Everyone wants to be wanted

Just like many people running for office, I often comment on things I don't know anything about.  The difference is that I admit I don't know the first thing about why people in India would name a daughter a name that translates to "Unwanted."

I stumbled across this, and I didn't want to: 

MUMBAI, India (AP) – More than 200 Indian girls whose names mean "unwanted" in Hindi chose new names Saturday for a fresh start in life.

A central Indian district held a renaming ceremony it hopes will give the girls new dignity and help fight widespread gender discrimination that gives India a skewed gender ratio, with far more boys than girls.

The 285 girls — wearing their best outfits with barrettes, braids and bows in their hair — lined up to receive certificates with their new names along with small flower bouquets from Satara district officials in Maharashtra state.

In shedding names like "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, some girls chose to name themselves after Bollywood stars like "Aishwarya" or Hindu goddesses like "Savitri." Some just wanted traditional names with happier meanings, such as "Vaishali" or "prosperous, beautiful and good."

"Now in school, my classmates and friends will be calling me this new name, and that makes me very happy," said a 15-year-old girl who had been named Nakusa by a grandfather disappointed by her birth. She chose the new name "Ashmita," which means "very tough" or "rock hard" in Hindi.

The plight of girls in India came to a focus as this year's census showed the nation's sex ratio had dropped over the past decade from 927 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of 6 to 914.

Maharashtra state's ratio is well below that, with just 883 girls for every 1,000 boys — down from 913 a decade ago. In the district of Satara, it is even lower at 881.

Such ratios are the result of abortions of female fetuses, or just sheer neglect leading to a higher death rate among girls. The problem is so serious in India that hospitals are legally banned from revealing the gender of an unborn fetus in order to prevent sex-selective abortions, though evidence suggests the information gets out.

Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense of marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying for elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents' funeral pyres.

So, not to insult the culture of India, or its 1,155,347,700 residents, but what the hell?  It costs money to raise a girl there and see her get married, so when the stork brings a baby girl into your life you call that baby "Unwanted"?  I don't get it, but, again, it's their culture and their mores, and there just might be the tiniest sliver of a chance that maybe there are some things about our folkways here in the U S of A that don't add up to the folks way over in Mumbai. 

But naming a child something so damning is only going to put them on a tough road all through life.  I salute the people who have helped these girls chance their perspective by changing their names.  With a happy sort of name, or at least a solid, substantial one, a person can feel good about their chances in life.  With a name that says something bad, that's just not about to happen.

Just ask my buddy Bastard O'Hoolahan how it feels.