In one of the ‘Hoi-Choi’ Web-series, originally made in Bengali but dubbed in Hindi for larger group of audiences, the antagonist was the defense lawyer in a murder case and the plot was gripping. What, however, remained implanted in my mind was a name that is connected to my ancestors. The series shows everyone calling the well-known attorney as ‘Sinha’ to which he would invariably get up and correct them ‘It’s Singho, not Sinha’ !
This conversation would ring a bell to my Siblings & Relatives (all in their autumn years now and widely scattered, but the ‘Sinha’ family bonding remains strong ). After all, our Great-Grand Father was ‘Kali Prasanna Singho’ (son of ‘Bhola Nath Singhee’) who first settled in our home-place Lucknow in the early 20th Century. Through education and diligence he could become a ‘Dist. Judge’ and earned fame for his cultural and social affiliations & with Bengalis like AP Sen, richly contributed to Lucknow’s literary growth.
For the uninitiated, the Bengali surname ‘Singho’ is a variant of ‘Singh,’ which means “lion” in Sanskrit and historically served as a title for warriors, royalty, and people symbolizing bravery and strength. It was adopted by various communities in Bengal, including the Kayasthas, and was sometimes associated with a noble or warrior lineage. The surname has olden roots in the broader Indian tradition of using “Singh” as a title. We came to learn from our Grandfather, NN Sinha, that his own & his elder brother’s surnames became ‘Sinha’ in course of time maybe to sound more upbeat and that has continued for the three generations that have followed them.
As ‘Provashis’ speaking Bengali at home, we grew up in Lucknow’s unique culture and charming ethnicity of the 1960s-70s. Our education gave us the best of both worlds imbibing clear diction in both English and Hindi laced with Urdu, typical of the city. We were proud of our surname that had a cosmopolitan touch much like Lucknow. Over time as our entire social fabric has evolved with implications on modern life-styles, opportunities & ideologies in different communities, we find there’s lot of chopping and changing of names & dropping surnames, often to avoid being cast into typical moulds.
In the old-world thinking, we felt our parents had given us our identity with a lot of hope and expectations pinned to the ‘name’ and we’d all try our best to live up to them. In an interview years ago, the legendary Big B shared that he’d been told to drop his surname as it would made sound like a ‘Baccha’ (kid) in a hard-nosed film industry. His culture and upbringing made him insist on retaining his original name. ‘The Rest is History’ !
Working on Living 