![]() They could have left Gogol’s name undetermined for years. If they had been in Calcutta, no birth certificate or passport would have been necessary. Each of these incidents occurs only because the Ganguli family is in America. Later, when Ashima’s father’s death forces a hurried trip to India, they put the pet name onto a passport. When the letter from Ashima’s grandmother doesn’t arrive, they are forced to put “Gogol” on his birth certificate in order to leave the hospital. However, a string of accidents repeatedly turns this pet name into a public name. ![]() Ashoke and Ashima see “Gogol” as a pet name: They have no problem calling their son by that name themselves, but they don’t intend for it to be the name by which he is known to the rest of the world. ![]() The pet name is reserved for family and close friends the good name is used for all interactions with the outside world. Part of Bengali culture is to give every child two names: a daknam, or pet name, and a bhalonam, or good name. They leave for India in a hurry, putting the name “Gogol” on a passport since there is no time to think of a better name. Ashima takes all the gifts she bought her father and leaves them on a train intentionally. Although he doesn’t tell Ashima his reason for calling, she later learns from Ashoke that her father has died. Not long afterward, she and Ashoke get a phone call in the middle of the night from Ashima’s brother Rana. She miraculously recovers them the next day. One day Ashima goes shopping for gifts for her relatives in India and accidentally leaves her shopping bags on the train. The Gangulis begin preparing to visit Calcutta, trying to think of a good name for Gogol to put on his passport. The next day they learn that Ashima’s grandmother has had a stroke. She corresponds constantly with her family but still hasn’t received her grandmother’s letter with Gogol’s good name she and Ashoke conclude it has been lost in the mail, and they write Ashima’s grandmother asking her to send it again. Her newfound independence makes her feel less alone. Ashoke, however, remembers Ghosh saying that returning to India was his greatest regret.Īfter a few miserable days at home with Gogol, Ashima ventures out to the grocery store with Gogol. She tells Ashoke that he must finish his degree quickly because she refuses to raise Gogol in a foreign country away from her family. They decide to give their son the pet name “Gogol” in honor of Nikolai Gogol until they receive Ashima’s grandmother’s letter to determine his formal name.īack at home from the hospital with Gogol, Ashima hates living in an unfamiliar culture with a newborn. However, they are told that in order for the child to leave the hospital, his birth certificate must have a name on it. She and Ashoke don’t immediately name him because they are waiting for a letter from Ashima’s grandmother, in which she will divulge his name.
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