When we first came to Shanghai it was hard to digest the fact that everything here had a Chinese name, including Restaurants, Hotels, Important Landmarks and even People. The first few days in Shanghai was spent by us in Marriott. One day we called a restaurant to ask them to deliver food to our hotel. The Chinese gentleman at the restaurant asked us the name and address of the Hotel where the food needs to be delivered. When we gave him the hotel name and address, he was like "Maariyaat? where is that?" in broken English. In spite of our several attempts the gentleman just couldn't understand. We just cancelled the order and hung up. It was only the next day that the person in the Marriott reception told us that Marriott has a Chinese name called 'Qiluwahi' and all the locals only recognize 'this' name. Phew!
With every passing day we learned that everything Non-Chinese here has a Chinese name. Carrefour is 'Jia Li Fu'. Wal-Mart is 'Wal Ma'. The BMW car is 'Bao Ma'. Mercedes is 'Ben Chi', The Great Wall is 'Changcheng' and the list goes on....
Picking a name for someone is a big deal in China. Parents choose a name for their children that are symbolic, of cultural trait or of a great personality usually that of an Emperor. Here expats who come from various countries also have a Chinese name. After just a couple of days in Shanghai, Ram comes home one fine evening and declares 'Yeh! My name is Remo Pa. I have been given a chinese name in order to fill out a government document'. I am like 'No way'. A few days pass by and the kids also have a Chinese name. Kushal is 'Pan Ke' and Arjun is 'Xiao Jun'. These names were given by their Mandarin teacher in school. I was relieved because I neither work or go to school here and so I can stay plain and simple 'Harsha' :-).
On my first day at my Mandarin school, I was asked by my teacher "Do you have a Chinese name?". I say "No" to which the teacher asked "Do you want one?". Now, I'm standing at a critical point where if I say 'Yes' I might have to go in for antidepressants. After giving a quick thought I said 'No thanks, please call me Harsha'. I hope my name 'Harsha' means nothing in Chinese if not anything good. As an example, if your name is 'Ben' you are screwed. Because Ben in chinese means 'Stupid'. Imagine someone introducing himself - "Hi, I'm Ben, I'm Stupid" .....hehehe.It is not just expats having Chinese names. Chinese people have English names as well. They are somehow fascinated by it. So far I have met a Phoenix, Buddha, Black, Prada and my personal favorite Apple :-)
So, it's not Namesake. Because....everything's in a Name.
