AKIRA

AKIRA

Vidya was pregnant first time after her marriage three years ago. eight months had passed. So the count down for the new arrival had started.

The frequently posed question to Vidya was “What would you like to have, a boy or a girl?”

Vidya would answer, “No specific choice. A girl or a boy, both are equally welcome.”

"Ok. But what Satish would like to have?" To this question, Vidya would answer, "Even he is excited equally for a boy or a girl".

These days sex determination in advance was legally banned. So the gender of the child would be known only after the birth of the child. So getting ready for the name of the child was always a suspenseful idea.

Every visitor to the house proposed at least two names. One for the boy and another for the girl. Names of the popular characters from mythology, of different constellations, stars from astronomy, some historical personalities, known sportspersons, or even popular scientists were the sources of names coming to the forefront,

As the due date was approaching the small diary, maintained by Vidya was almost getting full.

Finally, just 3-4 days before the final date, Satish and Vidya sat together with their parents. Vidya took out the diary containing the list of suggested names and what the senior people had in their minds were mulled over. But with arguments and counterarguments, a shortlist of three names for each the boy and the girl was made. It was decided that the chits would be made of shortlisted names and the final decision would be made picking a chit at the last moment. So, no one’s feelings would be hurt.

With this final decision, they put a stop to choosing the name for the child.

Satish went to his office. He was busy with his appointments with different clients.

Satish’s secretary put up the list of meetings in front of him.

The first name on the list that appeared was Tarzan Dave. When Satish read this name, he had a grin on his face. “Tarzan? My God, would he jump from one tree to another? Would he expect me to climb a tree and negotiate the pricing sitting at the top of the tree?”

When Satish was waiting for Mr.Tarzan in the cabin, he was wondering whether Mr. Tarzan, would come in just the short pant showing off his muscled body?

After a short wait of a few minutes, Mr.Tarzan appeared in the waiting cabin. And Satish was shocked to see a skinny, bald, middle-aged man as Tarzan. Satish was lost in the image of Tarzan that he had cherished since childhood. With a jerk, he came into reality. He wished Mr.Tarzan and started his business. After signing a deal with Mr.Tarzan, he came out. While going he was wondering, what must have prompted his parents to name him Tarzan? Probably, his father must be a forest guard, and to suit the jungle environment, he must have chosen this name.

Trying to hide the grin on his face, he looked at the list of customers, The next in the line was Hasmukh Bhai Shah, He was only in the next building. Using lift he came upon the 7^th floor. Satish had reached ten minutes before the time of appointment. He had to wait in the guest room till the time of the appointment. Satish was imagining how pleasant would be Hasmukh Bhai. The meaning of his name indicated that he would be always smiling. So, he prepared himself with a proper greeting style and further dialogue with him. And after ten minutes, he was called inside a cabin. Satish entered. He looked at the person sitting on the other side of the table.

Oh, God! What a grumpy expression he had on his face. A stocky built but appeared that he had never laughed in his life.

Satish with a classy smile on his face greeted him. Without any pleasant response, Hasmukh Bhai murmured,” Show your product quickly. I don’t want to waste my time.”

“Yes, surely sir. What is your application? This unit can be used for many applications.”

“Are you going to ask me questions only or are you going to show me your unit?” Mr. Grumpy.

“Ok. This unit can be used for …….” Satish started demonstrating his machine. But Hasmukh Bhai was not paying any attention. Satish thought, he would liven up the mood with some interesting applications. But Mr.Grumpy was not at all happy. Abruptly, he interrupted the demonstration went out of the cabin. He sent some refreshment through an assistant, came into the cabin for a minute, and said, "We will think over your proposal and get in touch with you. Thank you." He left the cabin.

Satish wound up his kit. While going he thought, “What an anti-climax. Name Hasmukh means smiling face but had forgotten how to be pleasant.”

Satish took out the list of the customers to make the call. Next in line was Mr.Rudra Sawant. He was four blocks away. Satish checked up the time. Only ten minutes more to reach him. He called Uber and tried to reach in time.

But the luck was against him. There was a traffic jam. And Satish was in the taxi only even at the time of appointment. He called the office of Rudra Sawant. Informed them about his inability to come in time due to traffic. He requested them for postponing the appointment by at least 15 minutes. Satish was thinking, ”As the name indicates, if Rudra is irascible, I am going to have a tough time." Satish got mentally prepared to tackle Mr.Rudra.

The traffic was cleared and Satish reached Mr.Rudra Sawant at the postponed time.

“ I am sorry Sir, the unexpected traffic jam held up my cab. As soon as the traffic got cleared, I reached.”

Mr. Rudra Sawant, sitting across the table, was a pleasant personality. With a smile, he said, "Never mind Mr.Satish. It happens sometimes. Now tell me about your product. What would you like to have, something hot tea or coffee or a cold drink?”

Satish was overwhelmed by his kind disposition.

“I would prefer hot tea. The traffic jam was very irritable.”

"Okay," Rudra ordered a hot tea with some snacks.

“Now, show me your product.”

Looking at the product, Rudra said,” Good design. Attractive.”

Satish started demonstrating his product. Rudra was attentive. His questioning was logical and Satish had a nice time answering them.

After half an hour of the question and answer session, Satish ended his presentation. Mr.Rudra with a smile said, “Mr. Satish, I know your product thoroughly now. I will discuss this with my colleagues and we will call you this coming Monday. Meanwhile, send us your quotation. Thank you for your visit and a wonderful presentation.

Will be in touch with you on Monday. I will call you at around 12 before lunch.

Ok then.”

Satish wound up his unit and wished Mr.Rudra a sincere good night and left the customer's place.

While getting out, he was wondering how nice Mr.Rudra was. Unlike his name indicated, he was not irritable at all. Satish found him very pleasant.  

When back home in the evening, Satish shared his experience with Vidya. They felt that the name of the person reflected the mental state of their parents. Satish & Vidya wanted to guard against this situation for their only child. After a lot of consideration, they finalized the name "AKIRA”. A Japanese word that would be understood by very few. So no presumption about the person by just reading the name. Also, this was gender-independent. Satish & Vidya both were happy about their choice.