What's in a Name ?
My mother is very happy today. Happy and sad. Happy because she is seeing her years of sacrifice and toil for her son has not gone in vain. Her only son is growing up to be a successful person in life. Sad because I'm leaving her and going off to a far away land.
I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Soumitra Mukherjea. I'm 28. I had done my Engineering in Computer Science from IIT, Kharagpur. For the past few years I was working as a Software Engineer in one of the leading Indian IT companies, where I was taken in directly from our College Campus interviews. I moved to one of the topmost leading American IT companies last year. I was initially located in Bangalore. Today I'm leaving for Frankfurt, Germany for an onsite posting.
I have plans of taking my mother along with me in the near future. She doesn't want to go though. She has her school responsibilities, she is a school principal. She lives in her mother's house in Kolkata. We used to live with our grandmother there, ever since I was 2 years old.
Yes, that was the end of one chapter of my mother's life. My parents got separated when I was 2 years old and ultimately got divorced. I don't know the real reason. Could never really ask my mother or my grandmother. When I grew a little older, the only thing I was told was that my father had remarried. He never tried to contact me or meet me. My mother also did not tell me much about my father, neither good nor bad. She however kept her married surname, possibly because of me. Since I would need the name of a father, in my school and college life. Otherwise, the world is very cruel to fatherless children.
That is how I still maintained my surname Mukherjea, with an "a" at the end. I had to face a lot of questions all my life…from fellow students; teachers; office bosses; at job interviews; Banks. People used to ask why I added an "a" at the end of my surname and not another "e" ? I just said that it was my family name and that is how we spelt it. I had to face a lot of problems in life because of that spelling. I used to get Bank cheques spelling my surname as Mukherjee, with double "e" at the end and not an "a". Because that is the way everybody else spelt it. I had to go through all the hassle of getting the cheques corrected. But still I held on to it…don't know for what reason. I didn't change the spelling. I held on to the "a" at the end, for whatever questions or problems I faced.
Sorry, I digressed. Well, I was off to Frankfurt, my first international trip. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Felt a little concerned for my mother though. I had to leave her alone. She was a strong lady. She brought me up single handedly. She worked hard. She was a school teacher, later went on to become the principal of the school. She took coaching classes at home, just to earn more money. She tried to give me the best of education, a comfortable childhood and a proper upbringing. My mother ensured that I did not miss my father. She was both the parents to me, rolled into one. Of-course it helped that we lived with my Grandmother. So when my mother was not at home, my Grandmother took care of me.
My initial days in Frankfurt were exciting. I had my experience in living alone in College hostels and also during my office days in Bangalore, when my mother was living in Kolkata. The Company Admin department helped me find a small apartment on rent. It was self sufficient, quite close to my office. In my work front, I was finding my role quite challenging. There was a lot to learn. The team was good, quite helpful. My boss fortunately was also quite supportive. This German language was a barrier though. People did however understand English, well mostly. And I myself was trying to learn basic conversational German, during my free time. Every evening I had a long video chat session with my mother. Our time zone obviously was three and a half hours behind India's. But mother adjusted her evening work schedule according to my timings. So overall, I was really enjoying my life in Germany.
Six months were over. I had settled down quite well in Frankfurt. There was a local holiday falling on a Monday in the coming week. One of my office colleagues suggested that since there will be three days off from work, why don't I visit one of the nearby places. My colleagues had all made their plans with their family or personal groups. I was actually more of an introvert, so I wasn't able to get into any groups as such as of now. This guy suggested that I can easily make a short visit to Paris or Amsterdam or Brussels or even some cities in Switzerland in these 3 days. I can take trains or even flights if I want to save time. I did some searching on the internet. I found that for Paris I might have to take flights. But there's some good train connection to Brussels, the capital of Belgium. From there I can even make a day trip to Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands and back. Also visit some other cities in Belgium. All of that can be covered in 4 days easily. I would just need to take 1 day's leave.
My boss was good enough to grant me a day's leave. So I booked a moderate hotel in Brussels over the internet and also got my train reservation done. I was super excited.
I just can't explain how good the trains were. I was on top of the world. The landscape, the scenery, the train journey…the experience was beyond my imagination. Since I preferred my own company, I was enjoying myself thoroughly.
