Surnames,cows and walls

I often wonder how surnames are created. Who created the first surname of a generation, I mean- our ancestors a few hundred years back, yes. Did they always think of the surname based on some meaning, like in our Indian names? Many people are sur-named based on their ancestors' profession, for example, even though the later generations might no longer be wanting to do anything with it. Just some of the (un) usual surnames I've come across in the past few years:

Barodawalla: An original resident of Baroda(But then, aren't we all Barodawallas or our specific city of origin wallas?)

Similarly, there's Ujjainwala, Bikanerwala,Taraporewalla,Bardoliwala,  etc..But, I never heard of a Dilliwalla/Mumbaiwalla/Calcuttawalla/Madraswalla...why? Weren't people allowed to use the metro names? Or, didn't these cities exist at that time in the form they are now?

Lakdawalla- Wood merchant

Suthar- Carpenter

Luhar- Blacksmiths

Mistry-Ironmonger..similarly, there's Tambe, Pitale...

Lokhandwala- Iron merchant(Lokhand=iron)

Acharya-Priest or teacher

Chaturvedi-someone who has learnt all the four Vedas

Mahajan- great/big people

Mishra-mixed or blended

Patel-village headman

Mukhopadhyay-Main teacher

And, how about the funny meaning ones- I found some on the net:

Panshikar, Palshikar and Karmarkar. Translated word for word into English, these come out as But-shit-do, Run-shit-do and Do-die-do. Then, there's Potdar(rate of a Pot?),Potdukhe(aching backside/bum?) Gaitonde(face of a cow?),

Imagine such dialogues- wonder if they happen?:

Mr. Puri, will you have some Puri ?

Reminds me of 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' the movie. Anupam Kher's son wants to change his name, because he feels he doesn't look like a 'Chironji Lal' from any angle. While his Dad does look like a 'Kamal Kishore' from all angles.:)

So, what is the origin of your surname? :)

(PS: These are just surnames- when we talk of nicknames in our country, there's nothing funnier..haha)

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What kind of stomach has God given to cows? I mean, I see them meandering about when I'm on my walk, and they eat nearly anything. People empty their day's leftover food from a plastic bag onto the ground for them, and they gobble up the whole mixture. If they throw with the bag, the bag also goes into the tummy. Now, which is worst? Coz the food thrown on the ground would probably have insects - ants and the like, which would also add flavour to the dish. But, that would then make the cow a non-veggie. And, in turn, those of us who drink that milk would also be indirect non-veggies.

We had 2-3 krackjack biscuits lying in the house, that had gotten soft(And, krackjacks are no fun if they don't make that crack sound, na? :))-so, I thought I'd test whether the cow likes baked dishes- and, of course...it did. gobbled up all three at a go and looked up expectantly to see if there were any more.

I guess, if we had such a stomach, most of our illnesses wouldn't exist.After all, most or many problems originate from the stomach only.haha.

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What is it with men and walls? I mean, I can understand dogs raising a leg and letting go as soon as they see a car of scooter tyre or a tree. But, here, it's a shock to see men standing against even a school wall and peeing,specially in the early morning- aisi bhi kya jaldi hai? How unhygienic it is for the students who will walk in, in just an hour or so.What the municipal corporations need to do is, set up those paid toilets- at least one on each road. Or, give the task to some private companies on a build and operate basis. They have these Sulabh Shauchalayas as they call them here, in places like Sayaji Park, and you hardly seeing anyone using the hedges, et al, since they were built.

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Thought for the day: Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age-nothing does, except wrinkles.It's true-some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place...Abigail van Buren

Till next time, keep smiling.:)