What’s in a name? intrigued me immediately. When I received an email from Mith, suggesting that I take a look at her August 11, 2008, post, I noted her unusual name. I have never met a person named “Mith” before.
And, truth be told, the subject of birth names and living with them is “near and dear” to my heart, given that my parents originally named me “Jane” and I hated it so much that, as soon as I was old enough to do so, I changed it to “Janie.”
Mith is a 22-year-old woman from Blore, India, whose parents happened to be watching a hindi sitcom as they contemplated a name for their newborn daughter. ”Mittu” was the nickname lovingly bestowed upon one of the characters. Instantly taken by the name, her parents believed that a nickname should be derived from an actual name that “matches” the nickname and that belief served as the inspiration for their quest to find a suitable match.
Eventually, they settled on “Mithila,” the place where the Goddess Sita was born.
According to Wikipedia,
The actions, reactions and instincts manifested by Sita at every juncture in a long and arduous life are deemed exemplary. Her story, Sitayanam, is one by which every young girl in India is raised to this day. The values that She enshrined and adhered to at every point in the course of a demanding life are the values of womanly virtue held sacred by countless generations of Indians.
As for her birthplace, “Sita was a foundling, discovered in a furrow in a ploughed field, and for that reason is regarded as a daughter of Bhudevi, the Goddess Mother Earth. She was found and adopted by Janaka, king of Mithila (present day Nepal) and his wife Sunayana.”
Despite her name’s noble derivation, Mith writes: ”I hated my name. Most of my childhood memories consist of teachers mispronouncing my name. In front of the whole class. To resounding laughter.” Readers with unusual names or names spelled in unique ways by creative parents will relate to Mith’s pain.
If you read “What’s in a name?” and some of Mith’s other posts, you will quickly see that Mith is a creative and entertaining writer. to learn more about Mith’s feelings, as well as the name her parents bestowed on her younger sister, and her assessment of the monikers inflicted by famous folks upon their offspring.
Mith is honored today with the Post of the Day Award! Stop by and congratulate Mith!
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{ 1 comment }
Thanks Janie!!!
I’m honoured and so pleased at getting such a glowing review and winning the award at the same time!! Thanks a million
:) 
Mith’s most recent post..The time God went : "la la la la…Can’t hear you!" or "Da Vinci would’ve rolled over in his grave!"
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