"You better change my name, else am not going to school anymore!" Every time I go to a new school, or every time a new teacher joins my school, every time I take part in an inter school competition, this is the statement I used to nag Bawa with.
In a country rich with Biju, Shiju, Shyju, Byju and Sindhu, Bindhu, Sudha, my name sounded like an opera in 'Utsava Parambu'! No one missed to say "What?", "Come again", "Err, what's it", "Lebanon peru
I nagged my Dad to this extent that once he almost got the papers ready to change my name in the Gazette.
It was in the year 1996, I believe, we decided on the name 'Aneesha' (thinking back, I find it too odd a name for me!), and that is when my Big Brother (Dad's Bro's Son) enters the scene. (some background information: He is the one who tagged me with the name 'Lubuna', and where he got the name from is still a mystery..). When Bawa told him about the issue, he stared at me and then at Bawa, at me and Bawa, at Bawa and me; finally he said, "you don’t know the value of your name, one day you will think about me and thank me for choosing this name for you!"
Years sped by, as the clock turned to the marital phase the circumstances blessed me with a new name "Liya"! I love this name, it has the essence of "Lubuna" and "Kuttu" in it, together with a charm of its own.
Today, sitting at my hazy office in Qatar
Whenever I introduce myself as 'Lubuna' here in Qatar
Thank you Big Bro! I love you!
