What's in a name??? Lots, if you are called Bulbul

My name is Bulbul. I am glad I cannot see your face; coz I always encounter some sort of reaction. When I was a kid, the teachers loved me; they specially loved my name. How could anyone forget it? It sounded so cute… Bulbul… the bird. And then I would be blasted with questions like; “can u sing? I am sure you have a good voice”. Lady, if I start singing the donkeys will murder me.

I asked my mom why she named me Bulbul. She said she liked the name, she come across it on TV (TV should be banned… atleast people on TV with weird names should be banned).

I loved my name till I was a kid.

This is the scene from my tuitions (Engg drawing) in first year of college.

guy: hi. I am blah blah. Wats ur name?

me: bulbul

guy: wat? I didn’t get u

me: bulbul

guy: ur name is bulbul?

(laughing uncontrollably)

me: (zapped and speechless)

I swear this is how it happened. And that’s when I realized my name aint “cool”. I wanted to murder the rascal.

These days when I introduce myself, this is how it goes:

Me: hi, I am bulbul.

Him/her: babloo? Can u spell it plz?

Me (mortified): no no, it is bulbul… the bird, u know

During Chaos (IIMA-A) fest last year, I saw this really cute guy anchoring the Mountain Dew competition… I pulled my friend for the contest so we could talk to him… and he called me “Bubbly”. I hated him after that.

These are the nicks I have earned (yeah… literally slaved for them) in the last few years:

Bul

Buls

Bull

Bulls

Double Bull

Lublub

Kill Bul (that is on everyone’s agenda at TAPMI)

Tul Bul

Bubbly

GulBul

But I am glad I am named Bulbul and not something as common as Pooja, Gita or Sita (no offence to all the Poojas, Sitas and Gitas).

By the way, my sis is named Pearl and my bro is Ash (how I envy them!!!)… if you want exotic and different names for your children, or even for yourself, contact my parents.