What Nicknames Have You Ever Gotten or Given?

My family has always been into giving nicknames to each other. I was no exception in that I have had a couple that has stuck around for a while. When I was 11 years old, my family including uncles, aunts and cousins took a month long trip through parts of South India on a sight seeing trip. When we made it to Kanyakumari, right at the end of India, we had to take a ferry to see the island on which there is a statue of Swami Vivekananda. Now everyone needed help to climb aboard the ferry and there were two men who were assisting people to get on board. But little roly poly, 11 year old me jumped on board and when we came back I did the same. So one of the guys said “Master chaddiyello!” meaning master – as in a young boy – has jumped!

My eldest cousin brother heard that and he started calling me “Master” and the name stuck. Pretty soon all my cousins were calling me that with a few “Masterjis” from the younger ones for added pleasure. Most of my aunts & uncles also acknowledged the nickname. As I became a teenager the guys would joke that “Master” was short for “Master of Masturbation” and the teasing would continue for ages. Till this day, 27 years later the name has not died and I am still Master for a few of my cousins. I doubt if it will ever get die out and I’m pretty sure that when I am like 90 years old I will still hear plenty of calls of “Master”. That will find itself into my obituary as well; lucky I won’t have a headstone!

Prompt from The Learning Network Blog at New York Times.