Krishna

It's difficult being a Christopher in India. Mainly because people just can't say it properly. I've always had problems with people pronouncing my last name, but here, people can't even say my Good Name.. which means they usually forget it straight away too.

So after a few weeks of failed Christophers and Chris's, I switched to "Christian" - thinking that since it was a huge religion with a solid base in India, people would naturally be able to say it. Not so.

And so, when I got to Bhuj, I switched to yet another name: Krishna. It's close enough to Chris to sound the same to my ears (which is important when I need to recognize someone shouting my name), yet familiar to Indians. Plus, the fact that a foreigner is named after one of their gods is strange/funny enough that no one has a problem remembering my name.

And after all, is this so diffrent than Chinese/Indian grad students calling themselves "Michael", or "Sophie" - after repeatedly hearing Americans mangle their beautiful names?