Witerati: What’s in a name? Fame and rename!

Virat and Anushka’s baby girl’s naming and the ‘Kamalam’ renaming dished out a new Twitter twist to the Shakespearean saying

It’s the season of many a new name, rename and meme that might poke Shakespeare in his grave to do a rethink of his fabled phrase-ism, “What’s in a name?”

Virat and Anushka’s bundle of joy has perhaps not yet even ‘batted’ an eyelid at the star status she’s born into, hardly knows she’s already in the eye of an internet frenzy. (SOURCE: INSTAGRAM)

The name game has tossed up tribes of Tweeple that have to do with a game, fame or even a meme. The adage alluding to “greatness”, holds true for the name game, too -- Some are born with a name fashioned for fame, some acquire name fame, some have name fame thrust upon them.

To the manner born

This tribe of Tweeple has a name destined for fame riding its DNA. Future name fame comes embedded in their chromosomes, the way instant noodles ‘deliver’ results the minute they’re barely out of the packet.

The way Twitterverse erupts into a tizzy over tinsel town kids -- the latest ‘viral’ being the ‘Virushka’ baby name guessing game --- is something that was unimaginable in the age our Gen navigated the universe in knickerbockers, polka frocks or pigtails. Gone are the days when kids blithely lived in anonymity as “Pappu” or “Pinki” and even star kids were content being christened Chintu, Lolo or Bebo. Now, they’re content not with ‘following’ suit, but boasting a name that begets a 10K or more ‘following’.

Poor new rich kid on the block, who has perhaps not yet even ‘batted’ an eyelid at the star status she’s born into, hardly knows she’s already in the eye of an internet frenzy.

The Poster Boy of this tinsel town tribe is none other than ‘Saifeena’ offspring Taimur Ali Khan.

Taimur has done for Junior India’s Fifteen Minutes of Fame what ‘Baby Bink’ did for cherubic childhood by giving it ‘Baby’s Day Out’ on Celluloid.

Taimur is to desi cherubic celebrity-hood what Prince George is to British royalty-hood. It’s another story that Taimur’s trending hashtag-ism is tad threatened with the arrival of Baby Vamika and his sibling-to-be, prodding Twitterverse to stage a meme fest that spelt the threat thus: “Fame sankat mein hai!”

The curious case of Baby Vamika poised to be the Princess Charlotte of Junior India’s Royalty-hood.

To be or not to be a rename

Move over Kamala. Enter Kamalam.

Barely had Kamala (Harris) begun basking in newly anointed fame that there popped a phonetic rival (oops, or is it “phoney” rival?) name, which threatened to gobble her Time Out on Twitterverse, for better or adverse.

Have you ever while tucking into an exotic fruit salad suddenly felt like choking? Nah, not because one of the specimens from Nature’s flora is unpalatable, but because its nomenclature is tad hard to swallow. That’s the taste Tweeple were dished out by India Redefining’s latest renaming.

Riding the ‘Chini Kum” narrative, so hard was it to swallow the Dragon Fruit renaming as ‘Kamalam’ that the meme fest it did spark had a Netizen snark, “What if we renamed the Euro the rupee … What if we renamed coronavirus … Abanindranath. Would it give up and just do paintings?”

When the whole Twitterverse dishes out a meme over the rename, can our Lollita ji & Co be far behind?

Seeing the “Kamalam” rename blooming in ‘breaking news’, Lamba ji lands his muse. “How about it if I also get renamed?’ he preens pompously.

Lollita goggles and glares as if his muse is cause for amuse.

“How about …?” Lamba ji fumbles for fame-friendly renames.

Lollita obliges caustically, “How about ‘Kum Akalam’!”

The curious case of “What’s in a Name?” … A Meme.