New Delhi, Sept. 6 -- There are four variants of the name Subramanya: Subramanyam, Subramani and Subramanya, in addition to the Sanskrit original that I will spell as Subraman-yuh. The Four Subramanyams cause no problems for themselves or for society in most Indian scripts, for they are unambiguously spelt as they are pronounced.

When expressed in the Latin alphabet though, the variants proliferate: from the common ones like Subrahmanyam, Subrahmanyan, Subramaniam, Subramanian and Subramanniyan that you will come across in top government offices, to Subramonium, Subramanium and others that remind you of chemistry, to exotic ones like Subramoney, Soobramoney, Soobermoney, Soubramanion and Soebramanjam that belong to our colonial cousins....