Rocket Singh and other Surprise Singh names

In 1699, the venerable Guru Gobind Singh made it mandatory for all Sikh males to have the Singh surname. Ever since, millions of Mummyjis and Daddyjis have had to grapple with the challenge of picking a mine-is-better-than-yours first name that packs more zing when placed before Singh.

Don’t snigger, dude. Naming a Punjabi puttar has never been a walk-in-the-park. If you ask any lassi-gulping-paratha-munching household they’ll tell you that a sardarji naamkaran is more complex than the Kashmir issue. Consider the issues they have to face: How do you add more tashan to the first name when you have a limited pool of prefixes and suffixes to play with? How many permutations and combinations can you mathematically create by fusing Aman, Amar, Abhi, Man, Param, Inder, Sat, and Jas, with Jeet, Want, Bal, Pal, Mohan, Deep, Preet, Das and Veer? Aren’t there too many Jaswants, Kulwants, Khushwants, Satwants and Balwants, already? How many more Manmohans can this nation take? How many more Navjots can Indian television tolerate?

These seemingly trifling questions have haunted the turbanscape for centuries. But thankfully now the Gordian knot has been cut and the Rubicon has been crossed. And guess who’s solved the mighty problem? Some ingenious scriptwriters in Bollywood!

Yes, my hapless readers. A whole new genre of naming has just been invented in recent times by the dream merchants of Adlabs and Yashraj Studios. It all started with Singh is Kinng, when the protagonist was called Happy Singh. Now Jaideep Sahni and Shimit Amin have pushed the envelope further, with the very original Rocket Singh. I feel this might just be the trigger that might inspire a thousand avant-garde names that lace the patka with some more pataaka. Think of the possibilities. Amuse Singh can be a stand-up comedian’s son. A marriage broker can his call his boy, Match Fix Singh. The uber cool tattoo types can opt for Pierce Singh. The internet junkie can be named Browse Singh. Focus Singh will suit photographers. Wax Singh will befit beauticians. Hype-meisters can make do with Advertise Singh. Chipmakers with Process Singh. And goofballs like me, can settle for Embarrass Singh!