I had this wonderful experience that I'd like to share with you all. My laptop wasn't booting up (partly reason for my lack of updates on the blog) so I decided to take it to the Apple store at Yorkdale (a popular mall here in Toronto) to see if they could sort out whatever the problem was. The store was packed and I had a number of errands to run on this particular day, so I was determined to have my issue sorted out as soon as possible. Accompanying me was my brother in law who is staying with us for the winter, so as soon as we step into the store, I look for an assistant who is available and see this lovely looking lady who seemed like she was looking for someone to assist. So I quickly rush up to her with a look of urgency on my face, "Hi how can I help you" she asks, "Hi, I'm having issues with my laptop and was wondering if I could see someone at the Genius Bar for assistance" I said. All the time observing her as she held an Ipad close to her chest, thinking wow, i want an Ipad. "Oh sure, I can arrange that for you, have you been to out Genius Bar before?" " No ...."OK, I'll just need a few details before I can book you in, what's your name?"....Rama "and your last name"....Ponda, that's P.O.N..."Ponda!! she exclaims with an inquisitive look on her face, "where are you guys from?" she asks, we're from Tanzania..."jamani msiniambie nyie wenzangu" she said with a wonderful smile on her face, the look of someone who was genuinely happy to see people from her home country Tanzania. In the meantime I'm thinking...wow, what are the chances of that happening, I mean the store had about 20 assistants on the shop floor at that moment, and I choose the only one from Tanzania!!
Being the African at heart I am I had to try and see if there are any deals to be had with her working at Apple, you know staff discounts and such, but alas there was none, you see they're only allowed to buy one item with their discount..but a brother had to try right (mbongo ni mbongo tu). She then proceeded to help us with our booking after a short chat, she was very welcoming and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Then it got me thinking, if my parents hadn't given me such a Tanzanian sounding name, such an experience would never have occurred. There was no way I would've guessed she was from Tanzania, if anything she looked more Caribbean than African, and if you can tell I'm a Tanzanian simply by looking at me than you are better than most. For me this was one of those occasions that I felt happy and proud to be African and Tanzania and also for having an Tanzania sounding name and be recognised by it.
I'm a firm believer in giving our children names with meaning, preferably something profound, with deep meaning, something that identifies them as being an individual, belonging to a certain area, or religion/belief. In most families, there is a tendency to recycle the names of grandmas and grandpas, aunties and uncles, and nephews and nieces and so on and so forth. You will find that as a result, the person who inherits a name is said to have inherited some of the habits (good or bad) of the original name barrier. Utasikia, mkorofi kama mjomba wake wa jina lake!! Whereas this is a noble idea, I think a name should be more than just a recycling process. I think it's great when a child can say my name is such and such and it's of Swahili origin which means such and such. There is nothing wrong with African sounding names, if you like one don't hesitate to choose it for your child. I personally prefer names that are less common and also have a meaning, my first child's name means someone who is compassionate, caring and to say she lives up to her name is an understatement. She is so caring it is amazing.
Let's be careful when choosing names, it's how your child will be identified for at least 16 years before they have the ability to change it if they want. Please let it be more than we chose this name because of this celebrity or something along such lines. So in response to the question, whats in a name? Everything.
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