SOMETHING SPECIAL IN A NAME
by V.K. Chary
The fall leaves crunched under Purnima's sneakers. Her tight black curls bounced up and down as she marched past the Jones boys in their front lawn.
"Hi, Purina Dog Chow," they teased from atop the oak tree.
Purnima's face turned hot and her stomach rolled with anger. The ten year-olds pace picked up speed. She gripped her backpack straps.
I don't like my name, she screamed inside. She could hear "Purina Dog Chow" being chanted behind her as she walked briskly down the street towards her house.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She stared hard at her path to fight back the tears. When she got home, she threw open the door.
"I want a different name," she yelled clenching her fists.
There was dead silence. Three pairs of eyes turned around and stared at her. One pair belonged to her mother who was making carrot halvas in the kitchen. The other two pairs belonged to her older sister, Asha and her friend Jackie who were sipping almond kheer on the family-room couch.
"Rotten day?" asked Asha, breaking the silence.
Purnima dropped her backpack on the floor and collapsed into the loveseat.
"I don't want a yucky Indian name," she said with a sneer. "I want a normal one."
"Like what?" asked Asha nibbling on a piece of almond from her kheer.
Although the sisters had their share of fights, Asha was always eager to help out with her little sisters problems.
"Like Susan, Mary or even Jackie," said Purnima, pointing at Jackie.
"What's wrong with Purnima?" asked her mother, who was listening to the conversation.
"Everything," answered Purnima. "Tom and Teddy Jones call me Purina Dog Chow."
"Oh," said Asha with a frown, remembering her name. "I use to be called Ashes Ashes we all fall down."
"That's because Ashas an Indian name," retorted Purnima. "They don't make fun of American names"
"Ohhhhh, yes they do," added in Jackie, rolling her big blue eyes. "I was always called Jackie Quackie."
"They made fun of Jackie?" asked Purnima, in amazement, sitting up tall.
"Sure," said Jackie. "They also made fun of Terry the Fairy, Tommy Salami, and Janet the Planet."
Purnima took a big breath. So, I'm not the only one, she thought. Her body relaxed back into the loveseat. She folded her legs to her chest and hugged them.
"I still don't like my name," she pouted, remembering the boys.
"There's a story behind your name," Purnima's mother said, joining the girls in the family room.
The three girls waited for her to go on.
"The evening after you were born," she started, pulling her sari around her shoulder, "I looked outside the window. The sky was littered with a thousand stars. In the midst of them all, stood out a brilliant full moon.
That's when I decided to name you Purnima. Purnima means brilliant full moon in Sanskrit. I wanted you to stand out as brilliantly as the moon did that night from all the other stars."
Purnima's eyes widened. Brilliant full moon?
"That's a neat," said Jackie putting her glass down on the coffee table and snuggling into the couch.
That is neat, thought Purnima.
"But that won't stop the boys from teasing me," she said with a big sigh.
"Nothing will," answered Asha. "Just ignore them. They don't know anything about you anyway."
How am I supposed to ignore them? I get so mad, thought Purnima. "I guess," she replied relucantly and pulled up her backpack. She headed down the hall towards her room.
Purnima plopped herself down on her blue and white ruffled comforter. Her legs dangled over the edge of the white poster bed and swayed from side to side. She stared ahead into the full length mirror mounted on the wall. She propped up her head with the support of her hands. Brilliant full moon, she thought. She widened her eyes. Her friends always said that her eyes were bright and full. Purnima looked at the balloons and colored ribbons tied to the back of her white desk chair. Her girl friends, Shree, Karen, and Rita gave her those for her birthday two days ago. My friends don't make fun of my name, she thought. She let her eyes wandered around her room. She stared at the school project taped to her closet door. Each letter of her name had a description of her. "P" for perky, "U" for unique, "R" for rare, "N" for nice, "I" for imaginative, "M" for magnetic, and "A" for attractive.
I am all those things, she thought, sitting up tall. Asha was right. Who cared what the boys said. "Purnima" was a perky, unique, rare, nice, imaginative, magnetic and attractive name. It fit her well. It was all the things she was. With that the brilliant Purnima, skipped outside to go to Shree's house.
writers@mcint.com
July 1997