Ola amigo!
You know that I chose my name by myself i.e. "Riya" is a name given to me by myself. Haha! Let me tell you the story. Just like any other new born sapien, I was nameless. One day one of my cousin brother (doooor ke ristedar sort of ) visited our home and decided to do my 'naamkaran' (choosing my name). Everyone was confused and there were discrepancies. So, lottery system was chosen as a solution and yup, the chit which I selected bore the name "Riya" and that's what I'm called. I asked my mother what I would have been named despite Riya- she said she was thinking of "Dhrishti". Not bad. I don't have any nick name because of obvious reasons but yaar atleast I like that line of distinction between having a formal and informal name.
Still people will find their own versions (pet names) of calling you names and one of the very common one is adding 'u' to half of your name. So ya! Riu is what my cousins and my aunt call me (occasionally). It's cute and I cannot tell you how affectionately my hormones react every time I hear it coming out of their mouths. Please you don't call me that- I'm sure it'll sound cheesy. Haha! But yeah one my cousin bro calls me Suresh Raina. Just because Riya resembles Raina. People have got their own logics, and I don't doubt it. Haha! Of course there are other names as well which I will not share here. *obvious reasons again*
Riya is a hindu Indian name which literally means 'a singer'. Originally it means someone who is very creative & graceful. My mom told me, it also means 'a cute little flower'. Aishhh! I'm impressed by myself. Haha! Since I was so eager to have an official (informal) nick name to create that line of distinction as I told earlier, I nick named myself 'Joy' & 'Ray' and told my family to call me that. I really really like these names but sadly everyone's stuck at Riya. Okay. I accept it. Probably I'll put ease to this thirst my naming my own fictional characters- 'Ray' or 'Joy'.
Whenever I'm furious at my younger sis, to put ice on my hot collar, she would tease me calling, "JOY, JOY, JOY". Of course I can't stop laughing at my own attempt to give myself a nick name and then being super happy with someone abiding by my naming rules, once in a century. It's cute after all. But, I like Riya. I love Riya. I give you liberty to call me Joy but just have my permission. Okay? Else Riya is universal. I'm still laughing out loud while writing this.
What's your story ? What does your name means ?
until then,
~tata ;)