DAAK NAAM

Tutun, her grandparents call a little girl.

A tiny bird when it rolls off their tongue, 

but tobacco in another language. For her 

mother, she's Pompa, a sacred lake, 

a mythical water body that makes waiting 

worthwhile. Like the amniotic pool Pompa 

swam in before emerging onshore to meet 

her. The sweet, intoxicating pain of wait 

takes flight with her arrival. 

Her big brother is Joy to the grandparents. 

A hulk of double-meaning moniker. If its 

English import weren't enough, in his 

mother tongue, it meant victory. In the 

labour room, he and his mother had 

deflected death in a close shave. 

His mother calls him Babu, 

a respectable, educated man. 

In Joy, victory and aspiration conspire with joy. 

Daak naam, a name to call someone by. 

Nestling codes, defying meaning.