Sarabhai Vs. Sherawat - It's all in the name!

It's not the name of the next sitcom on Star Plus; it's about an important part of my being, my name Mallika. My dad always said that he had named me so, after Rabindranath Tagore's poem 'Mallika', and he would sing it to me. My mom said that she named me so because, my stars dictated that a name starting in 'M' would be good for me, and it completed the word RAM, ( one of the most important avatars of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism) when combined with the first letters of the names of my brothers, Ranjan and Anjan.

Mallika in Sanskrit means the jasmine flower, but I was fonder of its Urdu/Arabic meaning- queen, primarily because I had a mad crush on a guy whose name meant 'king'. Oh the golden teenage years!

As a child, whenever I introduced myself with my first name, it evoked an "Oh Sarabhai!" especially from the intellectually inclined men and women. I knew Mallika Sarabhai was an acclaimed classical danseuse, but didn't know at that time that she was also an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, the top-most MBA institution in India. To be honest, it took a few years, until I began to appreciate that comparison. As a child, classical dance wasn't the most appealing thing to me.


The Sarabhai comparison went on for years until about seven years back when everything changed. There was a more famous, or rather infamous Mallika, ruling the sub-continent. The bombshell Mallika Sherawat, had taken Bollywood by storm, with her exposing and kissing scenes, not erstwhile seen in Indian cinema. Needless to say, I didn't particularly appreciate the fact that the exclamation on my introduction had changed from 'Oh Sarabhai!' to 'Oh Sherawat!', especially by the somewhat flirtatious men. What caused me to be more upset was that Mallika was only a pseudonym the actress had adopted. Her real name was Rima Lamba.

Around the same time, there was also a negative character, Mallika in 'Jassi jaisi koi Nahin’, the Indian version of Ugly Betty. This only added to the ill-feeling about the name, to the extent that a new friend once innocently commented," You know it was only after meeting you that my impression about the name ‘Mallika’ changed. Until now it appeared to be a name apt for vamps". Her innocence caused me to smile. At least I was doing justice to a beautiful name.

The degradation reached an international level when I moved to the US and started working. The closest name my peers related my name to was Monica; yes you guessed it right, Lewinsky.

Worse came to worst when a few months back, another friend called and told me that Bollywood has released a new movie named Mallika. He said that it was a thriller of some sort. After a few days, I googled to find out what the movie was about and this is what I found. The Mallika in the movie is a revengeful ghost. Are you kidding me!

Living with the complete vilification of my name for a few months, something I always knew suddenly dawned on me one night. It felt like finding enlightenment. Hundreds of thousands of flower vendors begin their day by calling out my name to millions of damsels in the southern states of India. The Jasmine flower Malligai, as it is called in that part of the country is used by the women to adorn their hair every day. It not only enhances their looks but also fills the air with its sweet smell. Malligai is an inseparable part of anyone's memories of any of the Southern Indian states. It's a great name and maybe the name most uttered in India every single day. I am content :)