

by  amatureish  freshers  . Kaasinath was  armed with his backup personal documents;

All the attendants  had time for  was to ask his name and his father's name.   After taking his

snap he was asked to collect his card on an appointed date . Kaasinath did so, and was shocked to see

his name  spelt out as " Kaasinath son of Mukul "

But, the biggest jolt to Kaasinath was when the Aadhar  scheme was announced.   At  first

Kaasinaath did not pay much heed as he thought it was only for those  who  availed of subsidies;

and in any case he did not avail of any.  But then came the bolt from the blue,  The Govt.

annouced that Aadhar must be availed of for all  dealings with State, be it a bank, payment  of tax

voting , what have you.  and a  closing  date  was fixed for  enrolment.

With a heavy heart,  Kaasinath  trudged to the enrolment  centre, only to be greeted by freshers.

once again  they asked him his name  and that of his father . After recording his fingerprints and

retina pictures,  Kaasinath received  an Aadhar Card,  and once again his name was given as

" Kaasinath son of Mukul "  The problems started for Kaasinath when he submitted his  Aaadhar

copy to all the institutions which held his finances.   Promptly  Kaasinath was told there was a

mismatch in his names with that on his Aadhar document.  and his only option was to accept

either his Aadhar    name or the  name in the financial document .   Kaasinath opted for the Aadhar

name, that  being the easier option; From that day, he was known as  " Kaasinath son of Mukul ! "


Much as Kaasinath  tried to dismiss the name mix up, he had to put up with his new name !

HE became the butt of jokes, within his friends among the business and social sections !

It had an effect on his work ethics,. He became moody sullen , and preferred to be left alone.

The change was noticed by his top superiors in  business.His top boss once called him to his cabin.

" SIT down, Kaasinath, told Mr. Das, to him ; of late you have become moody and aloof, is there any

pesonal  problem, bothering you .   Kaasinath broke down and sobbed like a child and told him about

his name problem .  Mr Das  consoled him and told him he would help out .  Very soon, Kaasinath

received a letter from the Govt. authorities . Kaasinath got back his original name and was smiling

once again !