India independence to tsunami: Meet Indians named after historic events

How often would you meet a person using a truly unique name?

Most Indian mothers and fathers prefer to name their children after gods, sports activities icons, film celebrities or even famous cartoons. But some get inspiration from entirely different sources.

As India marks 75 yrs since independence, the BBC met 6 people across the country whose parents named them after a historical event that unfolded throughout their birth.

Azad Kapoor was born on 15 Aug 1947 – the morning India got independence from British rule.

“When I was delivered my family celebrated, saying Mother India has come home and brought us freedom, ” she says.

Azad – which means free of charge – was not happy with her name as a child since it seemed like a boy’s name. But as time passed, she emerged around to it.

“No-one actually forgets my birthday celebration. Everyone who knows myself remembers me upon 15 August. My friends joke that the entire country celebrates our birthday, ” she says.

Emergency Yadav came to be on 26 June 1975, a day after a state of Emergency was declared in India.

“My dad told me that he offered me this name to ensure that people would not ignore this sad, darkish period in India’s history, ” he says.

In a radio statement to the country, then prime minister Indira Gandhi said the lady was declaring a situation of emergency, citing a threat to national security from “internal disturbances”. Constitutional rights were suspended, press freedom has been curtailed and many resistance leaders were jailed.

Emergency Yadav’s father Ram Tej Yadav – who was a good opposition politician : was arrested hours before his son was born. He spent 22 months within jail and fulfilled his son just after the emergency had been lifted in 1977.

“If there is emergency in any country, it means how the country is regressing. I really hope that we not have to see another example like this again, inch he says.

Kargil Prabhu : born during the 1999 Kargil conflict in between India and Pakistan over the disputed area of Kashmir — didn’t know the importance of his name for a long time.

“Even though I was named after this issue, I didn’t know much about it till I grew up and Googled it. My father passed away when I was young so he or she couldn’t tell me what my name intended, ” he says.

Kargil works as a video editor in the southern associated with Chennai and has never visited the town he was named right after. But it is on top of his bucket listing of places to visit.

More than 500 Indian soldiers died during the conflict, which began after India retaliated towards infiltration from Pakistan – though Islamabad has long denied this. The conflict lasted three months prior to India declared victory.

“I don’t believe in battle, but I think India had to defend itself during the Kargil battle, and that was the correct decision, ” Mr Prabhu says.

Tsunami’s single mother’s eyes well upward when she recalls the day her boy was born.

Mounitha Roy was greatly pregnant when the girl took refuge along with a small hill with the islands in the Andaman archipelago, which was struck by a devastating tsunami in 2004.

“I told my husband to flee with my older son. I had no hope for myself as well as the baby in my tummy. At around 11pm, I delivered our son in the dark on top of a rock, with no assistance or medicine. My health certainly not recovered after that, ” she says.

From school, Tsunami had been mocked for being named after a disaster. But for his mother, the name means hope and survival.

“My son came as a ray of hope to all of us, in the middle of everyone mourning the particular deaths of their loved ones. My son was the only good thing that occurred that day, ” Mrs Roy says.

More than 200, 500 people, including 10, 000 Indians, were killed in the twenty six December tsunami, that was triggered by a good underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean.

Khazanchi was created in a branch associated with Punjab National Financial institution in the northern condition of Uttar Pradesh, a few weeks after Excellent Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise statement withdrawing high-value banknotes from circulation.

Khazanchi’s mother, Sarvesha Devi, went into labour while standing in line to withdraw some money after the shift – called demonetisation or note prohibit in India : triggered massive cash shortages.

“Since he or she was born in a bank, everyone said he should be named Khazanchi (cashier), ” the girl says.

Mr Modi gave only four hours’ notice on 8 November 2016 while declaring that 1, 000 plus 500 rupee information would no longer be legitimate, wiping out greater than 85% of Native indian currency. Authorities stated it was done to target bribery, tax evasion and terror funding, but experts stated it severely impacted common people and small businesses across the country.

But to Khazanchi’s family, his name brought luck. The primary opposition leader within Uttar Pradesh produced Khazanchi one of the superstars in his campaign in front of state elections held earlier this year.

“He’s brought us money and wealth, everyone is helping all of us. I have a proper house and enough cash because of his name, inch says Sarvesha Devi,.

Lockdown Kakkandi – born one week after a Covid-led shutdown was announced within India in 2020 – is a celebrity in the small village of Khukhundu in Uttar Pradesh.

“My son was born in the peak of the lockdown. It was very hard to find a vehicle to take my spouse for delivery. Numerous doctors were also unwilling to attend to sufferers. Thankfully my kid was born without any problems, ” says Lockdown’s father Pawan Kumar.

In Lockdown’s village and surrounding places, everybody knows his deal with and many visit his house to meet your pet.

“People may make fun of him for some time, yet everyone will keep in mind him too. I want his name to be a reminder of what people were going through at that time, ” says father Pawan Kumar.

The countrywide lockdown, announced by Mr Modi upon 24 March 2020, came as a surprise to many Indians as they were given just a few hours’ notice. The days after it were marked by a shortage of necessities plus massive job deficits, especially in the informal field.

India, the world’s largest democracy, is celebrating seventy five years of independence from British rule. This is actually the second story in the BBC’s special collection on this milestone.

Learning much more from the series right here: