Unapologetic is the Indian edition of journalist Haroon Siddiqui’s memoir, previously published as My Name Is Not Harry. Haroon has a 35-year career in journalism, both in India and later in Canada, where he moved to in 1967. Throughout his career, he has spoken up on identity, immigration and the need for decolonisation. The following is an excerpt from Unapologetic.
Excerpt credit: Southside Books, Hyderabad
When your parents gave you names like Sita, Lakshmi, Durga, Kamala, Ram, Ganesh
and Gopi, or Maryam, Khadija, Ayesha, Mohammed, Omar, Osman or Ali, they
hoped that every time your name is taken, it’d bring blessings on you. That parental
hope, that noble spirit, gets violated every time your name gets mangled by others or,
worse, you yourself change or mutilate it.
Mohammed is not Mo. Nor Mo-ha-maid.
Ali is not Alley. Nor Al.
Kamala is not Caim-la.
Khaleel is not Kalil.
Lakshmi is not Laik-sh-mi.
Such distortions happen routinely across the West, especially the United States and
Britain. The natives, even politicians and media people, refuse to learn to say non-
Christian, non-English names properly. That’s the arrogance of power. Old colonial
power. Or present economic power. Yet:
Muslim is not Moz-lem.
Iran is not Eye-ran.
Iraq is not Eye-rack.
Qatar is not Cutter.
Afghanistan is not Aif-ga nes-tain. An Afghan is not Aif-gan.
Pakistan is not Pai-kes-tain.
Bangladesh is not Baing-la desh.
Those of us who have migrated to the West ought to insist on keeping our names and
their proper pronunciations, as also the names of places that we’ve come from.
Not to do so is to surrender one’s dignity in the service of going along to get along.
Or, worse, display one’s own inferiority complex at the altar of the West.
I find it particularly insulting that cricket commentators hailing from the West
generally don’t bother, even when commentating in India or Pakistan, to learn that:
Gambhir is not Gaim-bhier,
Pandya is not Payn-dia,
Rahul is not Ra-hool,
Sanju is not Sain-ju,
Sundar is not Sund-aar,
Babar is not Ba-bbaar.
Et cetera, et cetera.
If I were in-charge of cricket there, I’d insist that such commentators learn the proper
pronunciations. And if they don’t or can’t, they be barred from commentating. They
can ply their trade elsewhere.