The jolt happened when I reached the hotel in Brussels. The smart looking girl behind the counter welcomed me to their hotel. When I gave her my name and said that I have an online booking, she smiled and said, "Yes Sir, your room is ready. The keys are in your room. Room number 403. Madam has already checked in."
I was taken aback, "Madam ? Which madam?"
She smiled back, "Your wife Sir. Mrs. Mukherjea."
My surprise wasn't over, "My wife ? I'm not yet married."
The receptionist girl was still smiling, "Then it must be your girl friend Sir."
I said, "I think you are making a mistake. Can you please check your register once again ? I don't have a girlfriend and I'm traveling alone."
She checked her entries and said, "Yes Sir, it's clearly mentioned here. See. Your name is mentioned. And this is her signature."
I wasn't able to see properly from the other side of the counter. I said, "She must be an imposter. Ok, just check how she had spelt the surname ? Just read out the surname which she has mentioned. Is it ending with E or A ?"
The girl read, " MukherjeA".
I said, "What ?? It can't be. Did she say that she had a booking with my name ?"
The girl said, "No, actually she said she wanted a room. Then she gave her name, said she had called up asking if there was a room available and we had said yes. So she had come. I checked and found that there was a booking in her name. I thought that the person who had taken her call must have booked it in her name."
I said, "All that is fine, then why did you give her the room booked in my name ? You should have given her some other room."
The girl looked confused now, "But she gave your name only. That is why we thought that she had done the booking. How would we know that you would come later and ask for the booking with the same name. That is why I thought that she may be your wife. She had signed here, see."
I saw that the signature was 'S. Mukherjea.' I said, "See this proves it, she has not written her full name, but just the initial 'S'. That means she's definitely using my name wrongly."
The girl wasn't convinced. "But Sir, she might have signed with her initial, but she said the same name as yours. In fact, she had shown her ID proof to us."
This was becoming too much. I said, "Ok fine. Here is my passport. Just call her up and ask her to show her passport. You match the name yourself."
The girl reluctantly called up the room phone on the intercom. She explained the situation very politely to the lady on the phone. I could understand that the woman was not convinced and she was arguing with the girl. The receptionist kept the phone receiver down and looked at me helplessly, "The lady is adamant. She says she has given her identity proof already. She does not want to come down and discuss this. She is not willing to vacate the room. In fact she is calling you an imposter."
By now I was at my wits end. "Calling me an imposter ? I want to meet her. If she is not coming down, then I'll go up to her room. I want to see the end of this. If necessary you will have to call the police. Will you please come up with me ?"
The girl was hesitant, "Sir, I can't leave the desk now and go. I am alone today at the counter. My friend has fallen ill. The Manager is trying for a replacement. How can I leave this counter vacant and go with you ?"
I said, "Ok fine. I'll go alone then. Room number 403, you said. I'll meet her and sort out who actually is the imposter."
The girl was nervous, "Sir, we cannot disturb our guests. We have already checked her in. She is our guest. I'll give you another room, Sir."
I said, "Yes, that you will definitely have to, because I have a genuine online booking. And I've shown you my booking details. But still, how can somebody else take a room booked in my name and posing to be me ? It is possible that she has forged my passport. That I'll have to check myself. Rest assured I'll not do anything illegal. I know I'm in a foreign country. I will remain within the legal limits."
The girl was still skeptical. She said, "Sir, I'll have to check with the lady, if she is willing to meet you. After all, since she has already checked in, she is our valuable client."
I was getting restless. What is this nonsense going on? Somebody has taken the room booked in name, posing as me; and she is getting all the importance now. Anyways, I cannot take the law into my hands. So I said, "Ok, go ahead. Inform her that I'm coming to meet her. Let her keep her passport ready to show me. And you please allot a room for me. I'll come back and sign your register."
The girl picked up the phone again and informed the woman who was using my booking, that I'm coming to meet her. The woman seemed to have guts. She willingly agreed.
I was carrying a small trolley bag, so I took it along with me upstairs. I was very angry as I went up the lift. What audacity this woman has ! Must be an Indian, otherwise how can she impersonate me. But being a woman, how can she hijack a man's name ? I reasoned with myself that this was possible because she is in Belgium. And these foreigners won't be so much aware of Indian names. I was thinking all these things while on my way upto room number 403.
