The Name is R. Vivek Shanmugam. To know more about my name, go ahead and read the entire post (at your own risk)!

Before we go into all this, let us first see what is the naming convention in Tamil Nadu (the State in India where i hail from). Many Tamils use a “Vilasam”. That gives the initials (a syllable in Tamil) of the person’s paternal ancestors up to, say, seven generations. This keeps every one readily identifiable. For example, in a reasonably sized community Mu. Ko. Ka. Mu. Tha. Er. Ganesh would be the cousin of Mu. Ko. Ka. Mu. Tha. Ka. Ganesh. This form of naming is not used anymore. We just have one initial and that is of the Father. But, when we are at a traditional celebration or function in our Ancestral Temples, they still use this format followed by Chettiar (the Caste Name) to officially call out the Person.

When the initial is expanded it refers to the name of the father, and not the person bearing the name. So the final name in the sequence is the actual given name of the individual and first name stands for the father. For example, C. V. Raman (who won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect) was from Tiruchirappalli, a town in South India. His full name is Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman (C. V. Raman); Raman is the given name of the nobel laureate, and Chandrashekharan is his father’s name. Raman is not the family name of the nobel laureate, as many in Europe and the US mistakenly believe.

Usually the father’s initial is used with the given name. This Initial is expanded and used only in legal documents such as passports, court proceedings and wills. For more details, check this wiki article.

In some parts of Tamil Nadu, we have the habit of naming the first two male children after the Grandfathers and the female children after the Grandmother. So, i am named after my Grandfather. And as you have read about the concept of initials, i was also given the initial of my Dad i.e. R. And so my official name is R. Shanmugam. This is what they entered while registering me in the School. My mom named me Vivek and everyone in the family, the relatives and those who know me in any way other than School call me Vivek.

Now, what does my name mean? The Name Vivek is quite common all over India. It has its origin in Sanskrit and it means  Wisdom or the Power to discern between Right and Wrong. I could also have been named after Swami Vivekananda. Shanmugam is one of the many Names of Lord Murugan, in South India. This name is common only to the Tamil Speaking population of India. Many Tamils will have the name or the variations of the name of this God, like for example Karthik, Saravan, etc.

So two common names make a unique name! I know it must have been too confusing to understand this post. I apologize! The Conclusion here is that I prefer my name to be “R. Vivek Shanmugam” and that is the reason for naming my website this way. You can call me by whatever name you feel comfortable with.

How easy is it for you to make New Friends? Might seem like a silly question, but for some people it is so easy. They hit it off as friends straight away. And for others, it takes time. I fall into the second category (at least, most of the times). I do like making new friends but i am kind of slow in making friends.

Why am i like this? This perhaps may be because of the influence of my Destiny Number Seven on my Gemini-ite character. Sounds confusing?!! Well… Let us first see what my Zodiac Sign and Destiny Number say about friendship…

Gemini and Friendship:

The social butterfly of the Zodiac has lots of friends. In fact, the Twins should have twice as many as any other Sign. Gemini make very interesting and exciting friends. They like to leave their mark on everyone they meet. Life is very interesting and fun with a Gemini friend. If you need any advice, Gemini is the one to ask. They are masters of communication and they can help you get what you need by helping you with persuasion and enthusiasm, and they give good advice too. A Gemini friend can fill you in with the latest gossip and if you love conversation, the Gemini delivers! Gemini is the friend to seek when you want to learn something new, need more information or want to talk of your mutual interests. June 12 people have a genuine love of people and value diversity in their circle of pals. The Gemini loves to talk about the latest thing he is doing.  They seem to know a little something of everything.(Yea!) They are very generous with their friends, they will spend lots of time with you and share everything with you. Often Gemini friends have busy social lives which can leave you hanging or puzzled as you wait for their attention to return to you. Even though Gemini is a social butterfly, they always need time for themselves and that should be respected.

