What is in a Name ?

The Western world has been naming hurricanes and tornadoes and typhoons for several years now. Perhaps , typical of their confident disposition, they wanted to make sure everything in their land, animate and inanimate alike, had an identity. I do not know by what basis the name is selected and whether the degree of impending disaster waiting to strike has any link with the name.

The Indian government, like a copycat , have also started to do this of late. So for a Sandy or a Billy or a Katrina, we have our share of Neelams etc. While I am sure that there is a process as laborious as any other officialese behind choosing these names and there is a huge practical justification for doing this , I have wondered what makes us name them after so commonplace names like Sandy, Billy or Neelam for that matter.

At least in India , courtesy our epics and other tales of epic proportion, we should not be short on imagination in selection of these names, which symbolize devastation. We have so many Rakshas (demons) in our mythology and since almost all of these cyclones , hurricane etc cause widespread damage and suffering to the people, we should choose from this interesting repository.

It would like comparing the havoc caused by Hidimba cyclone to the devastation created by Ghatokacha tornado. Remembering would be easy as well as interesting too.

Maybe it would be more apt then instead of trying to attach a sense of demonification to every unfortunate human named Mala or Nargis or Neelam who happened to be in the vicinity of the landfall and get caught in bind of a different kind.