Lifewriting: What's in a Name? (Satis Shroff)

Was doing life-writing with some people when my chance came to tell whether I was satisfied with the way people called my name, I had to admit there were only a few people who’d pronounced my name well.

A young French woman did it with so much love and feeling that it still rings in my ears.

It is a common name. If you google for my name then you’re bombarded with similar names, especially from Nepal and India. My name comes from Sanskrit and it’s a compound word. The first word is satya (Wahrheit) which means truth. And the second name comes from Ishwara, which means God. So you have before you  the God of Truth.  Funny, eh?

I had a college friend from the ethnic group of Rais and his name was Satya. He was the most decent, nicest  and honest person I’ve ever met. I couldn’t imagine him doing harm to even an insect. We had good contacts when I was living in a hostel. We used to go from Thamel to downtown Kathmandu on foot to drink Madras coffee in New Road. I also liked going to Aunt Jane’s place on Saturdays for coffee and her great chocolate cakes, sit around talk with the hippies: make love, not war, peaceful, stoned people, high on hash, out for a spiritual experience.

My room-mate Ashoke Shrestha told me once that he’d met Flower Power Children at the General Post Office and they’d said to him unisono: ‘We love you.’   Young, beautiful Americans and Europeans who loved him. What a great message to the world.

I come from a Hindu society in Nepal and we wear the sacred thread called janai and my parents gave me my name. It’s an anglicized version. Satis has its origin in Latin which means ‘enough.’

We were also asked to draw a flower that represented us. I drew a sunflower with the Latin name Helianthus annus because it’s so yellow and reflects and follows the sun. A sunny, happy nature like the sun except when it wilts. But we all wilt one day. That’s life.

Freiburg, which is the lovely town of Gothic and wine, is a Badische stronghold and the people are of Alemannic origin. Instead of using a ‘t’ in conversation they use ‘d.’ So when I joined   the men’s choir in Kappel, Klaus Sütterle introduced me thus: ‘So we have a new member all the way from Nepal. Here’s Sadisch.’

Sounds like radish,eh? Or sadist?

The Stuttgart Swabians are another special folk in Baden-Württemberg. Since I dug my roots deep in the Badische landscape, was the Schriftführer of the men’s choir because I love art and calligraphy, it was a delight to to meet so many people. And when you have kids you have to go through a second socialization by singing German nursery rhymes, taking part in the Lantern festival where you create lanterns  for yourself and your child in the Kindergarten and sing the famous Laternenlied in the dark of the night  on St. Martin’s Day.

‘Ich gehe mit meine Laterne,

Und meine Laterne mit mir.’  

The local voluntary fire-brigade is responsible for security and the procession ends in the church premises. It’s dark and cold outside and the church workers serve warm Glühwein and Brezeln. We all love this sharing, breaking off bread and munching together and stamping our winter boots near the bonfire. St. Martin, the man who shared his cloak with a poor beggar is reenacted as he comes on a stallion and performs his good deed annually. The horse gets terrified sometimes because of the fire, so the stallion part if left out, to the disappointment of the children.

 Like I told you I heard a French brunette speak my name with a softness and the right intonation—and I was far away. It was like music, and it sounded so beautiful through her lips, tongue and teeth. I was so pleasantly surprised that I had to let out a wow!

My Irish teacher Brother Foren used to call  me: ‘Ah, Satis,’ like in satisfaction (Rolling Stones). The Nepalese call me ‘Sut-eesh’ and for my Bengali friends I’m ‘Sho-tisch.’ It all depends on what sort of a linguistic background you come from.

Do you like your name? Can you identify with it? I know nobody asked you how to call you. But there it is. How about some feedback on your name?