One side of a Gemini will want to go hang-gliding and run around outside, while the other is happy to sit at home playing a board game. (Very True!) Their friends need to be as diverse as they are in order to keep up, or they just need to know when to let Gemini go free. The Twins can bond well with lots of different groups. If they get bored with one set of people, they always have a few more groups that will be more interesting – for a while. (True Again! I am part of every gang in the class. And so, I get to go out with all the groups, which otherwise is not possible, if i belonged to just one group. So, i don’t miss out on the fun. But, at times, i also feel like i belong to no group, and am all alone.) If you can match their pace and mercurial temperament, you and your gemini friend will have endless fun. The best way to develop a bond with a Gemini is to make an intellectual connection. Interested in exploring anything at all? Take along your Gemini pal and enjoy the new perspective they give to even the most ordinary situations. If you can match wits with this one, they’ll respect your intellect and work to develop this worthwhile friendship.

Destiny Number/Life Path Number 7 and Friendship:

A Life Path Seven person is a peaceful and affectionate soul. (I Guess.) But you guard your connection to people carefully. You are a highly perceptive person who understands human nature. When you meet someone, you are not often fooled by their outer personality, but seem to scan their inner motives at once. You have a natural talent to analyze deception and to recognize people having insincere attitude. (Yea. Sometimes.) You aren’t one to have a wide circle of friends, but once you accept someone as a friend, it’s for life. (That is True.) Most predominantly, people with Life Path number 7 are not characterized as a social person all the time. The reserved attitude may be misinterpreted as aloofness and many find it takes some time to even get up the nerve to approach them. (It is me who finds it difficult to approach new people.) Actually, it’s not that at all, but merely a cover up for your basic feeling of insecurity. You dislike crowds, noise and confusion. You prefer solitude. (Yes, sometimes!)

Secretly, you may feel jealous of the easy relationships formed by others; you may perceive others as less inhibited than you, or more free to express themselves. You may harshly criticize yourself for not being more gregarious. (Yes!) They have a wall up around them due to their ability to see insincerity and deception in the motives of others. Once they get to know someone well and can see that they are worthy, the wall will lower and a lifetime friendship will be established. It’s as if you must get to know someone a lot better before you allow the wall surrounding you to be penetrated. After they have gotten used to a situation, they will come out of their shell more. (Yes, Again!) But they will never intentionally seek out a group of strangers and join in. Chances are you are a very charming and refined individual with great poise and a quick wit. Nonetheless, there is an exclusiveness about you.

So… Is this all true? Yes… True, To Some Extent. I am a little bit of Both… Gemini and Seven. Maybe, this all part of the Gemini Duality!!

Till this point of my Life, I’ve always felt intimidated by new people. This means that I won’t talk a lot when placed in a new environment with new faces. Most people might read this as arrogant and stuck-up, but in reality, it’s just because I’m afraid to say things around people I don’t know. And also because of a bad quality of the Gemini-ites (Short Attention Span), i hardly notice people around me. Geminis never rest their eyes on one object for more than a few seconds. In fact, their alert, quick-moving eyes are often the easiest way to recognize them.

How about you? Feel free to leave some facts about yourself below! And if you know me, do say wat you think about me, it will help me understand myself better and overcome my shortcomings.

Don’t Read this Post and waste your Time! There’s nothing interesting in it for you.

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This Post is the Beginning of a series of posts which will explore My Positive Traits, Negatives, My Qualities, Challenges, Purpose of my Existence. Basically, answers the questions like Main aisa kyun hun? Why am i like what i am? That is what i am set to find out. It might some times touch the Spiritual Lines, and also might be boring for many(consider this a warning and get out of here, if you are still reading). I like puzzles, mystery and stuff. And I guess, understanding myself is also like solving a Puzzle which involves me.

Im curious and inquisitive by nature. And this is what leads me to do stuff like these. Thanks to the World Wide Web, i literally have everything in my finger tips, which will help me in this Mission. So, i am now going on a journey in search of Answers to the Unknown. And thereby unravel something about Myself, and i will be posting it under the Category Understanding Myself. And being a Gemini-ite i Might lose interest halfway, and if that happens, just leave a comment reminding me about my Mission!

I am going to use my past experiences, Astrology, Numerology, etcetera etcetera to solve this puzzle! Things that are going to be of help is… That i’m a Gemini-ite, born on the 12th of June. And the sum of the numbers in my Date of Birth is 7 (Seven), which is my Life Path Number/Destiny Number. I’m not going to use the numerology of my name, because i myself am confused of my name!

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Note for those who have read this: I already warned you, rite? Okay. Now that you have read this, read the remaining posts in my blog as well and leave your comments!!!