(Source : The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri)
Gogol's Annaprasan began with a conch shell repeatedly tapped and passed around, but no one in the room was able to get it to emit a sound. Blades of grass and a pradeep's slim, a steady flame are held to Gogol's head. The child was entranced, didn't squirm or run away, opened his mouth obediently while feeding him payesh three times. Ashima's eyes filled with tears as Gogol's mouth eagerly invited the spoon. She couldn't help wishing her own brother were here to feed him, her own parents to bless him with their hands on his head. And then the grand finale, the moment they had all been waiting for. To predict his future path in life, Gogol was offered a plate holding a clump of cold Cambridge soil dug up from the backyard, a ballpoint pen, and a dollar bill, to see if he would be a landowner, scholar, or a businessman. Most children would grab at one of them, sometimes all of them, but Gogol touched nothing. He showed no interest in the plate, instead turned his head away, briefly burying his face in his honorary uncle's shoulder.
"Put the money in his hand," someone in the group called out. "An American boy must be rich !"
"No !" his father protested. "The pen. Gogol take the pen."
Gogol regarded the plate doubtfully. Dozens of dark heads hovered expectantly. The material of Punjabi pajama set began to scratch his skin.
"Go on, Gogol, take something," Dilip Nandi said, drawing the plate close. Gogol frowned, and his lower lip trembled. Only then, forced at six months to confront his destiny, did he began to cry.
Another August, Gogol was one, grabbing, walking a little, repeating words in two languages. He used to call his mother "Ma," his father "Baba."
Ashoke and Ashima were planning their first trip to Calcutta in December, during Ashoke's winter break. The upcoming journey inspired them to try to come up with a good name apart from the nick name 'Gogol', so they could submit his passport application. They consulted their Bengali friends to find a suitable name for the boy ; finally decided to name him as 'Nikhil'. The name, Nikhil, was artfully connected to the old name, in memory of Nikolai Gogol, and also respectable Bengali good name ; meaning "he who is entire, encompassing all," and it was relatively easy to pronounce, though there was a danger that Americans obsessed with abbreviation, would truncate it to Nick.
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