Opportunity of a Lifetime

"What does your surname mean?", was the innocent question.

Frankly, like countless last names, I have no idea what mine means, and have no idea why some ancestor of mine thought it appropriate enough to append to his first name. Maybe people in those days were in the habit of rattling pebbles in a tin can and creating last names that sounded like the resulting noise. Me and my last name have twisted many an American tongue. Mercifully, my first name's much simpler (though the aforementioned American tongue slipped often on that too). But I digress.

I was busy baking my noodle about my last name's meaning, when I had an epiphany, much like the shoe salesman who went to Africa and called back saying

"Great news Boss!! NO ONE wears shoes!!"

So I had a last name that meant nothing nothing to me, much less to anyone else. Twisting the point around, the question was no longer what it meant. The real question was, What did I want it to mean....

Roughly speaking, given that I have spent 30 years so far, and probably have an equal amount left, that is a good question to ask. What better way to leave behind a legacy, than one created through your actions..

Take for example, the word Tata. You say that name, and you think of vehicles, finance, software, watches, the works. And ofcourse, Tata Young (but thats a completely unrelated story). Who cared what Tata meant, until a chap named Jamshed arrived on the scene. For that matter, who cared what JRD or Ratan meant until they arrived on the scene. But each of them gave a unique meaning to their names. Veni, vidi, vici, vi-name. They came, they saw, they conquered, and they redefined their names to mean something much more that before.

No one knows my last name today, and the only reaction I get when people hear it, is a blink followed by a confounded look. Given 30 years, I could start a school or an orphanage, I could become a writer, I could become an accomplished musician, come to think of it, I could become the President. Or I could simply while away the remaining half, doing nothing meaningful, and slip into oblivion. Thus far, I used to kindof detest the meaninglessness of my last name.. But the chance and choice of imparting a meaning to my meaningless last name, has become an opportunity of my lifetime..