New Delhi:
It would be hard to believe if someone says that Italy, Argentina, Indonesia and Sweden will vote in the upcoming Meghalaya Assembly elections. But this is absolutely true.
Actually, Italy, Argentina, Indonesia, and Sweden are the not the names of countries but voters of Umniuh-Tmar Elaka village of Shella constituency in East Khasi Hills district.
"Many Khasi names have the potential to make you smile but finding hundreds of such names in a small village will result in people guffawing for hours," news agency PTI quoted Umniuh-Tmar Elaka village chief Premiere Singh as saying.
According to Premiere Singh, the reason behind these unique names was the villagers’ fondness for English words.
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The Elaka village has 916 female voters and a little over than 850 male voters and everybody has peculiar names.
Some people in the village were not educated enough and didn’t know too many English words. Therefore, they gave their children names like Thursday, Sunday, the Elaka chief said.
Not just foreign countries and days of the week but Indian states like Goa and Tripura also became good names.
According to Singh, a 30-year-old Class XII-passed woman’s name is the best English name.
Her mother “Sweater” named her “I Have Been Delivered”.
Office items like Table, Globe and Paper, members of the solar system like Venus and Saturn besides Arabian Sea, Pacific and Continent have also been taken.
Three Diengdoh sisters were found aptly named Request, Loveliness, and Happiness by their mother ‘Shuki’, a Khasi word that translates to chair in English.
(With PTI inputs)
