The 80 years old Paappa !

"Bhagbai, childless for nine years, had atlast conceived after endless prayers to Mariaai. The high caste village priest had advised to name the baby KACHARU, meaning dirt, so the devil would stay out of sight and the baby thrive." - excerpt from OUTCASTE by Narendra Jadhav

Let us invoke the name of God and start our exploration of names. The origin of the name UMA for Goddess Parvathy.

One of the many names of Goddess Parvathy is Uma. It is interesting to study the origin of this name. Uma, the wife of Shiva was the daughter of Himavat who personified the Himalayas, and of Mena (or Menaka) a beautiful being with whom even God Indra fell in love. Among the children of Himavat and Mena were two daughters, Uma and Ganga, Goddess of Ganges, and a son named Mainaka, personification of a high mountain. When Indra clipped the wings of the great mountain peaks(that's another story), Mainaka escaped by hiding under the sea .He re-appeared when it was safe again. He still stands and has been identified with various lofty peaks, in the Himalayas, in Central India, or in the extreme South of India.

In another version Himavat and Mena had three daughters who gave themselves up to the most rigorous austerities.One sister lived upon the single leaf of the Parna tree and was called Ekaparna .The other sister lived on one leaf of the Patala tree and was known as Ekapatala. How the third and eldest daughter surpassed her two sisters is related in the Harivamsha. She was exceedingly beautiful and was believed to be the re-incarnation of the self-immolated Sati, Shiva's previous wife. As such she approached Shiva as his spouse. But the God was now averse to sexual pleasure and spurned her. Deeply hurt and feeling humiliated she decided to outdo the austerities of her two sisters. She subsisted on nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a single leaf, not even one parna so that she was called Aparna.This extra-ordinary abstinence so alarmed her mother that she cried out, "U---MA", meaning, ",O!-DON'T " and it was by this name that she became known throughout the three worlds. Her devotion to Shiva pleased the Lord so much that he consented to make her his wife. Many stories are related about the differences of this loving pair .

Apart from this mythological derivation there are other meanings given to her name. Uma is said to signify light, speech or peacemaker. The name is first mentioned in the Kena Upanishad.,where she appears as a mediatrix between Brahma and other gods, and seems to be identified with Vac.She is often identified with Parvathy and Durga. It seems that she was a deity of pre-Aryan origin and her name is related to the word Amma meaning Mother-a suffix of several South Indian godlings as the daughter of Himmavat. Uma is also called Haimavati.

Contributed by P P Ramachandran

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On a lighter vein, how did names like Kuppai came into existence ?

When a child is born to a couple after a long time they don't give an attractive name to the child. Sometimes it so happens that a couple lose many children after a short life and finally when a child is born and survives they give such names as Kuppai, Pichai, etc because they want the child to have a long life. This is done even if a child is born many years after marriage. The child is given names like:

Kuppai - means garbage and say that kuppayile kitanthavathu perisaakattum
Pichai means begging and they say pichai etuthhavathu perisakattum
Konthai - which means a small child. If the child is the youngest one or a darling of the house then she / he is called Konthai or Kunjalam and the name sticks
Another one is Pappa. Even when this lady turns 20 or 80 she is still called Pappa
Krishnan turns into Kichan, or Kittan (Kittu)
Vaidyalingam (Vaitheeswaran Koil) became Vaitha or Vaithi
Ramakrishnan changes into Aamacha , Aama for Rama , cha for kicha , then it becomes Aacha
Viswanathan is shortened to Vicha or Vichu
Venkitachalam - Venkittu, ( of course nowadays Venkitachalam, Venkitakrishnan all have become Venkats)
Chandran - Chandru
Narayanan - Nana or Nanu
Parvathy - Paru
Lakshmy - Echumy
Rajam - Rasam
Annapoorni - Annam
Sarada - Charu
Lalitha - Lalli
Seetha - Cheethu
Visalam - Vicha
Sarasa - Chachu
Thankam - Thanku
Narayani - Nani
Appadurai - Appai
Parameswaran - Pammechu

Then if the child is a boy and is the 8th child he is called Kannan or Krishnan. Swarnam is Chonnam. Actually I have a cousin who is called Chonnam. When our first daughter was about 3 years old, my cousin happened to stay with us for a few months. Then one day our daughter asked us what is the meaning of Chonnam. Then we explained to her how the name came and the meaning of Swarnam is gold. From that day she started calling him Gold mama and even today he is called Gold Mama by all members of the family.

