When the two young star-crossed lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, professed their love for each other in William Shakespeare's lyrical play Romeo and Juliet, the latter made a philosophical statement, 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose or by any other name would smell as sweet' that many believed in. It simply meant that the name of a thing does not matter as much its quality does. But it seems like if you are born in this era, the name matters the most to distinguish one from the other, so as to decide how one should be treated. And the incessant trolling of Kareena Kapoor Khan and Saif Ali Khan over naming of their children tells a lot about the society we are living in today.
Remember how a certain section of people brutally trolled Kareena and Saif for naming their first son Taimur Ali Khan? They are now trolling their second son's name Jeh. From wondering if Jeh is short for Jehangir or Jehlaluddin to making weird one-liners by using the name, the trolls shamelessly flaunted their sick mindsets on social media platforms.
It all happened after a report claiming Kareena and Saif's second son was named Jehangir in the actress' just-released book, Pregnancy Bible: The Ultimate Manuel for Moms-to-be. It was being said that Kareena said to have captioned Jeh's pictures as Jehangir. However, the book's publisher, Chiki Sarkar, later clarified that Kareena has never mentioned the name Jehangir and she always called him Jeh, including her book itself.
But since the trolls were busy with their hate campaign, they didn't bother to check the facts before training their guns at the Bollywood couple. Even, during her book's virtual launch with filmmaker Karan Johar, when he asked about the name of her son, Kareena announced it was Jeh Ali Khan.
But the question here is, 'Why are a certain section of people so bothered about a name?' Well, the first and the only reason we all know is the deeply rooted Islamophobia or hatred against Muslims that has existed in our country since many decades. People were angry with the fact that a Hindu actor like Kareena chose to marry a Muslim actor like Saif after falling in love with him. Cut to present, it seems the tiny seed of hate has grown into a huge tree that these people now even feel that they can control other people's personal lives as well.
It is quite alarming given the current situations because it severely affects the lives of the people who get involved for no reason whatsoever. Also being a Bollywood celebrity doesn't mean their personal lives become open for public consumption. What they do and how they want to spend their lives, is every individual's birthright that no one can be deprived of.
And that's the bottom line: If Kareena and Saif choose to name their son Jeh, Jehangir or Jungkook - it is none of anyone's business.
