Ever thought about the reason behind your surname? I sure have. My surname is Shaw and that is not so common in India. So quite often I am asked: Where do you belong to? What’s your native place? Are you a Christian or a Muslim? Some are more straightforward and directly ask me the reason behind my unusual surname.
Once I was even asked whether I was an Anglo-Indian. So every time I meet a new person, I have to explain why my surname is Shaw. Sometimes I also get complimented on having such a cool surname.
I am a badminton player and my surname in fact makes it easier for others to cheer for me during matches. This is one of the reasons why I like it. There’s actually quite a tale behind my surname.
People sometimes have weird surnames, and some are funny too. Especially in India, a land of diversity, you can find all sorts of surnames. Your surname, or your initials in parts of South India, are supposed to carry your family legacy with it.
Some people have their father’s name, grandfather’s name, community’s name or even the name of their village as a part of their surname. With all these, many people tend to have quite a big name. So they are forced to use initials. But in my case, I have a short and cool surname.
The reason why my family got the name Shaw is kind of unclear, but I think this is how it is. My paternal ancestors hail from a small town in Bihar called Navada. My ancestors, for quite a long time, were businessmen dealing mainly in kerosene oil. They were known to people as shauji. In Hindi, my surname would be pronounced ‘s-h-a-u’.
My ancestors weren’t well educated. So someone in a government office spelt it as Shaw in an official document. Since then we became the Indian Shaws. In Bihar, you can even find some Shawjis. But people outside Bihar aren’t aware of the surname Shaw. So they get confused.
Most of the people I met have a wrong idea that it is some British, or American surname, since they sure might have heard of the playwright George Bernard Shaw.But in India, Shaw is not very common. Recently, the surname has become quite popular in India, thanks to the new cricket sensation Prithvi Shaw. I hope a few more Shaws get famous.
Email: anushaw1998@gmail.com