6
" My family’s tradition of ‘matching-matching’ names is so obsessive, it’s against the order of nature. When my uncles Anil and Anant married, they took advantage of a heinous custom in Marathi weddings. After the pheras, a dish of uncooked rice is placed before the newlyweds, and whatever name the husband chooses to write in the rice becomes the new name of his wife.
Because marriage in our culture is akin to buying a puppy at a pet shop and saying, ‘I am your new owner, and I shall call you Flu y.’
So Anil Adarkar brought home Asha Adarkar (née Kiran), and Anant Adarkar brought home Anita Adarkar (née Geeta). And to complete this picture of divine perfection they named their children Aniket, and Ashwini and Ashleysha, respectively. "
― Nikita Deshpande , It Must've Been Something He Wrote
7
" Father, perhaps you’ve forgotten the fact that when my child was conceived, neither Bree nor I knew who the other person was.”
“Ai, ai, ai… Alessandro, open your mind, please! It was fate, my boy.”
“Oh, good God, here we go again,” Arturo threw his hands up.
“Don’t you have a puppy to go kick?” Alessandro asked, his brother’s voice grating on his already stretched nerves. "
― E. Jamie , The Vendetta (Blood Vows, #1)
