What's In A Name?

Akash Dutta and his wife Kamini had applied for rectification in the voter ID more than a month ago. Their Voter IDs showed their names as Akash Kutta and Kamini Dutta. His wife's name was misspelled in Hindi as कमीनी instead of कामिनी.

Akash checked the status of his application online. He sighed when he saw that there was no change in their names. Kamini prepared a hot cup of tea for them.

She asked him, "What is the matter? Did they correct our names?" He looked at her, " I am still a Kutta, and You are a कमीनी for them." Both of them had a hearty laugh. "I guess I should pay a visit to their office personally, " he said in a mocking tone. Their only son Anmol was doing Ph.D.in mathematics in the US. Akash settled in Lucknow with his wife. He had announced voluntary retirement from his banking job. Kamini quit her teaching job to join him in his real estate business. Their venture was a huge success and had high profile clients visiting them.

He switched off his laptop and went for his evening walk. He carried a shopping bag to buy vegetables on his way back home.

He met his best friend Yashvardhan in the market. They were childhood friends and went to the same college. Both of them were madly in love with a girl called Gita. She accepted Yashvardhan's proposal and married him.

Akash resumed his focus on studies and got a clerical job in a private sector bank. He rose to the position of the branch manager at the time of his retirement. He was wealthy enough to hire several employees for his real estate firm.

"Hi, Yash! I am glad to see you again. We are meeting each other after a long time. How is my dear Gita bhabhi?" " Why don't you come over to my house right now? She will be glad to see you. I live right across the street in that narrow lane." Yash dragged him all the way to his house. Yash's wife Gita answered the doorbell. She was genuinely happy to see Akash and gave him a hearty welcome.

Akash was stunned by her appearance. She had become so obese that she almost wobbled instead of walking. She smiled at him and said, "Hello, Akash! I know you must be wondering how I turned into a hot air balloon. Well, I first gave birth to twin girls. I thought of going for the family planning operation. This guy and his parents wanted a son. Unfortunately, I gave birth to three sons. They are triplets. What do you expect from a woman who has delivered five children?" Akash turned his gaze towards Yashvardhan who was grinning sheepishly at him. Gita went in to prepare tea. Akash teased him, "People nowadays can hardly afford a child or two. Hats off to you for having five children. Anyway, let's keep the jokes apart. Where are you working now? Don't worry I won't ask your salary." Yash laughed in reply and continued, "I am working as a general manager in an IT company. Gita is a housewife as you can see. My daughters are in 12th grade, and sons are in tenth grade." Akash reminisced their childhood days and discussed their school and college life. Gita joined them with tea and pakoras. The three friends had a great time.

Akash looked at his watch, "Oh my God! I will have to leave now, dear Yash and Gita bhabhi. My wife has ordered me to come home with vegetables as early as possible. My home minister will skin me alive." All of them laughed and promised to stay in touch.

He set out with the necessary documents on the following day. He reached the zonal electoral office only to find a long queue waiting outside. He stood behind a senior citizen who was using swear words to abuse the erring officer. Akash tried to calm him down. "Cool down, Sir," he said, "Please have a glass of water first." Akash offered water to the old man. The latter took a deep breath and said, "My name is D.K. Bose. Just look at my voter ID. I would personally like to break his bones. The foolish officer made my name look like a swear word in Hindi called Bosedk."

Akash stifled laughter and tried to keep his face straight. He said, " I know it is pretty embarrassing. This guy has also ruined my name. I am now Akash Kutta instead of Akash Dutta. I have been checking the status of my application for the name correction."Another guy heard them talking, and he too joined their conversation. He said, "I am Chander Saxena. I am sorry I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I couldn't help hearing your conversation. My name in my voter ID is Bander Saxena." They had a hearty laugh when a woman approached them for direction to the zonal electoral officer. She complained, "I am going to squash that buffoon to a pulp who interchanged my photo with that of my husband. I have been coming here daily, but they send me away saying Saab is busy." Akash thought of something. He whispered his plan to Chander who smiled and passed it on to the person standing before him. The crowd needed a messiah to save the wastage of their time. They gladly allowed Akash to go ahead. He asked the receptionist for the directions to the office of the zonal officer. She pointed it out to him and asked him whether he had an appointment.

He took out a 500 rupee note and gave it to her saying, "Madam, has anyone told you that you look like Katrina Kaif?" She smiled at him and accepted the note. She answered, "His office is just around the corner of this corridor." He thanked her and promptly reached his intended destination. He saw a peon sitting outside the office ogling at the pictures of heroines. He bribed him again to gain entry to the office. He was shocked to find the officer dozing off on his desk.

He clicked the picture of the sleeping officer on his mobile. He cleared his throat to wake him up.

The officer was enraged to see him. Akash opened his mouth before the officer could say anything. "Don't waste your energy, officer. Your corrupt associates let me in after I paid them 1000 rupees for this courtesy call. I have a proposal for you. Hundreds of people like me are running from pillar to post to get their Voter ID rectified. I want you to take up our request seriously and get it done as soon as possible. You will be in serious trouble if I leak this picture of yours sleeping on duty in the social media. I might even forward it to your higher authorities." The officer was scared of losing his job. He said, " Please delete the picture from your mobile. I will immediately process the application for correction in the Voter ID. I will resolve this issue before next Tuesday." Akash requested him to come out and address the restless crowd in person. The officer repeated his statement before the public who cheered for him and Akash as well. He was a hero for them.

When he came home, he saw his wife waiting for him. Kamini was worried about the way he barged in to question the officer. She asked him, "Why did you take such a big risk?"

He replied, "Sometimes we have to take the risk to bring about positive changes in society. We should try to lead by example instead of being mere followers." Kamini agreed with his statement. She was proud of him.

The officer kept his word and updated the records. Akash was relieved to be Akash Dutta once again. Kamini's name in Hindi changed to

कामिनी from कमीनी.