Question

what does Ashima and Ashok mean in the novel namesake​

Answer 1

Ashima and Ashoke’s child is born, a healthy baby boy. Both parents check to see that he has all his fingers and toes. Ashoke thinks, as he holds him for the first time, of the accident that nearly killed him. Three family friends, all Bengali—Maya and Dilip Nandi, and Dr. Gupta—visit the child in the hospital, and Ashoke remarks how fortunate his baby is, when Dr. Gupta gives him a book, since Ashoke had to wait years to own his first, precious volume. Ashima thinks back to her and Ashoke’s families in India; her child has been born far away from a network of loving relations, despite the presence of Gupta and the Nandis in the hospital. Ashima and Ashoke send a telegram to Calcutta, announcing the boy’s birth to the extended families,and await a letter from Ashima’s grandmother, who has the honor of naming the boy. The naming of a child is, in Bengali tradition, a solemn affair, and the Nandis and Dr. Gupta comprehend the significance of the boy’s great-grandmother’s decision.

The narrator distinguishes, in Bengali, between one’s “pet name” (daknam) and “good name” (bhalonam). The first is for everyday, family use, and never appears on official documents. The second, “good” name is for precisely those documents, and everyday, family use, and never appears on official documents. The second, “good” name is for precisely those documents, and for recognition in the world outside the family. Ashoke’s pet name is Mithu, and Ashima’s is Monu. After several days elapse, and it is time for Ashima to leave the hospital with the baby, Mr. Wilcox, an administrator, asks for the boy’s official name for the birth certificate. Ashima and Ashoke try to explain that they are still waiting for Ashima’s grandmother’s letter from Calcutta, with the boy’s bhalonam inside. But Wilcox argues that it’s a difficult bureaucratic process, if the family does not assign a name to the birth certificate on leaving the hospital.

Answer 2

Answer:

Ashima = "Ashima" means "she who is limitless, without borders," which is fitting for a woman who ends up spending time jetting back and forth between India and the U.S

Ashoka =  he is a quiet, sensitive, loving man, devoted to his wife and two children. He is a man of duty, understanding that he must work to support those he loves. But he is also a man willing to challenge the assumptions of what is “normal.” For, after all, Ashoke chose to study for his PhD in America, far from his family, even after they urged him to stay in India.

Explanation:

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