I had grown up dreading introductions, with the inevitable mangling of my name. Suddenly, in India, we were both getting the respect we deservedI had five names on the day of my Hindu naming ceremony, but my given name was Priti, a name that came to shape me.Like most children with “unconventional” names, I dreaded the first day of each school year. I would squirm in my chair as my new teacher worked their way through the class register, and my stomach would drop as they attempted to say my full name: Priti Ubhayakar. I would be sitting there thinking: “If the first name doesn’t get you, the last name will.” Continue reading...