I have thought of changing my name so many times. Not legally, but only to make it easy for other people to call my name out. But I didn’t, since my name is the sweetest word for me in this world. When someone mispronounce my name, I repeat that over again, even then they couldn’t get that, I spell that out for them; C as Charlie, H as Henry etc...I have to say so many names to make my name meaningful. Some of my friends has changed their name and become Mike, Dave, Jen(Please make sure, these are only informal name, not for official use) etc, and this is not because they like these names or want to be an American, but to avoid the situation I have mentioned earlier in this paragraph. After this you might have to face other questions about your country. Where are you from??? You would say “Nepal”. What…where is that? Again I have to say in between India and China. In this way I have to use other people’s name and other country’s name to introduce myself and my country. Why do I need to use other country’s name to introduce my country? Again to avoid this embarrassment, I would say California, if I am not in California and New York, if I am not in New York and so on. In this way I would avoid unwanted conversation.
I am not writing this topic to share my story, but to share the story of my friend who has changed his name legally and has become “……….” from “Harisharan”. Please guess, what could be his new name. You might be thinking about Henry, Harry, etc.right??? Even I was guessing something like that. You could be right or could be wrong. I don’t know, but I would like to give you some clues that would help you to guess realistically. Though he has become an American citizen, he would like to be a Nepali forever, at least mentally and emotionally. He sang the song “Yo man ta mero Nepali ho” by 1974AD and trying to show his Nepali feeling, while narrating this incident to me. That changed my mind and had to guess something other than American name and should be Nepali origin. I said, “You must have changed to Nepal Sharma.” He kept quiet for a moment and proudly said, “Everest Sharma, even my American passport bears my name as Everest Sharma.”
People become patriot after leaving their country and even way more after become a foreign national. Robert, his colleague, asked him, “Where are you from Mr. Sharma?” He replied, “I am from Nepal.” “Where the heck is that?” Robert responded. He felt bad and tried to educate him about Nepal. “Do you know Buddhism”, he asked. “Oh yeah, I know that”, he replied. “Buddha, Dalai Lama………………” he added. Instantly he fired next question, “Do you know where Buddha from?” “India”, he answered. “No, you are wrong my dear friend, he is from Nepal”, he clarified his misunderstanding. Though he is able to educate him to some extent, he was not satisfied and asked next question, “Do you know Mt. Everest?” “Of course, that is top of the world and located in Tibet, China”, he answered confidently. Sharma got pissed up this time and said, “You are absolutely wrong, Mt. Everest situated in Nepal and I am from Nepal.” Robert nodded his head and acknowledged the facts and happily concluded the conversation. Both of them seemed happy. Sharma successfully introduced his nation to an American and Robert learnt new thing to override his misunderstanding. This incident encouraged him to become Everest Sharma.
Everest is happy to educate people about Nepal everyday with the help of his new name. Here is excerpt of conversation with cable clerk and he doesn’t have any problem regarding his name and nation anymore.
Clerk: How may I help you?
Everest: I would like to get cable connection at my home.
Clerk: ok, can I have your name please?
Everest: Everest Sharma.
Clerk: Ernest…???
Everest: No, Everest; do you know Mt. Everest??
Clerk: yeah, top of the world.
Everest: Correct, Please remove mountain and just put Everest.
Clerk: I got it. So where are you from?
Everest: Nepal.
Clerk: where is that?
Everest: Where Mt. Everest is situated.
Clerk: ohhh…You are from top of the world.
Everest: Yes!!!
Clerk: That’s cool. Thank you for choosing our company. Have a nice day!
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