Janaki told to be Jayanthi

India’s Central Board of Film Certification has directed the makers of a movie to change its title just because it contains the name of Janaki which is a synonym of Sita, the Hindu goddess. Worse still, the Board has demanded a name change for the titular character in the movie too – from Janaki to Jayanthi.

The Government of India is presumably formulating laws banning the use of certain names - like:

·      Rama in zoos: we can’t have monkeys hailing Jai Ram to their leader.

·      Durga in gyms: how can we have Durgas lifting dumbbells?

·      Lakshmi in banks: the goddess of wealth deserves better than being reduced to a finance firm offering 3.5% interest.

You are welcome to give more suggestions if you are a genuine nationalist in India. You can give other valuable suggestions too like the nationalists in West Bengal are demanding a ban on the consumption of fish because fish was one of the incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Beef is associated with Lord Krishna and so it is banned in most states of the country. Pork will be banned since the boar was also an incarnation of Vishnu once.

The name ‘Janaki’ always brought to my mind a woman who was household assistant at my home all through my childhood. She lived nearby and helped my mother with looking after her ten children including me. Janaki was part of our family, so to say. But she was an illiterate widow. If it was now, the nationalists would have given her an option between a different name or death itself. I guess, we shouldn’t have illiterate people named after Hindu gods and goddesses.

Ideally no one should be named after gods and goddesses until they prove that they deserve such names. Imagine a little girl named Lakshmi throwing tantrums and the mother yelling at her: “Hey, Lakshmi, stop being stupid, will you? Else you’re going to get a good spanking from me.” Isn’t that a severe offence against the goddess who might hear such angry reprimands and be hurt?

The government should set up a department like Pradhan Mantri Namakaran Yojana or something which should first approve a name before it is given to a child. When you apply for a name like Ganesh, the website can suggest: “Name Reserved. Try Ganesan?”

Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram has treasures worth INR 1 lakh crore. Tirupati Temple’s wealth is estimated at INR 650 crore. Similarly, there are countless temples which own enormous wealth and they are all running like big businesses. Business is okay but you can’t have a character in a movie named after one of those gods!

I am just imagining a scene. My old friend and supporter Janaki trying to get a passport which is refused because her “name offends national sentiment” and so she is given passport in the name of Jayanthi.

Krishnan Kutty, a friend, is now planning to change his name as K. Rishan Kutty. I'm concerned about Keshav, however.