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Today's topic - Subramaniam

 Su what?

Well as I have said before I can write what I want when I want.  My blog.

So this fine morning for no apparent reason I decided to investigate deeper into a particular last name from the Indian subcontinent.

A name that has come to signify a person from the southeast part of India and I have had my fair shares of run ins with this Subramaniam.  It is most oft identified as a person's last name if they or their family hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu or home of the Tamils.

Tamil is a language and the locals and diaspora that speak it are Tamils.  The members of this demographic contain a large number of Subramaniams.  There are of course  variations of this name in how it is spelled with an n or m or y or i but the word translates loosely to 'those that are favored by Brahmins - a high caste in India's caste system.

They tend to be learned and scholarly and you might encounter that name here in America too.  I have also heard it being a first name and a last name at the same time causing an alliterative person name and a rather long one at that.  Imagine having a Starbucks barista on min wage trying to put that on a coffee cup.  I would hate to be the guy behind him in line.

S for Sam, U for umbrella and ...

Moving on.

Another variation or adaptation of the name is a lord of war or Karthik aka Murugan. This guy is son of Shiva.  Dad is well known in mythology as destroyer of worlds.  Son Murugan or Subramani shared the same condo with Shiva up on Mt. Kailash.  A icy cave in the Himalayas if one was to believe ancient geolocation.

 

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