I rang the room bell. A girl opened the room, around 25-30 years of age. As I guessed, an Indian girl but with a Western outfit. There was something familiar with the girl. Have I seen her earlier ?
I said a little seriously, "Hello I'm Soumitra Mukherjea. I wanted to talk to you."
The girl moved back into the room, "Please come inside. Let's not discuss this at the door." Her English accent wasn't like an Indian though, it was totally like a foreigner's.
I went inside the room. There was a single seater sofa. I sat on the sofa. The girl sat on the bed.
I said, "I think you know why I've come. You have taken my hotel room booking in name. Here is my passport. Can I see yours please."
The girl took my passport in her hand and got up from the bed and walked across to the dresser. She took out her passport from her hand bag and came and handed it over to me. She was looking straight into my eyes, as if challenging me. Where have I seen this face, she looked very familiar ?
She went and sat on the bed and opened my passport to see. I was observing her reactions. There was nothing unusual there. She was behaving very coolly. I opened her passport to check her name. It was a British passport.
There in front of me was written very clearly - SUMITRA MUKHERJEA.
I exclaimed, "Your name is Sumitra Not Soumitra !"
She replied very softly but firmly, "Yes, so ? My name is Sumitra. Why should I say my name is Soumitra. You are an Indian, you must be knowing Sumitra is a girl's name."
Now this thing became clear to me. Our names are almost exactly similar, even our surnames have the same spelling. But with an "O" inserted in her name of Sumitra, it changes to my name Soumitra. It is here that the receptionist girl made the mistake.
Now both of us were laughing. We both understood where the receptionist got confused.
Sumitra said, "I had told the girl at the counter that I do not have any booking. I had given her my Identity card to do the booking. But seeing my name, she only insisted that I already have a room booked in my name. Earlier, I had called the hotel to check if there's a room available. I had given my name then. So, the girl and I both thought that the attendant had booked a room for me."
I said, "Yes, there's a confusion made by this girl at the counter. But Sumitra, seeing your passport I'm getting confused. Can you please tell me why you spell your surname with an 'A' at the end and not double 'E' ?"
Sumitra replied, "Because that is how I have spelt it from childhood. It's our family's way of spelling our surname. But can I also ask the same question to you ?"
I replied, "The answer is the same as yours. It's our family's surname. We spell it with an 'A' at the end."
We both were looking at each other's passport with intent. We looked up at each other at almost the same time. To our surprise, our dates of birth were exactly the same even to the exact day, the month and the year !!
I asked, my voice becoming husky, "Sumitra, what is the name of your father and mother ?"
Her voice was also breaking, "My father is Soumendra Nath Mukherjea and mother Mary Ann Jones."
I was taken aback. "My parents are Soumendra Nath Mukherjea and Mitali Mukherjea. Is Mrs Mary Ann Jones your original mother ?"
Sumitra's eyes filled up. She shook her head. "My father married a second time, she is my father's second wife. I was born to Mitali Mukherjea."
We just looked at each other. Sumitra was crying. I got up from the sofa and came and sat beside her. She was sobbing, her teary eyes were looking at my face intently. I put my arm around her shoulder. Then she broke down. She hugged me and I hugged her too. We were twins. I didn't even know that somewhere in this world there even existed my long lost twin sister.
Slowly Sumitra's sobbing stopped. Her face was now glowing with a heavenly smile. We continued holding each other's arms, as if afraid that we would lose each other again.
I said, "Come Sumi, let's go down. Let us both thank the girl at the counter. It is because of her mistake that we have found each other. After that we'll come back and get to know about each other's life. We have a lot to catch up on…26 long years of our life since we separated. Then we'll make two phone calls. One to our mother and the other to our father."
Sumitra's eyes swelled up again, "No Bhai, only one phone call. My father left me alone in this world, when I was just 15."
I put my arms around her, "Don't worry Sumi, now that I have found my sister, I'll never ever leave you alone in this world."
We went down to the hotel lobby, hand in hand. Now I remembered where I had seen her face. Everyday, in the mirror.