During those days when the couple have many children and they feel that now they should have no more and if the last child born is a girl they keep the name Mangalam (The End).

Contributed by Lakshmi Ramachandran

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Some of the Nicknames by which people were known in my gramam during my childhood are very interesting. I felt that these will soon become extinct.

Krishnan - Kittai, Kittappa, Kicha
Subramanian - Subbu, Chuppai, Chuppamani
Lakshminarayanan - Echaranan
Narayanan - Nanu, Nana
Narayani - Nani
Saraswathi - Sachu
Parameswaran - Paramu, Pammu
Yagneswaran - Yakku
Sreenivasan - Chema, Cheenu, Cheemachu
Parthasarathy - Pacha, Pachu
Parvathy - Paru
Sahasranaman - Chathu, Chatha
Natarajan - Nattu

Another aspect is to associate people's names with their employment like LIC Mani, Caltex Krishnan, Highschool Chellappa, etc.

Contributed by Krishnamurthy Kuthanur

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Now let us explore the names of Vessels used by Pattars of Ancient Days.

It is interesting to know the names by which the vessels in use by pattars are known. Soon, everyone is sure to forget and the next generation is not going to bother about it at all.

Dabara - is still popular in some of the S. Indian hotels
Cherattapohini is a small hemispherical vessel, about 750 ml capacity, made of copper or brass.
Arikkanchatti is also similar, but of larger volume, say 40 to 60 litres.
Adukku comes in a set of 5 or 6, cykindrical in shape, made of brass or aluminium.
Nelakathu is a combination of a hemispherical-cum-cylindrical vessel, 100 litres capacity, made of brass. Its distinguishing feature is a pair of ears, hooks, by which you can lift it either by hand or a pole.
Anda is a big cylindrical vessel, brass or copper, to store water.
Kindi is a brass vessel, with a long spout from the bottom-side, through which you can empty the contents (Water) on to your legs or hand. It will be ornamentally shaped.
chombu is spherical in shape, brass, plain. Used to take out water from the Anda, during bath.
Kooja,is ornamental, in different shape, to hold coffee, milk etc, with a screwable lid. The lid has a handle. This was used in long journeys.
Thavalais are vessels, used to cook rice. Thay come in different shapes and sizes. Thay have narrow necks.
Kachattis are made of stone-rocks, used for cooking sambars and other main dishes.
Cheenchatti are popular even now. It has ears, and made of iron. Nowadays, thay are of aluminium also. Used for preparing uppumas and upperis.
Appais are ladles, made of wood, aluminium, bronze and even iron.
Karandi is an iron hemispherical vessel, with a handle. Used to sputter mustard etc to be poured into the prepared dishes finally.
Kannappai is a ladle with holes. Used for frying karuvadam, ladu making etc.
Kodam, spherical, of brass or copper, are used for drawing water from wells.
Thay have narrow necks on which the ropes are fastened before sending into the well. Their capacity is about 100 litres.
Thondi is similar to kodam, but very small (10 litres).

Contributed By:
Krishnamurthy Kuthanur is an active contributor to Pattars group discussions

P P Ramachandran - though born in Kerala, he is a thoroughbred Mumbaikar. A voracious reader and book reviewer, PPR, is a member of the Book Selection Committee of the prestigious Asiatic Society and is the Adviser to the Parle Tilak Mandir Library. He writes for periodicals and has correspondence with eminent persons like Rajaji, Dr.Radhakrishnan, Pope John Paul II, Paul Gallico, H.R.F.Keating and several writers. He has taken part in BBC's Mastermind Quiz Programme and has also been wearing the hat of a Resource person for Kaun Banega Crorepati. PPR has had formal education in Economics & Politics, Sanskrit and in Comparative Mythology and retired as a Senior Executive after 40 years of service with Reserve Bank of India.