My name is Daudi. Easy name. Daudi. 20+ years ago today when I was born that is what my parents decided to name me. Why then do so many people have issues with it? It has made for some ridiculous moments. Comme ca:
I was in the UK just after Princess Diana died and for a while a lot of people thought that I was related or connected to Dodi Al-Fayed. Yeah, Daudi = Dodi!
Then for a while many thought I was connected to or trying to imitate the Scottish International Doddie Weir, a guy whose first and last name are pronounced almost exactly as my first and last name. I lost count the number of times I would make reservations for something and turn up to find they had spelt my name Doddie Weir. They would expect a huge Scottish second row and instead get a smaller Kenyan loose head prop.
The most ridiculous moment connected to my name happened at the first day in a new job while I was in Manchester. My manager walked up to me, fixed me with a steely glare and stated in a loud voice, “David, you’ve spelt your name wrong on the form.” I leaned back and looked at her and asked her, “Just what type of a muppet do you think I am that I would misspell my own bleeding name, you cartoon.” Ok I wish I had said that. What I really said was, “My name is Daudi, not David. I do not misspell my name.”
She was British and perhaps you can understand why she would confuse, or prefer, David with Daudi.
What I find strange is that Kenyans equally have a problem with Daudi. There are many people who insist on calling me David no matter how many times I tell them my name is Daudi. Then there are those who when I protest at being called David announce to me, like it is breaking news, that Daudi is the kiswahili version of David.
Yes. I. Know. That. Believe it or not.
No one goes around calling David Daudi so why do they insist on calling Daudi David? In fact no one goes around calling Dawit David or Daud David or Dawd David. They just have a problem with Daudi! One time I had to renew an official document and the mad people behind the counter went and changed my name, in my official documents, to David! When I protested they said they were (and I quote exactly), “doing me a favour” ARGGGGHHHHH! And it is Kenyans. Tanzanians have no problem calling me Daudi, Ugandans have no problem calling me Daudi, all other Kiswahili speakers love to call me Daudi. But Kenyans, David, David, David!
I am attached to the name Daudi. It is my name. As in most societies around the world those who named me did not just pick a name out of the blue. Daudi was my father’s father. My grandfather. I am named after him and I consider that a massive honour. So when you call me David and I flip a little bit, be easy and understand where I am coming from.
Hehe, yeah I’ve waiting to get that off my chest for a while now - indulge me this once!
© Mentalacrobatics for Mentalacrobatics, 2007. |
Permalink |
18 comments
Add to del.icio.us
Search blogs linking this post with Technorati
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Mental.
20:15
These appear to be more than the normal sale-type jobs that they have hired for in the past. Particularly, I’m interested in the one that has to do with mapping. It’s interesting that Google finally thinks that’s worth doing better in Africa. (hat tip 
I’ve started to contribute (sporadically) to a new website called Thought Leader out of South Africa. Here I talk about the problems that we face in Africa with regard to running businesses online. There are no real payment and merchant options that fit the needs of Africans. 
