What's In A Name

What’s in a name,that which we call a rose will smell just as sweet if called by another name,William Shakespear wrote.

A Rose By An Other Name

Traditionally ,our names are supposed to depict some happening in our parents lives,Reval,Sarudzai,Makandionei,Dambudzo to name just a few of the names that hang around some Zimbos like a tire-necklace ,for those of you who are not aware, this is a sadistic form of punishment devised by the South Africans where they pour petrol into a used tire ,put it around a person before setting it alight. The victim dies an agonizing death. Unfortunately, most of these people with these traditional names somehow actually suffer as in the case of one called Nhamo (Suffering).Many a time these children with the hard-luck inspired names change these names to “acceptable” ones once they get a chance or when they start going to secondary school because we know that teenagers can be cruel if you don’t have a cool name, one can end up being bullied mercilessly

.

This is the reason why some Zimbos end up with names like Kubi,an Anglicanized version of the name Kubvoruno,which was deemed uncool by its owner. Usually we are in the habit of having two names one given at birth which normally in the child’s mother tongue ,then another which is Christian inspired for the church baptism. These are the names that are normally adopted once one starts going to school or when they want to appear ‘cool’. Many a time these guys  with the ‘found names’ tend to ignore those who grew up with them should they accidentally meet and greet them using the hated “African” names.

A lot has been said about the need for our people to being conscious of where they come from by not many can withstand the need for them to appear cool in the eyes of their colleagues and peers.Peer pressure applies even too the aged.